Ramblings and Memes

I tried to watch a biopic about Bob Dylan, yesterday afternoon. It's called "He's Not There", and sure enough, he wasn't. After about 45 minutes, I wasn't there anymore, either. "

And, that's all I have to say about that.

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Making the candidates approve their ads is the best thing that has happened to the political arena in decades. This way, John McCain can't claim he didn't know anything about the silly ad his campaign is running, blaming Obama for the high gas prices.

Furthermore, he needs to figure out (after the election) that when he denies having said something, there is going to be a tape of what he said somewhere that will make him out to be the liar he is. Or, maybe he's just getting senile. Either way, he doesn't need to be the one with his hand on the red phone.

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OK. Velvet Sacks tagged me for a meme and I'm going to try to do it. "Name six things you are proud of." I'm trying to think of six things. So, here goes.


1. It will come as no surprise to my blogbuddies that I am proud of my children. They both turned out to be fine human beings, in spite of the fact that they could have gone bad and then blamed their "broken home" for the way they turned out. I've always said that they never gave me any trouble because it was all too apparent that their Mom was just hanging by a thread and could have snapped at any moment. Then, who would have taken them to school?

2. I am proud of my high school, Little Rock Central High. I graduated the year that we made history when we integrated the school. I am proud of my fellow students for helping to keep order inside the school while screaming crowds of protesters had to be held back by the local police. And, I am proud of the Little Rock Nine, the black students who kept coming back to school day after day, being escorted past those ugly, jeering faces in the crowds. "Central" has always been named one of the best high schools in the country, and that year was no exception. Those black students went on to distinguish themselves in various fields, as did many of the other students who endured that year. We all worked hard to make things as normal as possible in that trying time. And, I think we succeeded.

3. In the '60s, while much of the country was in turmoil, protesting the war in Vietnam, the newspaper staff at the Uof A were involved in a protest of our own. One of our reporters became privy to the information that the funds earmarked for a new library had been moved into the coffers of the athletic department. So, he wrote the story, it was printed, and he and the two editors of the newspaper were fired. The University took over the newspaper, which had always been independent, according to the Freedom of the Press concept, but it was destined to be censored, so I and the rest of the newspaper staff resigned in protest.

The Administration had a new, more cooperative, editor waiting in the wings and she made a tepid attempt to get me to stay on, which gave me the opportunity to proudly make my own version of a "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech, with much huffing and hair tossing.

4. I discovered, while working for a large corporation, that I was endowed with an adaptability that came in very handy. I was the Executive Secretary to a succession of bosses (7 of them), over a period of 15 years. Some of them left through promotions, and some of them left in the dead of night, escorted from the premises by a corporate officer, but, there I stayed, ready to deal with the next personality who would sometimes be introduced to me, by surprise, the following morning.

I was the personification of the term "dead end job."

5. I am proud of my grandmother who, in her early twenties, left her home in England, and without so much as a backward glance, sailed to the United States to meet the man she met and fell in love with on a cruise. It could have been such a disaster. What if he had merely led her on? What if he failed to show up at the dock, with the engagement ring, and a firm intent to marry her as promised?

I am proud of her because I know in my heart I would have spent the rest of my days alone, a bitter old maid, with 18 cats, in a tiny cottage in England, before I would have embarked on such a journey with the confidence she showed.

6. And, finally, I have to say that I am proud of the Democratic Party for putting forth a woman and a black man as our candidates for President of the United States. I will happily vote for Barack Obama.

At the same time, I may also shed a tear for Hillary.