Never Get Enough

I will surely miss him!

Alignment (Warning Graphic Image is Included)

Lately, Isaac and I have been engaged in conversations about the situation in Gaza. I don't want to make this entry about this conflict (well, I do --but I'm trying to resist)--but I will summarize our discussions. Despite the fact that I have friends of Israeli origin that I love dearly (and I can't seem to resist those "Dead Sea" salespeople in the malls), I am not pro-Israeli government. I am not a fan of the "occupation" of the West Bank or of Gaza. I see Israel as a powerful bully picking on an eight-year old child (although I guess the metaphor is better described as a younger, stronger man picking on an elder). I feel the current attack on Gaza is a perfect example of Israeli bullying. I do not want to put words into the mouth of Isaac--but our conversations (read arguments) have included the fact that the only way to get Hamas to stop its attacks is to show it that it is powerless against the might of Israel. Sometimes you have to cut your losses and realize that you're engaged in a battle that you'll never win, and that it is Hamas who is at fault for the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian children. I generally follow with discussions of the civil or women's rights movements. They, too, were fighting a much more powerful force that did not just one day decide that racism or sexual discrimination was wrong--but it took a fight.

Anyway, Democracy Now! has been focused on the conflict in Gaza for the last week or so. Anyone who is familiar will know without me saying that Amy Goodman has feelings similar to my own. In the interest of discourse she generally invites people from opposite sides to come onto the show (read "duke it out"). What sparks my curiosity is the notion that some people are credible (to me) and others are not. What makes someone credible in our minds? It can't be just because they say something with which we agree. I must have gotten my opinion about Israel and Gaza from someone.

We heard a NPR piece this weekend discussing whether Hamas is getting weapons from Iran. There were two guests: one felt certain that there was some transfer of cash and potentially weapons and the other felt certain that there was not. Isaac found one of the guests completely believable and credible and I found the other one to be such. It wasn't just that I thought one was credible, but I thought the other one was completely lying. Both had credentials, both had experience in the region. Are we really so transparent that we only believe those who say what we want to hear??

Take the rest of politics. It has come out that some of Obama's nominees have some indisgressions in their pasts. We say that Timothy Geithner made an "honest mistake" in failing to pay over $40,000 in taxes. What would we have said if he was part of the Bush Administration?? Be honest. We have to recognize our own hypocrisy before we can rid ourselves of it. Why do I find Neve Gordon a more credible "expert" on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than Lanny Davis? Neve Gordon is an Israeli professor at Ben Gurion University of the Negev and Lanny Davis was a former Clinton advisor and an advisor to the Israel Project. I can try to rationalize and say, "Well Neve Gordon lives in Israel and if he says that Israel is in the wrong, it must be true." Is that legit? Maybe Neve Gordon has other motives? Sometimes I tell myself that it's my instinct that tells me who's telling the truth. Am I just rationalizing my bias? Most likely.

Its frustrating to be confronted with my own hypocrisy. I know it's there--and I try to be honest about it--but sometimes it just jumps up and slaps me on the face!

For those interested, I highly recommend watching some of the discussions on the topic at Democracy Now! You can watch the videos on line for free. Here are some of the more poignant ones.
12 January
13 January
14 January

Stroll down memory lane

I'm not sure why I was thinking about this video the other day--but it did grace the empty chasm that is currently in control of my body.

This was one of the first things given to me by my sweetie. Its pretty random and I think it came along with a CD of "hair band" music. So romantic. Its one of those videos that you have to watch over and over in order to fully appreciate. (sound is VERY important)

A few of my favorite things..

Here are some of my new favorite things...

Yoga
I know, millions of people discovered yoga centuries ago--but I have been a hold out. Even back when I used to run--I was never much of a stretcher. That probably explains why my running career ended prematurely with knee pain. I love going to yoga class --I can actually feel the difference from day to day. Who knew that stretching could leave you so sore or be so much fun?

