schickHouse

Don't Trade Your Freedom

Check out this 10-minute 1940's cartoon.

Birth Control Fuels the Economy?

i'm not big into politics, but this hit a nerve with me. how is THIS going to fix our economic difficulties? wouldn't having even less children get us... less idea-generators, less money-makers, less helping-hands? didn't having less children get us into the social security dilemma? (another talk altogether.) and wouldn't having less children just wipe us off the map, seeing as we're barely replacing ourselves now? thanks for letting me vent a bit.

Ramblings

i am not (particularly) surprised that mccain lost and obama won. but i am surprised that i cried during mccain's speech. i am not surprised that a nation celebrates an african-american man's ultimate achievement. i am surprised that i did not realize how much this was going to mean to people.

i feel privileged to be 32 years old. i am old enough to know that the divide between colors used to be a bigger divide. i know, because i've heard it from certain prejudiced statements and attitudes from people older than me. however, i am young enough to consider myself color blind. i guess that is why i did not realize what a big deal this is. to me, differences among people are because of many things - the way they were brought up, their culture, their faith, how they treat other people. but to me, the differences among people's colors? melanin. since i first heard it, back in middle or high school, i've loved the song "colored people" by d.c.talk. i think i just loved how they explained it so well. why don't others understand? 

my children don't know that mr. obama is dark-skinned. they've seen his picture. they can pick him out. but they don't know that we differentiate people by skin color. we don't differentiate people by hair color or eye color. interesting. i know. i mean, it's in our history. i understand this (or at least as much as i am able). but in the now, that IS history. right now, why do we need to check a box indicating what "race" we identify with? (this coming from someone who, when applying for her license to carry, checked "other" and wrote in "human." they would not accept that as my race, but that is my honest belief. we are of the human race.) the more we focus on it, pointing it out on every form and statistic, it seems the more we will... well, focus on it. 

it is late. my mouth runneth over. i was going to call this post "surprises & hopes," but it got so long i changed the title. but as for some hopes:

i hope that mr. obama surprises me in his economic ideas.

i hope that mr. mccain knows how much he is appreciated.

i hope that nobody does anything idiotic to our next president that would ensue a worse divide than before.

i hope that my children will always remember and understand that God created each person, formed each person, loves each person, & has a plan for each person. all life is life which the Creator created, regardless of color, contribution, or consensus.

i hope that having a melanin-rich president will encourage previously discouraged people to grab hold of the opportunities that this blessed land offers.

and i hope that mr. obama does not rob us of the motivation to go for those opportunities.

[thanks for permitting me to ramble. g'nite now.]

12:53am 10.5.8

Good Distraction

we had our patriotic fun today.

but mama needed a distraction to make it to tonight. today was a great day to do our boxes for our children. it helped us (me) focus on something else for a while and not obsess (too much) on the media.

the biggest thing i learned from last year's boxes is to have your boxes with you when you shop. this helps you not buy so much stuff that it won't even fit. but as you can probably tell, even with our boxes along, we need to cut back just a teensy bit next year, just so the lids aren't bulging.

we all had a great time picking our what our little girl or boy would like. shelby was funny. at bedtime she told me that she hoped we could do this sometime for us... picking things out and having mama pay for them all. *grin* that WOULD be fun, shelb. i would totally love it. maybe that should be a new birthday tradition?

Election Prediction, CPK Style

seeing as the media draws conclusions as soon as 2% of the precincts report, i figure i can draw conclusions anyway i want, too. here's what i've got:

McCain OOAK (One Of A Kind) CPK (Cabbage Patch Kid) ended on ebay today: $6,000

Palin OOAK CPK: $19,000

Replublican "Votes" = $25,000

Obama OOAK CPK: $8,400

Biden OOAK CPK: $3,550.01

Democrat "Votes" = $11,950.01

therefore, by my very scientific calculations, it's in the bag!!! (thank you, sarah!)

