No, this is not tornado alley

Rob & Skip took out some trees this week. Much chipping commenced. Here is the "before..." I'll have to work on the "after." Actually, I guess that last one counts as an "after" after all. Hmmmm...

My BFF

Sara told me this week that I'm her best friend.  And at first I thought it was just a fluke, but she's said it quite a few times now so I'm pretty sure she means it.

Yes yes, the girl does have me right here (pinky proudly displayed).

Do you think she'll remember this when she's 15?  Or even 5?

No, I don't think so either...

Protesting too much?

I dunno.  I freely admit that I'm not a news junkie and most of what I pick up about the presidential campaign is purely accidental.  But the thing is, most of what I do happen to pick up is piece after piece featuring the Obama camp trying to discredit Palin.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa.  Hang on.  Palin?  Last I checked, Palin was running for VICE president.  And last I checked, the VICE president wasn't the person who ran the country.  Yes, yes, that whole "heartbeat away" thing.  I get it.  Not likely.

So, I don't know.  Maybe it's me but it just seems a little desperate.  

I'm also a little put off by the smart-ass ads Obama is endorsing.  Frankly, I don't want a smart-ass in the Oval Office.  The truth?  For a minute there, I was thisclose to becoming a believer.  Obama is smart, engaging, charming, and certainly talks a good talk about hope and change.  Plus, like most everyone else, I am more or less done with W and McCain just seemed too wacky an option.

But now that the pressure is on -- courtesy of Palin? -- which, again, I think is odd -- he's losing me.  Seems a little too full of himself.  Arrogant, I guess.  That fist bump never bothered me before, but now it strikes me as...  I don't know.  Cocky?

Oh, and by the by:  I don't believe for a minute that the pig/lipstick comment was "misconstrued."  

Please.  Spare me.

Writer's block

My problem is that I'm all too aware of the fact that, really, I'm  just sort of a so-so writer.  

I tend, frequently, and with little regard, respect for, or attention to flow or proper use of grammatical rules, to over-use, and generally abuse, commas.

I often times find it very difficult to pare down what it is that I'm trying to convey and end up using more words than necessary which, inevitably, leaves my point diluted or, worse yet, lost in the mire of overzealous use of language and, as mentioned previously, commas -- which, truth be told, may be only slightly more annoying than the over-use of dashes; semi-colons; or exclamation points!

I was saying what, now?

I remember.  Yes.  I was saying that I'm really not a very good writer.  Poor punctuation.  Non-adherence to the rules of form and structure.  Rambling iterations that surely cause my readers -- all three of you! -- to lose interest, if not their minds, as they wade through word after word and phrase after phrase of seemingly haphazard strings of letters, letters, letters, and commas, commas, commas.

I also have a very bad habit of starting new paragraphs with the word "I."

I -- oops, I mean -- argh!  No, no, let's try this again...  

(Oh, and then there's the ellipsis.  Surely my high school English teacher would faint dead away if she saw how casually I threw around the ellipsis....)

I've also recently started to realize that there are whole communities of bloggers out there that actually take this seriously.  They debate what makes for a "good" versus "bad" blog.  Bloggers and blogging have spawned whole new industries, with potential for ad revenue and special convention sessions (conventions?!  and convention sessions?!?!) on how to generate the most traffic through your blog -- which, I'm assuming, is to help prop up the aforementioned ad revenue.

I also tend to blow it by using words like "aforementioned" and "spawned."

I give up.  This is what it is -- namely, my online, take it or leave it, I'm-not-making-any-money-off-of-you-so-don't-expect-too-much-except-egregious-punctuation-errors, pompous -- or is it pretentious? -- use-of-lexicon-and-poorly-formed, rambling-thoughts-cause, you know, it's late and I've got a two-year old-so-what-more-do-you-expect-from-me, purging of ideas, opinions, hopes, dreams, failures, sorrows, triumphs, and thoughtful links to, well -- you know.  Other blogs.

And with that, I'll say good night.

I did it!  A new paragraph that didn't start with "I!"  Uh, no.... wait.....  never mind....

The one thing that made me laugh at work this week

And no, it was not the little Amish boy with a cochlear implant.

Instead, it was this little nugget I found in an online debate on our internal web page regarding whether or not Obama scrubs were "appropriate" to wear or would be cause for corrective action:

BARACK ME OBAMADEUS!

OMG. Love!

Color me disgusted

Another inspiring story about the fine "servants" we pay to screw us represent us in Washington.

Meanwhile, my siblings and I are forced to pay (I cannot bring myself to say "owe") the government tens of thousands of dollars, just because my father worked hard for 40+ years and made a point of leaving something behind for his family.

And our legislators wonder why we are jaded, why we don't care enough to show up and vote, why we have lost all trust in them and their system.

It's because it sucks, ladies & gentlemen. It sucks.

I could give a big fat rat's ass that this story happens to discuss a Democrat. Give it a few news cycles, they'll find a Republican pulling the same crap -- and I'll feel just the same.

I find myself wanting to feel hopeful that a new President (and either one would do, actually) could inspire change. But then I remember the beauty of our checks and balances, and realize that no one man can make the sweeping changes that are required. We as voters are the only ones who can do that... you know, those same jaded, impassive, untrusting voters who don't care enough to show up and vote in the first place.

Ah, the irony.

On the list of things I never expected to see:

The little Amish boy outside my office, going into an audiology booth for a follow-up visit regarding his cochlear implant.

Huh.