Babbleocity 23

Things don't quite add up ....

Auto rebate leak? - The headlines of the LA Times today blared 'Auto rebate program runs out of money'. The article presented these figures: Total in rebates made available by the government - $1 billion; Maximum rebate available to each buyer - $4,500; Vehicles bought through the program as of late Wednesday - 22,782. Now, I'm no math professor, but 22,782 multiplied by $4,500 is 'only' $102,519,000, not quite $1 billion. There seems to be about $897,481,000 left to spend. So, where does the 'out of money' claim fit in? Looking further into the article, it's clear it's 'pending applications' and projected total demand they are talking about. If the current demand continues the fund will run out before it's originally planned November deadline. Talk about making a point through misdirection and false advertising... Shame on you, LA Dog Trainer!

Summing up Health - One of the bigger tenets of Health Care Reform is a switch from 'pay for procedure' to, well, some other system. The concern is that doctors who get paid by each procedure performed will naturally do more, even if they are not strictly - or possibly even remotely - necessary, adding zillions to our health care bills. OK, I accept that's a problem, but what to do about it? So far the only thing I've heard is the President saying doctors should be paid for how healthy their patients are. What? Healthy people - especially young, healthy people, tend to stay away from doctors. How then do the doctors get paid? And how do we know how much to pay them? It's a thorny problem, and one that better be well worked out before the bill becomes the law...

Curbing banker's enthusiasm - An angry Congress lashed out against Wall Street executives and their fat bonuses. The House, supposedly angered at the $1 billion plus received by executives from 9 'banks' that received government funds, voted today to restrict certain types of pay - most especially bonuses for taking risks. Good! I think. Get some of that back and the auto rebate can continue ...

Speaking Up ...

Sometimes helping can get you in such trouble. Ask Lucia Whalen, the neighbor who reported the possible break-in that started the whole Gates arrest mess ('SNAFU in Massachusetts').

After the Gates arrest made the headlines, and Mrs. Whalen's role became known, she claimed harsh criticism from the press and from some who called her 'racist'.

Today she held a press conference to make it clear she didn't mention race initially in her 911 call. Only when pressed by the 911 interviewer did she say the suspects might be 'Hispanic'. She claimed she made no mention of 'black males with backpacks', and the release of the 911 tape a day earlier supported her claims.

So, good news for Lucia Whalen - she's now off-the-hook she should never have been hung on in the first place. She can go on about her life - even if she won't be sipping beer with the professor, the policeman, and the Prez.

But we should ask ourselves - carefully, why would it have been wrong if she had said 'I saw two black males with backpacks', if that had been exactly what she witnessed? Surely, it wouldn't be racist or racial profiling if it was an accurate description?

In the Gates case, the witness, Mrs. Whalen, wasn't even quoted accurately, and thus labeled 'racist' without any justification. But hers' is just an extreme example of how quickly people will resort to deflection and finger-pointing in tough situations. Unfortunately, accuracy is no protection against being labeled a 'racist'. Or, in other situations, against being unfairly labeled a 'leftist' or a 'socialist' (Eh, Mr. President and my fellow Democrats?)

So, if you witness what you suspect to be a crime, and you are asked by the police to describe the suspects, I hope you have a camera on hand and can just hand them a picture. If not, don't say anything that might remotely suggest ethnicity or racial heritage. Or religion ('I saw two Lutherans with backpacks'). Better safely and anonymously quiet, than publicly sorry. Just ask Lucia Whalen.

Shuttling Down ...

While the crew of the Endeavour were 'walking' in space and sprucing up the Space Station, like something from the 'Home Makeover' shows - or perhaps 'This Old House', NASA was preparing to give the series it's walking papers.

STS-127 is the first of the final eight Space Shuttle missions. And then it will be over. Back to disposable rockets, parachute re-entry, and 'capsules'. Old-School.

Way back on April 12, 1981, when STS-1, the first flight of the first operational shuttle, the Columbia, left the launch pad in Florida, the story was entirely different. This was the new way to do things. This was the future of manned spaceflight. This was the 'Buck Rogers' that was to - in the long run - save us bucks, turning space into a frequent and (relatively speaking) affordable destination.

And it was something special to behold. Although skeptics did abound - I was one.

I can remember reviewing a fold-out diagram of the Columbia in National Geographic and just knowing the dang thing wasn't going to work. It was too ungainly, and there were too many things to go wrong. Not like the relatively simple rockets in use at the time. And those failed often enough too, despite their simplicity. My family lived in Lompoc, CA, next door to Vandenberg AFB, a sort of west-coast Cape, and a self-destructed, off-course rocket was a not too uncommon sight in the night skies.

