look at me, I'm posting on porchnight!

...and I invite you to do the same.

In typical Sara fashion, I will share a lovely Mary Oliver poem that Susan shared on her blog.


Mysteries, Yes

Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.

How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of the lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
in allegiance with gravity
while we ourselves dream of rising.
How two hands touch and the bonds
will never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.

Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.

Mary Oliver
(Evidence)

Thanksgiving Activity

Andrew and I went for a nature hike with Zadee last Friday...

It was fun.

VOTE.

Astounding...

My life update

Hi friends--
I just wrote this update in e-mail form to Cammie and realized that I haven't seen some of you for about as long as I haven't seen Cammie, so I decided to post it here. Nothing special, just my update.

Things are going well for me...school is school. Lots of work to do, lots of things to distract me from work I don't want to do. Like Halloween and this election; knitting scarves and Cesar Milan, the dog whisperer. But overall, I am feeling good about where I am with all of the career/life decisions. I'm on a path and right now is the boring part where I'm in the middle of the forest and all I can see is the same old trees I've been staring at for a year, but eventually, I know I'll emerge and stumble upon some beautiful scenic view and it will be worth the trudge. I interviewed with the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) here in KC and I can go back to the law firm I worked for last summer, so it's just waiting at this point and seeing where I will end up at least initially after law school.

In my other life, I'm singing in the choir at church and really enjoying it. I am also taking voice lessons with Matthew Shepard which is helping me be a better, more confident singer. I also just started (last week) volunteering in my friend Derek's classroom of 5th graders at Troost Elementary. He's having me help them one on one with math (division and multiplication) and it's really rewarding. They are two really small things that I can fit in with my otherwise totally self-indulgent (if you can call reading 18 hours a day for school that) lifestyle and I'm glad for a change of pace a couple times a week.

Oh, and Zadee is about to become the most well-behaved dog ever. I am going to dominate her like nobody's business. Cesar (the dog whisperer) has inspired me. We have ordered the DVDs of the first season through Netflix :)

WTF?

Beware of Old Man McCain- while it may appear that he wanders around stages aimlessly, make no mistake: he is on the prowl with a purpose!:


And what the hell is this? Can any of you see Palin's purse? It's a canvas bag with a moose!! WTF?:


No comment:


'Nuff said:

John McCain is FULL OF LIES

Apparently, John McCain believes that his constituents are TOTAL MORONS. More importantly, John McCain believes independent voters are STUPID AND GULLIBLE.

I cannot believe the smugness of this man as he sits here lying through his teeth and stumbling over his words. He is a skeezy old man who creeps me out with his false smiles and awkward looks into the eyes of the American people.

He dodges a question about his nasty campaign which has directly attacked Barack Obama's character in commercials and rallies--with Sarah Palin calling Obama a terrorist and allowing a rally-attender to yell "Kill Him!" with absolutely NO response--and then has the nerve to say the McCain campaign has not been nasty and turn it around on Obama and say that his feelings are hurt because a Senator Lewis called him out for these irresponsible acts that JOHN MC CAIN and SARAH PALIN have CAUSED.

He demands that Obama apologize for someone speaking the truth about an outrageous event and when Obama, with grace and poise, refuses to do so because it would be effectively endorsing McCain's fear-mongering and justifying threats that may be made on his life because of this dirty, dirty campaign of lies against his personal character, McCain says his feelings are hurt. I am absolutely disgusted by this behavior. Does he really believe that people are going to believe that Obama has run a more nasty campaign that McCain? Apparently, McCain believes independent voters are stupid enough to believe him.

His supporting evidence is, "well, your commercial attacked my healthcare policy"--yes John...that's because your proposed "$5,000 refundable credit" so people can purchase their own health care policy on the free market is ABSOLUTLELY STUPID. And the merits of health care policies are precisely the things a campaign for President of the United State SHOULD focus on. Apparently, McCain believes people are as ignorant as he is and believe that they could purchase decent health care coverage for $5,000.

