Friday, July 25, 2008

Disjointed Thoughts

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Thanks to Big John, I have a new award to add to my blog roll. If you haven't read his blog, give it a try. He's very interesting, very funny, and very irreverent.

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I haven't paid a lot of attention to updating my blogroll lately, I'm afraid. Since I use Google Reader, I tend to put new blogs on it and forget to also put them on my blogroll. I'll have to do better.

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I miss Annie, of Little Rock Photos. Can't find anyone else who takes pics of my old home town. I sure hope she comes back in the fall.

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Maybe the reason I can't come up with any new posts is because I'm preoccupied with politics at the moment. In fact, it's really driving me crazy (Jay would tell you "That's not a drive, it's a short putt." haha, he's a card.) I simply can't commit to voting for Barack Obama. I THINK I'm going to vote for him, but there's just something............. On the other hand, I'm a good Democrat, by cracky, and I've had to hold my nose and vote more times than I can count, so I imagine I'll cave this time, too.

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Thanks to the economy, I can't justify buying the number of paperbacks I usuall buy, so I've been getting books from our local joke for a library. Since I can't count on getting bestsellers as soon as they come out, I have resorted to reading older mysteries, which means I'm reading books by people whose books I don't usually buy. Lately, I'm slogging through Jeffery Deaver and Steve Martini. Actually, I'm enjoying them.

The local library is pretty much held hostage by the Women's Book Club. This group has been around since just before the earth cooled off, and I suppose they should be given credit for our even having a library. But, they've assisted the Board in a few pretty costly decisions, such as trying to get a bond issue passed because the building needed a new air conditioning system. This ploy worked the first time they asked, but the next time, after they had used all the money for something else, it didn't fly. We may be slow, but we're not stupid.

Then, they had this idea that the way to make extra money was to charge library patrons "rent" for books on the Best Seller lists. In fairness, I don't think ours was the only library trying to pull this little scam. (I'm also sure they didn't view it as a scam, either. But, I'm the suspicious type.) Anyway, they saw the light fairly soon.

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I guess everyone is pulling back a bit these days. And, naturally, since the retailers are beginning to feel the pinch, they, in their infinite wisdom, will decide the way to fight this is to raise prices. Isn't this just the opposite of supply and demand?

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The Enquirer ran a story about John Edwards and his alleged long-time girlfriend and their "love child". This story has been floating around for a while, and I have no idea whether it is true, nor do I care, frankly. After Bill Clinton, it's going to take more than that to create a scandal. Since this story ran, however, Jay has been doing his fist-pumping "I told you so" superior dance. For some reason, he has an unnatural dislike for John Edwards. It's very strange, if you ask me. He doesn't even know the guy, and he has called him a "fake" since day one, when he ran for Veep.

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Did I imagine things, or was the media coverage of the death of Jesse Helms rather tepid? I got the feeling people were trying desperately to find something good to say about the man.

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More later.

18 comments:

Dianne said...

"... since the earth cooled off" !!!
Oh I love it!

I wish you could explain what it is about Obama that gets in your knitting. Then I could at least respond. I'm thrilled with him, haven't been this excited in a candidate in forever.

Could care less about the personal lives of public people, I agree.

As for John Edwards. Well I wish his wife had been running. I don't care for much for Johnny. I saw Elizabeth on with Colbert - she looks healthy and she is so smart and pulled together.

Congrats on your award.

Man did I go on.

Anonymous said...

Betty,

Have you reread "Anatomy Of A Murder" by Robert Traver lately?

For a 50 year old book it has certainly held up well. The second half of the book takes place in the courtroom and is full of interesting testimony and suspense.

Some on-line sites have copies of it for as low as $2.00 or $3.00.I often buy books on line. Especially the Non Fiction political kind. I buy them used because they are usually much more expensive than a novel. That is probably because the author is doing a hatchet job on somebody and this could be his last hurrah, i.e. "You'll never work in this town again" and he needs the big bucks.

Some of the older mystery novels are still a great read....

patsy said...

i like ewards but i usuall like good looking men.
I read mysters all the time.
went yesterday and got 3 books by stephen j. cannell.
libarary only had 3 I
read the first... vertical coffin and found it ok.
my favorite author is sue grafton. I have read all of her books..sob, sob and I like patricia cromwell read all of hers too.
my problem is finding some thing I haven't read.

patsy said...