But on April 12, 1981, the Columbia roared aloft and, despite all fears, made it safely home. Seeing that orbiter glide in on the dry lake at Edwards AFB was truly inspirational, and a sure sign that a new age of spaceflight had dawned.

Time and tides are tough on all things made by humans, however, and the ensuing years since that triumphant first mission have not been kind. There have been many successes, true, some of them tremendous achievements, but the overall goal of the project has failed. Spaceflight is not cheaper than before - those reusable orbiters need extensive and expensive upkeep and repairs after every mission; the flights have never become routine - never truly 'shuttles'; and there have been tragic failures.

So, with the final missions just ahead, where do we go next? NASA seems intent on following a model of expendable spacecraft, including fully-automated ones not meant to be piloted by humans.

I find that logical, but immensely sad and uninspiring. Despite NASA's failure to build a truly reusable manned space vehicle with the shuttle program, the concept remains a good one, and a worthy goal for future development.

Besides, those of us who grew up watching 'Star Trek' yearn to see a spaceship named 'The Enterprise' someday, and unlike that early shuttle prototype of the same name, we want it to be fully-functional. To boldly-go, as it were.

And it would be best if that future Enterprise didn't just shoot up into space never to be seen again. It should fly grandly back from it's adventures and land here on Earth, intact, just like a space shuttle...

Standing By ...

Sometimes, not often, but perhaps just when you need it, something good comes on the tube on a Friday night. This night, this Friday, it was 'Stand by Me'.

I can remember seeing this movie when it came out, back in 1986. I had to see it, since my then girlfriend's Uncle trained the dog in the movie. Not much of that dog made it on screen, but the Uncle was an ace trainer so I am guessing a lot got left on the cutting room floor (they still cut tape back then).

When I saw the movie, I was 31. I was just about in the age group the movie was aimed at, and the movie was a box office success. It spoke of our childhood to many of us, and reminded us of simple, exciting times when the world was very big and our futures unknown. The movie also reminded us of just how good the friendships we made then were.

'Stand by Me' was based on the Stephen King novella, 'The Body'. It's one of his best - I'd say the best, excepting perhaps 'The Long Walk' (written as Richard Bachman). And the movie is arguably the best adaptation ever of a work by King. Better even than the excellent 'The Dead Zone', and ahead of 'The Shawshank Redemption' by virtue of less pathos and more cultural relevance.

The movie also happened to be the watershed of it's director, Rob Reiner. Sure, he'd already done 'This Is Spinal Tap', and he'd yet to do 'When Harry Met Sally', but only the most rabid Tap and Meg Ryan fans would assert those pictures were better than 'Stand by Me'. This is his best work. Light hands on the reigns, excellent casting (River Phoenix, Will Wheaton, Corey Feldman - excellent here, and a host of others, including Kiefer Sutherland), and a keen sense of the essence of King's story. Reiner nailed it, and if there's any justice in this world, he will at the very least be remembered forever as the best adaptor of King ever.

But more to the point, the movie was faithful to Stephen King's story of four kids going on a quest to find the dead body of a boy their age. And what a story. One kid is 'the invisible boy' since his better-liked, successful, football star brother died and his parents can't adapt. Another is the son of a brutal, but tortured father (who we don't see, but seem to know), a man he loves despite the pain he inflicted on him. There's the fat, goofy kid, who may be truly clueless or may be acting that way to fit in. And then there's the 'bad' kid, from a troubled family, who's trying to rise above his lot - and just might, with the help of his friend, the invisible boy - who's a budding talent as a writer, and perhaps an analog of King himself. All these kids are different, but they are all friends, if just for a time, a summer, an adventure.

There's also 'The Body' - the dead kid, killed by a train. In the climax of the movie, his body is fought over by our gang and an older group of JDs headed by 'Ace' (Sutherland). His sad end started the whole journey and fueled the story, but had little to do with it, except perhaps as a presaging of the future of at least one of our heroes.

The novella and the movie seem to say 'you can't escape fate, but you can play with it a little'. There's some wiggle room in all of our lives, but making the most of it doesn't always lead to a happy ending.

I find this movie more arresting now than back in '86. The nostalgia overwhelms me now in ways it never could, when I was still 'young'. I had no kids of my own then.

'Have Gun Will Travel, Is the Card of A Man' ... indeed.