Let me mention one more thing about the rallies. Whether it was just a facial tick or not, in the video clip where McCain asks "Who is Barack Obama?" and someone yells out "A Terrorist!"--I saw a slight reaction in John McCain's facial expression that said "holy shit! What am I doing?" For a brief second, I thought maybe,just maybe he had a soul.

I also have seen the clip of the town hall meeting where John McCain says (paraphrase) "yes, I want to win this election, but at the end of the day, if I didn't, I can't say that Barack Obama is not a good person" and his crowd BOOs him! I applaud McCain for these two instances where I am able to see that he might still have a soul underneath all of this...but sir, it is NOT ENOUGH.

Shame on you, John McCain for creating a situation where Barack Obama may seriously have threats on his life when he is elected because of you and your smear campaign against his character. You and Sarah have intentionally played on people's fears of terrorists and Muslims in ways that are beyond despicable. YOU have incited a dangerous type of anger among people who are desparate. You alone should be held accountable for this. And spare us the false hurt feelings. I do not speak for the Obama campaign, I speak for myself. I am an American. I am not voting for you. I have the freedom of speech guaranteed by our Constitution.

On his absurd choice for VP...John McCain belives women are stupid.

Sarah Palin is NOT a role-model to women. Are you kidding me? She is an anti-feminist who has used her good looks and bitchy drama-queen schtick to get ahead in her career. It is laughable that McCain believes women are inspired by Palin.

Yes, she's given money back to the taxpayer ("Welcome to Alaska, here's $1,000"--from the Simpson's movie) but that is definitely not a strong point as she has done so by encouraging oil companies to rape the great state (which she constantly reminds us is her home) of its natural resources. And she is pushing for more. Don't get me started on drilling in ANWR and polar bears. What a moron.

Sarah Palin has NOT involved more people in the political process who have never been involved--that would be Barack Obama. I am so sick of them taking credit for the hard work that Obama has put in to run a campaign that has been inspirationally non-traditional, or at least has successfully bucked the Karl Rovian tradition established in the last few elections involving Dubya.

This woman is absolutely ridiculous and the fact that McCain chose her is a JOKE. It's insulting to women and to Americans.


Furthermore, John McCain apparently believes Sarah Palin's son has autism. Therefore, he insists Sarah knows more about dealing with autism than most Americans. Oh my god. McCain needs to be checked for Alzheimer's. He seems to be having trouble remembering that Trigg Palin has Down's Syndrome. And that is different than autism.



To close it all off, McCain says the candidates have had a healthy discussion during this debate. Really, "healthy"? I would like to know by what standard McCain measures health.
According to McCain, our economy is healthy. According to McCain, deregulation to the point of absurdity is healthy.

Did he not just attack Obama's use of the word "health," portraying Obama as an "eloquent" speaker (which is a bad thing) and turn Obama's direct statement that "no one is pro-abortion" into a slam on Obama's character. John McCain has some serious mental health issues if he believes the discussion of last night's debate was healthy.

I am outraged that the American people would allow him to get away with this kind of behavior. Lying is the behavior of a child, not a 72 year old man who is running for President. Outraged.

Halloween

We decorated our porch for Halloween this weekend. It looks awesome. We have a scarecrow that looks like John McCain (just in time for some final campaigning) and a giant black widow spider in a web that the neighbor kids helped me make. I would love to post a picture of it for you all to enjoy, but I have discovered one more thing that was stolen from our house when we were burglarized...our camera charger. So until we get a new one, you will just have to use that old fashioned imagination to envision our stellar decorations.

Secondly, Andrew mowed the lawn, so we are all set for a fall extravaganza in our back yard. We have decided to have a Halloween party to show off our amazing porch decor and costumes we picked up this weekend at the Goodwill. Hope everyone can make it. It should be a rockin' good time.

Finally, people who steal other people's pumpkins and smash them are lame. On that note, people who steal anything from someone else is lame. Back to pumpkins, though. We invested a whole day to go to the pumpkin patch and carefully select some really cool pumpkins. They have not yet been taken, but I would be really frustrated if they are. All we're trying to do is spread some holiday cheer...we've already been burgled...leave the pumpkins alone...for the children.