I am also so so on Obama. seem like to me he just says change, change and doesn't say what change.
BUT WE CAN'T RISK MCCAIN!
the lady who said... I'm thrilled with him, sort of hit the feeling I have on him people are so thrilled and I can't see why but I am glad it is Obama and not McCain they are thrilled with.
i think he will win and I certainly want him too.
as for Ewards being a fake if he had this love affair and had a child by this woman and I say IF what does that prove except he is male and we know that already. sorry if I got on my soap box but I just can't stop my self.

Anonymous said...

I'm also finding it difficult to support Obama. And I agree with Patsy...he talks a good talk about change, but there just doesn't seem to be much substance to what he says. I don't hear any viable solutions to the problems we're facing. Maybe I'm just not listening hard enough. I do believe this....McCain is not the answer.

We are fortunate to have a good library in Polk County. I use it a lot over the summer months.

Anonymous said...

Patsy,

You and I must have been separated at birth. We always seems to agree!

I LOVE Sue Grafton,too. Maybe her next book will be "PN is For Patsy/Nancy"

Joy Des Jardins said...

Hey...that is a very cool award.....Congrats Betty.

Jay said...

I find it odd that you would be struggling with voting for Obama when you voted for Kerrey and Clinton. Obama is at least 100 times better politically than Kerrey and about 1,000 times a better person than Bill.

"He (Jay) doesn't even know the guy, and he has called him a "fake" since day one, when he ran for Veep.

And I'm being proven right dammit! ;-)

Betty said...

dianne: I'm wondering if I'm just suffering from a generation gap. He is, after all the first presidential candidate who is even younger than the Boomers.

nancy: I loved Anatomy of a Murder. You and Patsy and I must be quite a trio. We seem to agree on everything.

Patsy: I haven't read anything by Stephen Cannell, but I will probably get around to him. You're right, we can't have McCain.

arkansas songbird: In the end, I'll go and vote for Obama, like a good little Yellow-Dog Democrat.

Joy: Thanks.

Jay: I really hate it when you're right, you know.

Leon said...

To assist you in your decision on whom to vote for in November, ask yourself the question, "What types of people would _______, if elected President, appoint to the Supreme Court?" I usually find that the answer to that question makes my decision very, very easy. :~D

ME said...

Congrats on the award. I've been searching the thrift stores for used books and a great place to use is paperbackswap.com

Lisa said...

Listen to your son on Obama--he's right! :)

I also agreed with him on Edwards--fake, fake, fake. I feel bad for his lovely and wife.

Lisa said...

I meant to say "his lovely wife," meaning Elizabeth Edwards. And I was sloppy with my pronouns--don't worry, Jay didn't get married without your knowledge (so far as I know)!

Betty said...

Leon: That is exactly the reason that I will vote for him, even if I have no other reason. And, we need a few unbiased Federal Judges, too. That's why we need big wins in the House and Senate.

craze: Thanks for the tip about paperbackswap.com.

lisa: Not you, too! :-)

Linda@VS said...

If I understand Obama correctly, when he speaks of change, he's speaking mostly about changing from "top down" government to "bottom up." His community organizing experience is what has made his campaign so successful, setting up grass-roots organizations all over the country to get out his message and get out the votes. I've heard him say that becoming president won't make congress listen to his ideas, but if he can persuade enough citizens to go along with him, those citizens can put pressure on their elected officials and get some things done. He'll be relying on people to get involved in a way they never have before (well, maybe in the '60s), but he seems to be a pretty good motivator.

As far as policy positions, he's pretty specific about those on his website if anyone wants more details.

I'm with Dianne on this candidate: "fired up and ready to go."

Linda@VS said...

Dang! I started running my mouth (fingers?) about Obama and forgot what I came here to tell you. I tagged you for a meme. It's kind of a tough one, though, so it won't hurt my feelings if you decide not to do it.

Betty said...

velvet sacks: I've been impressed with his organizational abilities, too.

I'll take a look at the meme. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to getting more information about this topic, don't worry about negative opinions.