Electric Ladyland

Holy scorching essay, Batman!

Wow.  I just finished reading the best blog post I've read all year.  It starts off about Obama's proposed strategy of "reaching out" to conservatives (whatever that means - think that's been tried by Pelosi & Co. and is pretty much a euphemism for playing doormat) but offers a primer in economic trends of the last 30 years in this country (particularly with regard to the inequality of income distribution), the origin of today's right-wing juggernaut, and the ROI to them of what they've done to us.

Most importantly, it asks -- and persists in asking -- this question:  what kind of politics do we progressives need?  And then proceeds to answer that question brilliantly.

Now if an actual candidate would get down to brass tacks and start addressing the reality of our political and economic situation this way then that's a candidate who'd have my vote!  Meanwhile, hats off to Lambert for breaking things down and getting into the fine print.  I've been hoping for yet rarely seeing that sort of detail in the media.  This stuff makes economics interesting, makes me wish I'd taken a course or two in college.  It is, after all, a vital topic that most of us tend to steer too clear of.  Never too late to educate yourself.

Snow country

I've been pretty much unplugged these past few days, living the slow life and loving every moment of it.  It's good to be back home where there's snow, Sox fans and a preponderance of French names everywhere.  Good old Western Massachusetts.

Got in late Friday night on Amtrak.  Dad and I did immediately inaugurate the festivities by trying out Noah's Mill when we got home.  He said it reminded him of Booker Noe and he really liked it.  Reminded both of us more of a Tennessee whisky with its straightforward, linear approach.  It wasn't as expansive as the Kentucky bourbons we knew.  The switch over to J.W. Dant later was a little comical.  Somehow it tasted milquetoast-y and sweet, something neither Dad nor I would have ever expected.  It's all in the setup.

The next day we went driving out to the Montague Book Mill ("Books you don't need in a place you can't find").  This bookstore is a real gem and the cafe attached to it is no slouch either.  Dad and I enjoyed a leisurely chat overlooking the snow and the stream below after picking out our respective books (Vikram Seth's An Equal Music for me, Kawabata Yasunari's The Lake for Dad).  A couple of college guys were playing a board game a few feet away, not a care in the world.  This was about the exact speed I was going for. 

We followed that up with a great dinner at Chez Albert in Amherst.  I finally had my first experience with frog's legs -- you'd think that a French kid would've gotten around to that by now -- and found them pretty tasty.  Yes, they do taste like chicken.  I think the chef was making a little nod to the American buffalo wing by adding a spicy sauce and some creamy roquefort on the side.  Everybody around us was in good spirits, cutting up and making jokes, talking freely with the people sitting at adjoining tables.  I was particularly charmed by the family sitting next to us.  The mother was French-American and, like us, clearly there for a bit of culturally familiar food and ambiance.  She was teaching her young son all about the dishes they were eating, sometimes in French.  He took it pretty well although I thought the parents were being a little ambitious -- the kid couldn't have been more than 8 years old.  As for me and Dad, we loved the restaurant and will definitely be back.

Yesterday I felt a little under the weather so we took it easy.  Dad made chicken soup for lunch and I took a long afternoon nap.  We watched the Pats beat the Dolphins and improve to 15-0 for the season (although they didn't look so great in the second half of that game).  More chicken soup for dinner, a movie, then a hot toddy before calling it a night.  I slept a ton and today I'm feeling more energetic.

So here we are, Christmas Eve.  Heading out for a late lunch at our beloved Europa.  Time for some Portuguese yummies.  Then we'll come back home and finally decorate that beautiful balsam fir in the living room.  Think it's going to be a nice Christmas.

Beyond hurl

Ok.  I know some people will do anything for a vote but this is just abysmal:  the presidential candidates stumping in Iowa have released Christmas ads that will make you want to go a step beyond throwing up, whatever that is.

Dry heave?

Found out about it from an NPR segment in which Democratic and Republican political consultants, when asked what they thought of these ads, said they thought the parties should burn the tapes.

Rudy wants to give me job growth, secure borders, fiscal discipline and strict Constructionist judges for Christmas.  Rudy!  You really shouldn't have!  No, I mean you shouldn't have.  I'm not playing here.

I think I like Hillary's ad even less, though.  She forgot where she put my Universal Pre-K!  This rates a simultaneous headsmack-and-groan.  So bad it's ... bad.

Meanwhile, in Japan, the Defense Minister has recently been quoted speculating how the Japanese government would have to deploy its Self-Defense Forces were Godzilla or Mothra to arrive, then worrying about whether or not they could communicate with the creatures. 