SNAFU in Massachusetts

Now that the media sharks have got hold of the 'story' of Henry Louis Gates arrest by Cambridge police, it's hard to sort out the facts. The headlines blare 'Racial Profiling' and claim racial bias is still present in America. As if that was news to anyone. President Obama calling the actions of the police stupid doesn't really help the clarity of the situation.

From what I can gather, here's what seems to have happened. Gates, arriving home with a friend, found he'd misplaced his keys. He decided to break into his own house. A neighbor spots this break-in and, like you'd hope a neighbor would, calls the police. They arrive and ask Gates for identification.

Now up to this point, there's nothing unusual here, even the fact the neighbor didn't recognize Gates. It was night after all, and few among us know all of our neighbors that well these days. The police did what they should. You don't respond to a break-in call and then accept the word of whoever you meet at the house that, 'it's alright, I live here'. You ask for proof.

After this point, though, it starts going horribly wrong. Gates, though likely embarrassed at having the police at his door, should simply have shown his ID. If he had done that, with no commentary, the police would have filled in a couple of forms and that would be that.

But, for some reason known only to Professor Gates, but perhaps because police officers don't always have the best public relations skills, he refused to comply with the police request and claimed the responding officer was being racist - that he was being racially profiled. That he was being asked for his ID in his own home only because he was a black man.

It's not an easy thing to calmly accept being called a racist, especially if you don't think you are, and it seems the officer didn't take this well. At this point I gather (the facts are hazy) he threatened to arrest Gates if he didn't calm down and comply. The published reports don't say how much of this went on and for how long, but at some point Gates relented and showed the officers his ID.

Here again, things could have ended, if not happily, at least acceptably. The police could have said something like, 'Thank you, Mr. Gates. Sorry for the inconvenience - just checking to be sure everything was OK. Good Evening', and beaten a hasty retreat. But, no, for whatever reason, possibly because Gates was loud and insistent that he was a racist - we'll never know for sure, the officer decided Gates' behavior was sufficiently wrong to require his arrest.

Oh Boy, Big Mistake! Haven't the police learned anything in the last 30 years about race relations and the media? Not in Cambridge, Mass., it seems.

What we have here, in reality, are two men with bruised egos rankled by what they perceive as false and unfair accusations. One of them a distinguished scholar who happens to be a black man, and the other a dedicated defender of the public safety who happened to take the wrong call at the wrong time. Both good men, both naturally angry at being accused of something they didn't do. Sadly, neither were generous or humble enough to admit their mistakes.

Functionally, the President was right, the police were 'stupid', in that the public will always hold the police to a higher standard than an individual. Even though it was a human being who made the decisions here, he's seen as part of an organization that should know better, should be immune to human emotions. Gates, as a fallible individual, gets the benefit of our doubts.

So the police dropped the charges.

But, of course, it's now too late. The media have taken over. The President has weighed in. Lawsuits will ensue.

SNAFU, baby!

A Dream of Mars?

By way of celebrating the 40th Anniversary of their historic moon shot, the Apollo 11 crew practically ignored our nearest neighbor. They'd been there, and, well, they'd done that. Time to move on. High time. Past Time, even.

No, their eyes were on Mars. More accurately, their dreams were directed to that red and (most likely) lifeless planet, since they will never make it there themselves. Too much time has passed since their historic achievement, and they weren't exactly kids back then.

So what is it that has these men, who accomplished all they were ever going to personally achieve in space exploration forty years ago, so fired up on going to Mars? Perhaps it's just because it's there. Way out there. Maybe it's because the trip would require a stretching of technology and human determination.

It might just be possible these good fellows were recruited by someone to pitch this trip. Recruited by someone who believes this anniversary and their prestige can help close a very hard sell in these tough economic times. With money being poured on fiscal fires at every turn, President Obama, if not Congress, could justify reluctance to spend hundreds of billions on a Mars trip - an 'investment' that would generate no immediate return.

The astronauts pitched the value we received from the ground-breaking technology the Apollo program generated. It's likely the computer I type this on wouldn't exist otherwise, nor would the internet in it's present form. Many hope a trip to Mars would do more of the same, while fearing a return to the moon wouldn't.

They could be right. But, if so, I think only partly. A return to the moon would require new technologies, or at least require a rapid evolution of technologies that exist now in research laboratories. Robotics, for instance.

A return to the moon makes so much sense it pains me to see Aldrin and Collins downplaying it (Armstrong came off neutral - the man's beyond influence, it seems). Such a return would stretch technology, and lessons learned would serve a later Mars journey.

