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Friday, June 04, 2010

DO NOT CALL

Nothing very notable has been happening around here, oh, except for the pending environmental destruction of epic proportions.

When the two Jehovah's Witnesses showed up at my door the other day, blissfully oblivious of my rage and depression over the whole BP mess, and started spinning their happy end of the world scenario: Worried about where this world is headed? War! Oil spills! Isn't it wonderful? Jehovah is near!, it was a good thing I was coughing so hard I couldn't speak. I am officially going on the "Do Not Call" list.

Their idea of complacency made my blood boil. Anyone who looks forward to violent confrontation between nations or the ruination of the planet as the opening chapter of their salvation should do us all a favor and just step off the planet now. Get a headstart on their afterlife.

We've let corporations get away with murder. And the Supreme Court has gone and lifted limits on campaign contributions which just makes it worse. We know both parties are beholden to corporate graft (though one side's benefits are completely lopsided*) so quit trying to blame the current administration for what it has or has not done in response to the Deepwater disaster, place the blame with those who have allowed these greedy money machines to rule our world, and figure out how to rectify the situation.

I have been coughing for two days shy of two weeks. The wedding went well, prior to the nuptials I was in total denial about standing in front of a crowd and did not feel the least bit nervous until I was well into the second page of the ceremony when I suddenly became conscious at that point that, Hey!...I'm doing this!...I'm reading this!...I'm actually in front of a lot of people... It was at that point my left leg began to shake. But I willed it to stop and I made myself take a big breath (in case I hadn't had any lately), and didn't pass out and knock the bride into the alligator-infested river. Then the day after the wedding, without any warning, I woke up with a terrible sore throat and without a voice. Not even a croak. The timing was perfect, one day earlier and it would've been a catastrophe.

Formal studies have ground to a halt. Yes, we theoretically go year-round, but when the neighborhood kids are knocking at your door and your best friend wants you to sleep over for days at a time, calculating perimeters and area becomes less of a priority -- unless you're building a prison cell for your captives (Geneva conventions and all.) And just when I think I'm dropping the ball again, self-led learning kicks in. Elle, my reluctant reader, has surprised the heck out of me and chosen The Yearling, a hefty book I've attempted more than once due to the frustration of reading dialogue in a redneck drawl, as our next read-aloud. What really stunned me, besides that fact that she actually likes speaking in character puzzling out what the backwoods Baxters are saying, is that she has decided to read it to me, as my bedtime story. If she never finishes it I will still consider it a triumph that she even gave it a go. Last night, to hear it aloud, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings description of Florida flora and fauna brought a little tear to my eye, not just for it's spot-on accuracy and beauty, but for what we are about to lose.




* From OpenSecrets.org:
Oil & gas industry political contributions:
2010 (to date): $11,572,527 70% Republicans, 30% Democrats
2008: $35,595,537 77% Republicans, 23% Democrats
2006: $20,364,856 82% Republicans, 18% Democrats
2004: $26,077.264 80% Republicans, 19% Democrats
2002: $25,037,766 80% Republicans, 20% Democrats
2000: $34,323,192 78% Republicans, 21% Democrats

2 comments:

kimberley said...

1) Now I want to start on the Yearling again, sounds nice.
2) You did SUCH and Awesome job at the wedding, you were amazing :)!
3) The BP thing is beyond ridiculous and devastating.
4) Enzo has had a cough for what seems like a month too.
love, kim

Caroyn said...

Haven't you learned yet to hide when they come to your door???? Jeez......K and I have it down pat. Duck low, scramble out of living room, proceed communications via cell. We are slowly teaching T. He, too, will learn the procedure.
P.S.---get an antibiotic. Call me!!!