If a blog is posted in the woods and no one is around to read it....

Ruh-ruh-random:

"Scientists... found that alcoholic mice who are forced to stop drinking no longer try to swim when placed in a beaker of water, perhaps indicating that they are depressed." -Harper's Magazine

I don't want to talk about the election or politics in general.

I just got back from Half Price Books. I bought "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time" by Marcus Borg, "The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare" by GK Chesterton, and a $1 copy of "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver so I can give it as a Christmas present. Perfect day to sit on the porch and read, think, blog, drink water, watch butterflies, what have you.

The Hyde Park Homes Tour is going on today, which means lots of tourists walking and driving through the neighborhood between houses that are open for tours. There is a big ass limo-bus thing from Overland Park that passes my house every five minutes, and every time it passes Zadee runs to the end of her leash and barks at it, with unsuspecting Johnson Countians looking at her through tinted windows like she is some kind of crazy, which is true.

“God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny.” -Garrison Keillor

FAILURE.

This is the current picture on CNN.com connected to the story about the House of Representatives' refusal to bailout Wall Street. This picture is of a man on Wall Street reacting to the Dow's plunge after hearing the news. This picture may cause you to feel pity for him and his sad, sad woes.

But here's the thing: this is not the taxpayers' problem. This is the failure of greedy rich men and an incompetent administration who felt sorry that their greedy rich friends weren't rich enough. Our elected officials did the right thing by rejecting the bail out as the plan currently stands, even if the President says that the sky will fall as a result.

Please don't have pity on George and his corporate welfare baby mamas. They did this to themselves and don't deserve to have the taxpayers pick up their mess. Our economy may crumble and things might get worse for America, but right now the bail out is not the best, or the only, solution.

Political Rambling

I have entered into an email dialogue with my very-conservative uncle about Sarah Palin's qualifications. We are currently disagreeing over whether or not the Bush Doctrine is common knowledge.

Nearly every house on my block has an Obama sign in the yard. I know there are at least two Republicans on the block, but I think they might be too intimidated to put out yard signs.

Isn't that sad that there might be only two Republicans on my block?

I'm volunteering with the KC Election Board at the library rather than the Obama campaign. It's not as sexy, but I think it's a bit more laid back. I helped six people register today, and that feels pretty good.

The most recent Pitch has a cartoon of Sarah Palin giving birth to a child while simultaneously dressing a moose and speaking in tongues. I laughed really hard.

I'll end with the Winston Churchill quote that my uncle concluded his email with: "If you are 20 and not a liberal, you have no heart; if you are 40 and not a conservative, you have no brain."

The Laws of Ecology

Everything is connected to everything else.

Everything has consequences.



Each person's action or inaction matters.

SO what are you doing about it? Think of the children.

BRRUUUUCCEEEE!!!!!!!

I think it was Linford from OtR who once observed that live music is one of the truly communally-spiritual experiences remaining in America. This observation came to life for me again last night at the Sprint Center...

Bruce Springsteen took the stage just before 9:00pm before a screaming crowd, and rocked the room for over three hours. I think Gone Mild said it best: "Springsteen plays every song like it's his one chance to get on stage and bust out the rock and roll star that we all wish we could be."

While the Boss's strength last night was in his raucous set of fist-pumpers and sing-alongs, he also turned down the volume long enough to offer one of my favorites of his, "Devils and Dust," which deserves being quoted:

We got God on our side
And we're just trying to survive.
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love?
Fears a powerful thing,
It'll turn your heart black, you can trust.
Takes your God-filled soul
Fills it with devils and dust.


This is music I can believe in. Bruce Springsteen isn't worried about a gimmick like lying about terminal cancer to get people to listen to his music. He creates rock-and-roll and brings it to the masses, not with an agenda but with integrity and passion and a kick-ass group of talented musicians. And I'd be willing to bet that makes God smile.

monday on the porch

I'm working from home today, and Kristen doesn't start class until tomorrow, so we are both enjoying a beautiful pre-Autumn afternoon on our front porch. Our canas are tall and blooming red flowers, attracting butterflies and the occasional hummingbird. The sky is blue with scattered clouds, and there is an onery squirrel teasing one of the kittens, making for some mild entertainment.