Of course, it's possible that the Apollo 11 astronauts could be thinking that government funded missions should focus far out - at the bleeding edge. Perhaps they believe 'backfill' trips are better left to private enterprise.

A bleeding Mars, and the Moon as a 'suburban' development project. Dream or nightmare?

Babble-On 22

Is it still Monday?

Selling the Moon - It's been reported that Google is sponsoring a contest for private firms to send a rover to the moon. All well and good, except one company plans to take this technology to an absurd end - to advertise on the moon. I don't know about you, but if I look up at night and see 'Drink Coke' or something like it writ large in lunar dust, I will absolutely revolt. And I am talking the lit torches, barrels of feathers, and hot tar at the ready kind of revolt. So watch out, You!

Selling Out Reform - The media seem to have turned on President Obama's Health Care Reform Effort. I guess all it takes are a few 'Blue-Dog' Democrats (whatever the hell kind of pooches they are) to ignite a NIMBY sort of 'who's gonna pay for it' stalemate masquerading as a debate, and the media change tune. Of course, taking the controversial - but popular- position sells, so what else could we expect? More, I'd hoped ...

Selling the Longest Goodbye - If the media can't hold their water on Health Care Reform, why should we expect them to refrain from capitalizing on tragedy more than is necessary (from a newsworthiness perspective). Long after his actual death, Michael Jackson remains a headliner in the news. The press is still pondering whether his death was an accident or murder. I guess it couldn't be hoped that such an out-sized individual as Mr. Jackson be allowed to go quietly and with a modicum of dignity, but, this is beyond-the-pale (sorry).

Monday, Begone! Onwards to a better (or saner) rest of the week (please)...

Poetry Break: TGIF

TGIF

I love Fridays

The weekend beckons, starts

TGIF

I love Fridays

My motorcycle is anxious for the road

TGIF

I love Fridays

Not least because the TV sucks

And getting out's a must

TGIF

I love Fridays

But Saturdays are even better

And Sundays are bittersweet

TGIF

I love Fridays

Forget Monday

Have a Great Weekend

Save a Tree, Eat a Book

Abbie Hoffman once authored a book, titled, 'Steal This Book'. I say we're beyond that. As true consumers we need to take it one step further. There's a book out whose title (at least), has the right idea - 'Eat This Book!', but the content misses the mark.

Let me back up a minute: I was sitting at our dining table the other day talking about books and publishing. I was speaking with a house guest of ours, who, aside from being a refugee of the housing slump (and thus our guest), just happens to be a well-known children's book author and illustrator. She was telling me about a new eco-friendly trend, one example of which is book covers that are actually part of the book - not removable (and therefore not wasteful). Those flaps, where the content blurb and author notes are located? Still there, but not removable. (Good, I can still use them as bookmarks. But I digress.)

'Why not take this further?' I asked. 'Why not make the covers edible? In fact, why not make the whole book edible? Kids need nutrition, right?'

My friend the author, being the creative sort, immediately imagined all kinds of possibilities, which can be nicely summarized by 'pineapple pages, with raspberry ink'. Yummy.

Which brings me back to the point: Let's have edible books! Make books entirely, completely, edible. Something you will never be able to say about on-line content (I hope). Make them good for your body as well as your mind.

Here's an idea for Jenny Craig: Diet books, which are eaten as part of the diet. Perhaps one page a day, maybe a chapter. I'm not quite sure how this will help books on plumbing, anatomy, or automotive repair, but I am sure something could be figured out.

And when our guest and the other nutritionally-savvy authors of the future produce these edible books, I hope one of them will be titled 'You Can Have Your Cake Book, And Eat It Too!' I want my copy in Angel food with chocolate icing, and absolutely NO raspberry layers.

Governing Like Surfing: Catching The Waves

It's safe to say most learned and interested parties believe the best government is built from a considered consensus. At least, I'd like to believe that is safe to say, because the alternative would be government hastily concocted from ill-considered partisanship. Oh wait ...

I try to mentally place myself in our Congress (since no electoral body ever will), and wonder what I would do and how I would behave. Would I take the time to tackle the thorny issues in topics like health care reform, to get it done correctly so it could last, or would I rush to get any kind of health bill passed while the public's attention is focused on it? Would I suffer any sort of compromise just to 'strike while the iron is hot', so to speak?

