Spring has sprung!
A Drivel Runs Through It
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
I've grown fond of the Montana Outdoors blog and photographs. The author, "Montucky," lives in northwestern Montana -- one of my favorite places on the planet -- and records his hikes and other travels around the area in thoughtful, well-chosen words and excellent photographs. On his "About" page, he writes:
There is a very beautiful world out there in the wild country. It is my wish to make it visible, by words and photographs, to those who are interested in seeing it. It seems that we have forgotten that we are part of that natural world and that ultimately it sustains us in both body and spirit.
He's inspiring me to get out more, and to pay more attention to the details. I'm particularly enjoying his photographs of wildflowers, which are like a lesson in wildflower identification. He also had a fascinating series of photo essays on lichens.
Oh, and baby ducks!
Links:
- Montana Outdoors blog
- Montucky's photostream on Flickr
Friday, April 25, 2008
This video was shot in Missoula by talented local artist and blogger Marc Moss.
- April showers ....
- More snowpack equals less summer wildfire and smoke.
- It's funny! Mother Nature has such a good sense of humor.
- It gives us all something to
bitchtalk about. - Two words: population control.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
I'm sorry, I haven't been much in the mood for posting lately. I know this is going to sound whiny and stupid, but you'd be surprised how time expands to fill the space allotted. I guess it's true that, wherever you go, there you are, because even though I supposedly have an extra 40 hours a week or so, I am still struggling to get and stay caught up on things like paperwork and answering email, not to mention writing, sending out query letters, re-designing my website, etc.
My resistance to dealing with my financial affairs -- receipts, paperwork, Quicken, bill-paying -- is driving me crazy. I hate it so much. (The financial stuff AND my resistance.) I spent about five hours yesterday hammering away and still have hours of work awaiting me. The problem is that I have a math learning disability, and a lot of associated avoidance issues. I know that my procrastination only makes matters worse, but I do it anyway.
Ugh.
Does anyone know a good bookkeeper? I'm sure that's ridiculous, but now that I'm trying to keep track of my self-employment income, expenses and billing, I'm even more confused and resistant. Surely my time would be better spent actually making money than fighting with it.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
This is one of the funnier things I've read in a while.
Oprah Launches Own Reality (The Onion)
I love this line:
"This is all for you," Winfrey told a live studio audience while she used her hands to split a uranium 235 atom following an interview with actor Sidney Poitier, her new biological father.
Hilarious!
(However, I think the last line is kind of rude. It's a perfect example of undermining a great piece of writing by going on just a bit too long.)
Now I'm waiting for Martha Stewart to introduce her own reality. Can you imagine? Self-cleaning homes! Cakes made with a pound of butter yet calorie-free! A new Martha Stewart line of clothing made from the wool of her own cashmere goats!
Sigh. In a perfect world ....
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
I took a little vacay this weekend and had a fabulous time. I'll post about it sooner or later. Now I'm playing catch-up and, honestly, not really in the mood to squander my time on the Internet. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll get over it.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Monday, April 07, 2008
I wasn't going to go to Hillary Clinton's rally Sunday morning in Missoula. But my friend Jen wanted to go, and I'll admit, I wanted to be part of this historic event. It's not often we get a chance to see someone who might be our next president in Montana.
As I left the house, vivid oranges and purples colored the snow-dappled mountains ringing the eastern edge of the Missoula Valley. Jen and I met for breakfast to sustain ourselves through the long morning, then headed out the rally, which was held in an airplane hangar near the airport. Like Saturday's Barack Obama rally, waiting in the long line was really cold. (At least it wasn't snowing, like Saturday morning.) I went back to my car to don the heavy winter jacket and gloves I keep stashed in the trunk.
The line finally started moving. Also like Saturday, we went through a quick security check -- metal off, jackets unzipped, purses ready for inspection, cameras and cellphones turned on to prove they aren't weapons in disguise. I got wanded by a totally gorgeous Secret Service agent. Damn.
Once inside and seated, we waited. And waited. We must have waited an hour and a half before the planned start time of 11 a.m., then another 45 minutes for Hillary, who was late after a morning $250-a-plate fundraiser downtown. The hangar filled with about 1,800 people, according to media estimates -- not quite full to capacity of 2,000. It was a very, very different scene from the Obama rally at the Adams Center, which overflowed with some 8,000 people.
Obama's crowd was much younger than the Clinton faithful, too -- "hipsters vs. hip replacements," as Jen hilariously put it. The music preceding Obama's rally was fabulous; Clinton's was staid (although they did play one of my favorite songs, "You Gotta Be" by Des'ree, twice). If Obama's rally was a rock concert, Clinton's was a folk show. Barack "Star" Obama -- that's how I'm thinking of him now.