I bought tickets for Ray Lamontagne in October at The Uptown, and Kristen got us tickets for Bruce Springsteen at the Sprint Center. These two shows will definitely fulfill my need for live music for a while. I can never complain about a lack of live music in my life.

I have nothing of substance to say. I just want to keep this mofo kickin'. So, I will provide some quotes:

“Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.”
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Every time that I see your face/ it's like cool cool water running down my back."
-The Jayhawks

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
-Mark Twain

so, really...do the beach volleyball players HAVE to wear such teeny-tiny outfits? do those itty-bitty shorts REALLY help them have better serves?

I DON'T THINK SO.

but, then again...do we REALLY need to wear similar outfits when we play in the pool?

errrrm...probably not.

An Attempt at Revivification

As the primary "owner" of this here blog, I guess you could call me an absentee landlord as I haven't done shit here since June. Granted, the tenants here are not crackheads or hookers... we're still just a group of friends in KC who likes conversation, beer, music, and deep things like God and society and culture. We just got busy for a while, that's all!

And so, in the good name of resurrection, I hereby declare this blog alive and well, all evidence to the contrary, and offer a few tid bits of profundity:

During the summer months, cherry limeades are an acceptable substitute for beer... but only in moderation.

If getting free music from the library is a crime, consider me the Godfather. Not only do I commit the crime quite often, I am also very methodical about it. In the past two months I have acquired Theolonius Monk, Emmylou Harris, the new Weepies album, Tom Waits, Garrison Keillor's "Duets" album, The Jayhawks, the Wailin' Jennies (amazing), Whiskeytown's "Pnuemonia", Stephen Stills, an American Roots Blues compilation, kd lang, Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash's hymn collection, Bruce Springsteen, Chris Thile's new band The Punch Brothers, Van Morrison. the Elders, the Decemberists, John Prine, Old Crow Medicine Show, REM, Randy Newman, and Lucinda Williams. I love it.

I love fried okra like nobody's business. It is my equivolent to Kristen's "sweet nectar to my soul" when she refers to Newcastle, although I realize referring to okra as "nectar" does not work. I'll have to come up with something better than that.

Friends are friends forever....

Well, i hate to say it but today i mentally said a little thanks to our great President, George W. Bush. As i stamped the envelope carrying my last credit card payment which happened sooner than i thought due to the stimulus package, i couldnt help but be a little Republican as i walked to the mailbox.

then i came inside and the moment had passed.

but it was worth capturing in a blog, says I.

Home sweet home.

Today marks the end of a 10 day stretch of shows taking me all over North America. Good times, but will be great to be home to see my wife. (oh, and the cat, cant forget about Finn)

How i feel after a long stretch of shows, in random order.

Busy.

Tired.

slightly cranky.

just ate really bad food.

moderately cranky.

Lost my boarding pass. stupid.

Every person who has walked by me holding a McDonalds bag is over weight. Related?

Businessmen are lame and i never want to be anything close to that.

Wish i would have gone to Bonnaroo.

pretty damn grouchy.

New bass player is amazing. very glad he's here. breath of fresh air.

not as grouchy. but still there.

Evan's flight is delayed. he hurt his knee and is in a wheelchair.

laughing to myself. (sara would call it LOL) i just did that.

Things we dont have in 'Merika.

So i have been in Canada for a couple days now, and here are a few things that i have observed.





1) Ketchup chips are far better than i thought they were going to be.


2) "all dressed" Ruffles are like BBQ chips on crack. in a good way.


3)Smarties are not sugary, they are like M&M's. Better chocolate, but a thicker candy shell.



4) we do share the same idea about one topic..... ya know, me and Canada.



Instead of taking a car, we took a boat (or boot, as the natives call it) to the show. We're playing at a camp thats on a lake, and its easier to "boot" it than drive it, eh?


on the "boot"


thats all for now, the internet is being slow. if any more exciting pictures arise, i will post.
see ya'll next week!!