From my safe imaginary role as a Senator (why imagine small), I can tell you I would take my time and not worry about the whims of the voting public. I would rally my compatriots and reach across party lines to craft a comprehensive, lasting legislation that would measurably improve the lives of all Americans. But that's why I am sitting here, typing this, and not on capitol hill busily bettering our lives.

To ignore the crest of public sentiment and move so slowly as to let it pass - to miss the wave, would allow any legislation's enemies (and there will always be some) to gather resources to block or kill it. Hence the rush to get anything acceptable through and out before we, the public, lose interest and move on to 'American Idol', or whatever drivel the cable news wonks are subliminally pressing into our subconscious today.

So, if the congressional antics unfolding daily seem sometimes like a tempest in a teapot, understand it is all directed at us. All the hustle, the bustle, the timely Rush Limbaugh miscues, the funny bits on Stewart and Colbert - are all directed to get our attention while we care to give it. Surf's Up!

Make That A Double

They say you 'can't fly on one wing', 'it takes two to tango', and 'two heads are better than one'. 

I'll go along with the first two, but that third one's a bit dubious.  I can't recall a situation when I noticed two heads - or three or four, for that matter, were measurably better than one. Oh, except for covering your ass.  Other heads mean other asses to share the blame, so multiple heads are great for Death March projects where trouble is a designated part of the plan.  I wonder if that's what our leaders and other influential folks have in mind with their 'second stimulus' murmuring.

Second stimulus?  Have we already spent the first one? 

So what's the situation here?  Is this a case of 'you can't have too much of a good thing', or one of 'if at first you don't succeed...?'  From what I can (barely) remember, we only just passed the first stimulus a few months ago and all the money can't possibly have made its way out to do its good deeds yet. Nothing moves that fast with government, except maybe tax collecting and impulsive military incursions.  So, what the heck is going on?

As you can no doubt tell, I haven't a clue.  Does anyone, really? Your Congressman? The Mayor? That cab driver last week in Seattle?

Do, You?

Truth in Motorcycling

I've come not to expect Truth. It's best that way. We humans shade the Truth too much too often to rely on it.

But there is a form of Truth that can be relied on. It's not the human kind, and it's not the kind seen in animals, domestic or otherwise. Although anything from the latter is definitely more Truthful than, say, George Bush telling us war was his 'tool of last resort'.

The form of Truth in which I can trust is the one that lies within the dynamics of skilled physical activity. For some this is golf, for others skiing, or soccer, or gymnastics, or baseball. For me this is mainly riding a motorcycle at speed.

Every input to a motorcycle's controls, every move or twitch of the rider, has a predictable effect, based on physics (at the core of it) and on the engineering of the machine, as well as the talent and fitness of the rider. When I push the right handlebar forward, the bike turns right. Pushed left, the bike goes left. This 'countersteering' is contrary to expectation, but one of the great Truths of motorcycling.

When I am on my motorcycle and we approach a curve in the road, I know there is a best path around that curve. There's Truth in the geometry of it. It's also true that I won't take the best path. I'll want to, and try to, but my skills will usually let me down. Just a little. Enough to make it safely around with no drama, but the Truth of my getting it wrong will still be clear. It will also be clear to anyone riding with me, and another Truth of motorcycling is they will let me know about it when we stop. This is one case where human Truth coincides and can be relied upon.

A motorcycle is a machine of essence. It's visceral and expects you to meld with it as one functioning entity. It's not just You, it's the 'You/Motorcycle' that turns and brakes and accelerates and leans. It's the purest form of teamwork, and another Truth of motorcycling is that bad things happen when that bond fails or is disrupted.

When riding, thinking about the fight with the wife, or the boss's belittling comment, or even something positive and pleasant like a great movie, or your last ride, can get you into deepest trouble. Approaching a turn with your mind elsewhere leaves the bike without it's most critical partner's full attention. An input too late, too abrupt, or too ineffective can have you in the trees, over a cliff, or into an oncoming truck. And that's painful Truth.

But I guess that's why I ride motorcycles, to feel the Truth, even knowing it might end in tears. There are other reasons: motorcycles require a level of skill, and that's a challenge; there's a little bravery, a bit of gutsiness involved, and that's exciting; but for me it's mostly because the act of riding is a Truthful experience. When the human kind of Truth starts to carve out a hollow in my soul, a fast ride on a good bike can fill it back in.

Babbleocity 21

Sunsets, Summer 2009 ...