Nope, no one's making this stuff up.  People voted for these folks.

Thrown

So it's a quiet Sunday night here.  The weather's craptacular outside but it's nice and toasty in here and I've got a nice glass of wine to keep the mood mellow.  Football's on the TV and I'm wrapping Christmas presents for this coming weekend's trip back home to Massachusetts.  After I get in Dad and I'll test out this new bourbon I found and decorate the tree.  It'll be good to be back home sleeping in my old room, padding downstairs to bogart food from the fridge and just shoot the breeze with my dad.  I could use a little comfort time right about now. 

I was more or less doing all right but now I'm not and it'll take a while for my emotions to settle again.  Mom got diagnosed with endometrial cancer and we just found out Friday.  I'm not the only one who's upset.  Her husband's understandably shaken by this, as are my aunt and cousin in Texas.  My cousin is particularly not happy about it, I hear.  Mom's his only aunt but also his favorite one.  Lee and I must be reacting about the same way, then, because I am having a really hard time with this too.  The diagnosis is about the best possible one you could hope for and still have it be cancer.  They caught it in the very first stage, it's a very common type of cancer, and with a hysterectomy we're virtually assured that'll put an end to it.  So okay, my logical mind understands and appreciates this for what it is.  It's not an all hands on deck kind of situation. 

Then why do I feel so blindsided?  I don't know.  This just scares me.  The thought of my mom not being in this world is not all right.  Even if that threat is very minimal it's still much more present in my thoughts than it usually is and maybe that's what's throwing me for a loop.  I've been feeling like the rug's been pulled from under me and that maybe the ground beneath my feet isn't so stable after all.  It's a lot like how I felt when my grandmother died a year and a half ago.  I'd feel fine and be going about my day when all of a sudden it would hit and I'd be dazed, wondering exactly what on earth I was supposed to do and why I should even bother doing anything at all because nothing made sense anymore. 

That's how it was when a friend called to check on me last night.  I was looking over a packet of French roast at the grocery store when the phone rang and we chatted about what was going on for a while.  His father had recently been diagnosed with cancer and so he understood well what I was experiencing.  I explained that I didn't need to talk so much right then but that I would like to talk sometime.  So he sent me lots of love and support and I hung up the phone, planning to speak with him the next day.  That's when it hit.  It was his kindness that got me.  I found myself staring at this packet of French roast wondering what the hell I was doing there, what on earth I was supposed to do, and I felt so idiotic.  All of a sudden everything was just wrong and I just sat there, dazed.

I'm going to give myself a wide berth.  Plenty of time and latitude.  Whatever I need to cycle through and feel, all the ups and downs, I'm gonna go ahead and feel.  It's gonna suck for a while and I'm pretty much accepting of that.  So I'm not okay and for the time being, it's just not going to be okay.  It's amazing how rarely we let ourselves be in that state -- and how rarely other people let us be in that state.  I am feeling better than I did Friday but I'm still going to need plenty of time to get accustomed to this new reality. 

Party like a rock star

There's been a bit of radio silence lately because (A) until just recently I was still out in Japan having far more fun than I could have wished for (more on that later - it was an AMAZING trip) and then (B) when I got home, my body clock became all jacked.  Here I am grudgingly welcoming the sun into my room after another all-nighter.  Yesterday I tried to ride it out by wandering around New York like a zombie, going to an early showing of Bladerunner:  The Final Cut, picking up fried dumplings at the legendary (and not so interestingly named) Fried Dumpling, and then ambling over to the Magnolia Bakery (of Lazy Sunday fame) and, well, indulging in a snack attack for some of their cupcakes.  I'd never tried them before.  Damn, they're good.

But I digress.  I don't have the energy to write the "this is what my time in Japan was like" post right now.  I'm more in ADD/all-nighter mode where a cup of coffee might help but I'd still feel hosed.  So I'm just watching movies and nostalgia-surfing YouTube.  Found clips of my old beach in Hamaoka, also the cute chime sound the Tokaido Shinkansen (aka bullet train) used to make when it made a stop.  Then I got curious as to whether or not today's crop of JETs has gotten industrious enough to vlog their experiences.  Most of what's out there wouldn't be interesting to anyone who hasn't lived in Japan or taught on the JET Programme.  But this one below I like even if it recycles some footage a bit too much to fit the length of the Quiet Riot song.  I never knew my life as an ALT was so metal.  Love the shout-outs to janken and New Year's mochi-pounding.  Oh the fun my friends in Shizuoka and I could have had with YouTube had it been around but we were stuck with 56k dialup...