HOW did you vote?

not WHO did you vote for, but HOW did you vote? was it the big ol' metal machine with a loud cha-chink lever that opens the curtain? was it by paper ballot? was it on a computer? and what was the experience today in this (probably) unprecedented turnout? how long did you wait? were people edgy? excited? impatient? proud? i'm just curious how things are out there.

for me... paper ballot. (gotta love that.) "steady" stream of voters, but where we vote that still is not many. i voted around 7:15am and was #25. no wait. took all of five minutes. glad i'm where i am today. i think we'll all be glad that the time for some campaignin' has finally come to an end.

Freebie

remember to milk this election for all it's worth!

AND... a free cup of joe at starbucks. (would you like a joe-the-plumber or a joe-biden?)

Mr. McCain

woohoo!!! shelby & i were able to see mr. mccain today! here are some pix and a movie of him entering. we had a great time. (click to enlarge)

John McCain in Scranton

         

we were actually the very last two people they allowed in. we got there around 12:45pm, program to start around 1pm (mccain to arrive 2/2:30pm). when we walked up to the building the guard came out and said, "stop. this is the line. the fire marshall says we're full. they'll try to rearrange people to see if we can get anymore in." when they came back, they said only 20 more. we were the last two. (i had said a prayer while waiting. i mostly wanted in now for shelby. she was so excited.) despite being last in, we had excellent seats. heck, we had seats! most of the people were sardine-style, standing on the floor. we were sitting in the bleacher aisle, directly behind the speaker. and everyone on the bleachers got free purple shirts and a "joe" sticker since we were in the camera line of fire. loved it!

         

AND... we had a leisurely walk back to the car. on our drive out of the city, here we got to see the entire entourage parade in front of us!

In Case We Need More Candy

my friend julie, who recently ventured to downtown philly for the victory parade, has now informed me that we are missing our chance at even more candy! a six-story piñata with 8,000 pounds of candy. i cannot wait to see the pictures! (or maybe a youtube?) cyrus REALLY wanted to go, but we found out about it a little too late. he thinks we could use a couple more trash bags full of candy. but... shelby & i are headed to see mr. mccain this afternoon. woohoo!!! oh, and i didn't realize mccain was on snl last nite. how funny that skit was! [sorry, i could not find it on youtube. this site said that snl banned it?]

Ant vs. Grasshopper (Revised Version)

this showed up in my emailbox. love it. i wanted to give some credit, so i found it online here. enjoy!

The ant works hard, in the withering heat, all summer long. 
He builds his house and stores supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks that the ant is a fool. 
He laughs, dances and plays the summer away, preparing nothing for the coming winter.

Winter comes, the ant is safe and warm. 
The shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and fed, while others are cold and starving!

CBS, NBC, ABC & CNN show up to provide pictures of shivering grasshoppers, next to a video of an ant 
in his comfortable home, with a table filled with food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast! How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor 
grasshopper is allowed to suffer this way?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah, with the grasshopper. 
Everyone cries when they sing "It's Not Easy Being Green".

Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house, where the news stations film the group 
singing "We Shall Overcome". 
Jesse then has the group pray for the grasshopper's sake, and reminds the group to contribute to his group, so that he can "continue the fight" for grasshoppers, everywhere!

Ted Kennedy & John Kerry exclaim, in an interview with Tom Brokaw, that the ant has gotten rich, off 
the back of the poor grasshopper! 
Both call for an immediate tax hike, to make the ant pay "his fair share"!

Finally, the EEOC drafts the "Economic Equity For Grasshoppers Act", retroactive to the beginning of the 
summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire the proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to 
pay his retroactive taxes, his house is confiscated by the government.

Hillary Clinton gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper, in a defamation suit against the ant. 
The case is tried in federal court, with a jury comprised of unemployed welfare recipients.

Surprise! The ant loses the case!

The story ends, as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food, while the government house he lives in (which happens to be the ant's old house) crumbles around him, 
due to lack of maintenance!

The ant has disappeared in the snow. 
The grasshopper is found, dead, in a drug-related incident. 
The house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders, who terrorize this once-peaceful neighborhood.

The moral of this version? Be careful how you vote in 2008.