Russian sunsets - I was on a plane returning to LA from Seattle a couple of weeks ago. It was late in the day and I was looking out my window at a red-orange sunset that just didn't seem right. I pointed this out to my seat-mate, who said, 'Must be a fire somewhere', and went back to perusing Sky Mall. I had seen a small fire (at least, small from 35,000 feet) in the northern Cascades, not far from one of those famous semi-dormant volcanoes who's names I can never remember. But this sunset was spectacular along the whole route, all the way into LA. Too much coverage for one little fire. A few days later I read the answer on Yahoo - the effect was due to a volcanic eruption in Russia. Thanks for the views, Mr. Medvedev (or is that Mr. Putin?).

Michael mania - What does it take to rekindle your fan base and have your albums sell like hotcakes? You have to die. Now that the 'King of Pop' has shuffled off this mortal stage, a wave of nostalgia and remembrance is spiking sales of his music. And good music it is too. This burst of popularity makes for a colorful sunset - a brighter conclusion, to a life and career muted sadly by creative stagnation and personal dissolution.

California's lost gold - How is it possible for the world's seventh largest economy to go belly up? It's not easy. It takes a determined effort to avoid all compromise and hold tightly to special interests. But, against all logic and defying the best instincts of most people (non-politicians, at least), California's leaders have managed to bungle things spectacularly. They are leading the state down an IOU-strewn path, into an uncertain sunset.

Poetry Break: The Frog of War

Hopping about his 5-sided office

Snapping flies on the fly with his tongue

Sometimes missing, badly

Rib-It, Rib-It, Rib-rib-rib-It

The goggled Froggy croaked

Through seven years of war, and then some

But Froggy's best was not enough,

and his war ended, sadly

In after years, retirement years, Froggy worked to make amends

War, he croaked, was not so good - after all,

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Better to tell it all on film, apologize profusely

It's always better late than never

One man's vision of war can be foggy,

And war shouldn't last forever...

But Foggy Froggy's lament was lost on those still in power

They hopped mightily in their 5-sided rooms

Snapping flies on the fly with their sticky, sticky tongues

Often missing, madly

Rib-It, Rib-It, Rib-rib-rib-It

The hopping froggies croaked,

Through seven years of war, and then some

(Frog's Legs, Anyone?)

Let's Be Franken

A while ago I commented on comedian cum politico Al Franken's narrow victory for a Minnesotan senate seat.  Mr. Franken was a personal favorite in the earlier days of SNL, and kept me interested with his re-visits to that show in later years.  

If any comic could make the transition to serious politics my guess was he'd be one.  After all, much of his latter work was firmly in the realm of political commentary, for example, 'Rush Limbaugh Is A Big, Fat, Idiot'.  My only concern was that he might be too subtle ...

But that 'victory' I blogged about was premature, oh, by about 7 months.  It had to go back in the legal oven and bake some more.  Chef Norm Coleman did his best to keep it in as long as possible - he'd of burned it if he could.  No worries though, the Minnesota State Supreme Court decided the people had waited long enough and dammit they were hungry enough, so the justices rang the bell on the oven timer and voila - Senator Al Franken.

Now that he's finally made it legit, can Al do what he's promised for the people of Minnesota?  Can the Jester become, if not King, counselor? Well, Minnesotans are experimenters if nothing else.  They elected a former wrestler as governor, an act slightly more risky than Californians electing Governator Arnold.  So why not give a comic a try?

So, congratulations Senator Franken!  Best of Luck in Washington mingling with all those people and engaging in all those events you formerly used as material.  Keep in mind that we fully expect you to appear on SNL as guest host while you are Senator.  And maybe broadcast from the Senate floor using that nifty SNL satellite hat.

Don't disappoint us ...

Your Place

Just returned from a Northwest excursion with a minor epiphany pranging  around in my head:

For everyone there is a place.  Somewhere that makes them feel truly at 'home', although that's not quite saying it exactly.  Some clever, literary word or phrase that means 'plugged in' but sounds nicer would be closer to correct.

I am not quite sure where my perfect place is.  Not the Pacific Northwest, beautiful as it truly is.  When I am up there I feel as if I am looking at it all through a window of clearest glass, but a window still.  It might be Los Angeles, which I've grown to appreciate.  It could be the Texas Hill Country, or the deserts outside Las Vegas.  It could be the rivers and beaches from my childhood in Florida.  Or maybe the salt marshes and pine forests of the Eastern Shore of Virginia, where I first popped onto this planet.

Many will say there's no such thing.  That if there is a perfect place it's defined by the people  you know and not the geography of it.  But I think there is something that connects us to our own special piece of the Earth, and we are lucky indeed if we find that place in our lifetimes.