The longer we waited, and the more we were jostled by the row of church ladies next to us -- who were constantly squeezing past to go to the bathroom, chat with friends, and take pictures of each other with their cellphone cameras -- the more overstimulated and grumpy I got. By the time Hillary arrived to a standing, cheering ovation, I was less than enthusiastic.
But I have to admit that her confident, articulate speech impressed me. She's certainly presidential material, and she does speak to many of the issues I care about, like health care reform, education, student loans and taxation of the wealthy. However, a couple of her talking points made me downright angry -- her backpedaling on the Iraq War and her exhortations to "reduce American dependence on foreign oil." How about reducing American dependence on oil, period?
I'm reminded of one of the last columns written by the late, great Molly Ivins, "Not. backing. Hillary.":
Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone. This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges.
I believe that Hillary Clinton's biggest motivation is not helping people or rescuing the country or building a better world -- it is becoming president. Plain and simple. Barack Obama, on the other hand, strikes me as someone who truly cares about people and making the world a better place.
When I visited Washington, D.C., a few years ago, I was deeply moved by this suffrage monument, which has an unfinished bust reserved for the first woman to be elected president. And after seeing Clinton in person, I'm feeling some guilt. I want to see a woman president as much as anyone.
Ever since I was a child, whenever someone spoke of a woman being elected president someday, I would respond bitterly, "Yeah, we'll have a black male president before we'll have a female one." Who knew it would come down to a choice like this?
Although Clinton is highly qualified to be president, I have to go with the record and my gut, both of which tell me that Obama is the best person for the job. He has something that she doesn't -- some indefinable, inspiring quality of sincerity and integrity. He brings to mind great leaders like John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Honestly, I had a moment of fear during Saturday's rally; it seemed to me that an Obama presidency would be so deeply threatening to the status quo that his life, like theirs, could be in mortal danger.
That, I suppose, is the risk we have to take for a better world.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
After setting out at the crack of dawn the past two days to get in line for the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton rallies, I am wiped out. I took a four and a half hour nap this afternoon and I still feel tired. (My sleep schedule is completely whacked now.) I'll post my thoughts about Hillary's event tomorrow.
I also went to an autocross rally this afternoon for an hour or so to watch. I would have driven in yesterday's test and tune, but I didn't get my new tires ordered in time. It's just as well, because I ended up going to the political rallies instead. But I'm really looking forward to driving in the next event -- it's such an awesome adrenalin rush!
I was one of seven or eight thousand people who went to a Barack Obama rally today at the University of Montana's Adams Center.
(Actually it was yesterday, since technically it's already tomorrow.)
I'm going to see Hillary Clinton in the morning. Both candidates are in Montana stumping to be the Democratic Party's next presidential candidate. Since the race is so tight and Montana's June 3 primary election is one of the last in the country, our sparsely populated state has turned out to be a potential battleground for votes. It's very exciting.
Even before seeing Obama today, I had pretty much made up my mind to vote for him. Nader is always a strong contender for me, because he best represents my progressive ideals, but I voted for Kerry in 2004 because I thought he actually had a snowball's chance in hell of taking Montana.
At one point, back when Bill Clinton was in office, I really hoped Hillary would run someday. I thought she'd make a great president. I still think she'd make a good president, and if she does win the nomination, I will support her. But Hillary voted for the Iraq War. And she's too entrenched in corporate, big-money politics. Case in point: Her only Missoula appearance initially was to be a $250 a plate (minimum) fund-raiser. Her Sunday morning rally was announced late Friday, undoubtedly in response to Obama's free rally. There are different values at play here.
Obama doesn't take PAC and lobbyist money -- that's HUGE. He voted against the Iraq War. He's a thoughtful and principled man. Furthermore, his unique parentage allows him insights that cross lines of race and nationality. If anyone can unite the people in this country, it's him. If anyone can improve our diplomatic relations with other countries, it's him. I want a president who can earn the worldwide respect and admiration that our country has held in the past and should hold even more firmly in the future.
Laugh if you want, but I got a little weepy during Obama's speech. He talked about ideals, about hope, about change. This man has dared to dream and look how far it brought him.
My faith in this country was severely shaken -- lost, even -- in 2000 and 2004. The battles over vote counting, the Supreme Court decision to give the election to Bush, how easily both Gore and Kerry gave up, our mindless response to the nebulous enemy of terrorism after 9/11 -- these things all destroyed my faith in my country and my fellow citizens.
Barack Obama has given me hope again.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Tickets to Barack Obama's Missoula rally on Saturday were just announced.
Go print yours out ASAP:
http://mt.barackobama.com/missoula
It's cupcake week on the Martha Stewart Show, and today's episode featured a Bozeman, Montana, company called Fancy Flours.
Martha showed off their darling butterfly baking cups and edible butterfly decorations.
I love these cowboy baking cups!
And their cookie cutter collection is amazing.
Too bad I'm trying to give up carbs.
(sigh)
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
