Trigeminal Grumpiness...

I just had one of the weirdest lunar Leo transits in recent memory. Three days of bad mood. Self-loathing. Inertia. No yoga, no walk, no weightlifting, no housework. But lots of angry eating. And the negative thing about that was i wasn't even enjoying what i was narfing down. And no PMS as the reason, i'd ended my monthly cycle last week. The kicker to all this being the fact that there was a Leo Full Moon Tuesday! I usually really rock out at such a time. On a positive note, i did read...but i didn't write.

more Bushwhacked...

I was going to launch a vituperative harangue about Dubya's "education" policy (public education being something i believe in), but after finishing Ms. Ivin's book, it's altogether too difficult to focus right now on just that one issue as a subject of personal outrage. I'd be here writing a book-length posting. While that might not be that bad of an idea, i'll just say for the time being that i want everybody to read this book!

Bushwhacked...

Thank you, John Dean, for recommending Molly Ivins & Lou DuBose's book. I began reading it this afternoon, and it's the bomb.

Dream segment...

My daughter and i are reclining together on a couch in the living room of our house...i notice a medium-sized mirror hanging over the computer desk, which is inclined toward us...suddenly, my daughter vanishes...i hear a grinding noise coming from the mirror, and feel it trying to pull me into it... at this point i awaken with an outcry

Reading...

Just finished John Dean's Worse Than Watergate...wow, very highly recommended...well written from a man who knows how the presidency works...

We feel safer?

Yesterday's Washington Post brought us the news that CIA director Goss is eliminating the daily 5p.m. counterterrorism meetings which Tenet initiated after 9/11. These meetings involved CIA , FBI, Pentagon and Homeland Security officials. Goss will be replacing these with smaller meetings three mornings a week. Here's my favorite quote: (from an administration official), "If something exploded, [Goss] would get briefed right away." Gee, that's great! The article features a photo of Goss and Bush standing together. Then today's Post gives us front page news about the inauguration: the Bush administration has refused to pay D.C. for inaugural expenses. They told D.C. to use money allocated for homeland security instead. Again, that's just great. I for one do not see the need for millions of dollars being spent on this inauguration whatever the source. I think that Bush is once again showing a total disregard for reality. It's tactless. This is not the time for a big glitzy high dollar extravaganza. He had that $40 million party last time. Think of all that could be done with $40 mil right now, elsewhere.

Quiet...

Fiction in between the political tome onslaught; began Daemonomania by John Crowley on Saturday. Immediately pulled into this world both magical and erotic and, what? Only a third of the way into it, so the potential is looming so enticingly before me.
Yes, today was a "me" day. Reading, staring out the window, wandering around the yard, chili for lunch! Ah...writing too, a little bit. Content...

catching up...

Ah, the holidays...lots of quality time being spent with loved ones, then WHAM-MO...i'm sick, serious smack-down sick. In bed for four days, don't eat, little sleep, drifting around in dreams, "lots of fluids", some reading when i could get past the headache. Oh yeah. Melian was a real trooper, feeding herself and the critters. My sense of smell was really heightened during and after. That was cool. I gradually re-introduced myself to the joys of food on the fifth day. Went into a different room of the house! Wow! Look at me, i'm standing up! Crazy stuff. Doing some yoga stretches to regain muscle tone. AND, trying to catch up with all of our friends this week that we wanted to visit with last week. Happy new year & pass me a beer.
Read Exporting America by Lou Dobbs. Short & to the point. Scary. Our government is removing our ablility to make a living. To be self-reliant as a country. Crushing any pride we might have left at a job well-done, "look! we made that"...goodbye middle-class! Yes, all for the sake of that bottom line ($$$$$). And the proponents of offshore outsourcing try to obscure the issue by saying that we (Americans workers) don't want to work, aren't productive, and lack education. When it's really alot about money. Outsourcing is cheaper. Why pay us $17 an hour plus benefits when you can pay someone in India/China/insert country here 62 cents and hour and no benefits? In my opinion this is one of the most horrific trends that have come along this decade. Lou gives a list of companies that have outsourced, it's quite lengthy and depressing. Count how many of the companies that you deal with on a regular basis that are on this list...
On the fiction end i am reading Stephen King's The Dark Tower. Noticed quite a bit of sloppy writing in the first third of the book. It's getting better here in the last third. But i still just don't like his having himself as a character, for some reason it's really grated on my nerves. I really dig the Darktower series, and hope it ends well. It's down to Roland, Oy and Susannah now...