Riding the bus
Next to riding my bike, riding the public bus to work is my favorite way to get here. I feel like such a good citizen when I ride the bus. And, if you do it enough, you get to know the other folks on your bus. I feel like it gets me more connected to my community. And, I don't have to clear the snow off the car in the morning!

Google SketchUp
Holy Cow this program is awesome! Its my new obsession. So Google Sketchup is a program that lets you create 3D models and animations. It is free, fairly easy to learn--and fricken amazing. For our recent remodel we've been using it to explore kitchen layout options--incredible. It models shadows and sunlight throughout the day and the year, and you can create surfaces--so I can model my slate floors and my bamboo cabinets. Seriously--you need to check it out.

Crushed

I admit it, I was wrong. I had heard stories of Bill Richardson's inappropriate actions in politics, but I chose to ignore them. I had a political "crush" on Bill. There, I said it.

I like him for his experience in energy, border issues, and foreign relations. I liked his stance on getting the hell out of Iraq, and I loved his idea that all teachers should receive pay raises. I let my guard down--I let him infiltrate my emotions and tossed my criticism aside. Shame on me.

I would say shame on him--but, really, he just acted as all politicians do. I would still vote for him as commerce secretary--I would rather see him in that position than Obama's chosen National Intelligence Director, Dennis "I supported the Indonesian Army in their quest to massacre the East Timorese" Blair in his position, or Cowboy Ken Salazar as Interior Secretary.

But then, nobody asked me.

The Price of a Bargain

Lately I've been engaged in the remodel of my kitchen. Since the purchase of my house, I've discovered that I have an endless imagination for what could be done and neither the patience nor the pocketbook to see everything to fruition. That being said, we are working very hard to build my "dream kitchen" through sweat and hard labor (and minimal impacts on the bank account). There are, unfortunately, items that cannot be produced through our own hard work--an oven for instance. While I'm sure my beloved could, if given the right materials and time, manufacture an oven that would bake a cake on its own, we do not have that kind of time nor those materials. So what's a girl to do? Craigslist.

I am a craigslist addict. I find myself checking the local ads religiously--even ads for things for which I have no interest. My favorite is the Phoenix Craigslist site. You can pretty much find anything you've ever wanted on Phoenix Craigslist. There is so much crap for sale in Phoenix, I can't even browse the listings--I have to search for individual items. So this past week I was dreaming of a nice new wall oven. My hope is to put the stovetop (gas) on a new island and have a separate wall oven (I know--pretty trendy). We were discussing what to do about the microwave (ours currently doubles as the stove hood). I then remembered that I had seen a combo wall oven/microwave at one of the local appliance stores. So instead of a double oven (largely unneccessary for the two of us), the top is a microwave and the bottom is an oven. Pretty nifty, eh?

Well being the bargain hunter that I am (the unit I'd seen costs about $1800), I immediately turned to Phoenix Craigslist. Low and behold, there was one for sale! Who would have guessed? (ok, so I would have guessed--but nevermind). Anyway, the asking price for a new, unopened unit was $900! Whoa! So I ran to the phone--not to call the seller, but to call Isaac who does all my bargaining for me--to tell him to get the scoop.

So here's what the seller said. He said that he had been working for a distributor and insteading of getting paid in cash for his work---he got the oven. What? I asked Isaac if the distributor knew they were giving the oven away. Come on now--with a story like that, we knew it was probably a "hot" item. Uggh.

Now I'm left with this dilemma. Ok, so I think the item was stolen--but I don't know for sure. It likely was not stolen from a person, but rather from a large corporation--which makes me feel a little better--but should it? I tried to explore my options: not buy the item due to moral issues, get a smokin' (pun intended) deal for a great oven and pretend I never suspected it was stolen, or call the Phoenix PD and get the scoop. The item is still wrapped--so it comes with a warranty. I checked the Whirlpool website and they don't seem to care who sold the items under warranty. So if the guy is trying to scam me--I can probably get Whirlpool to replace it. On the other hand, buying a stolen item is really no better than stealing an item--but really, how do you ever know if items you get on Craigslist or Ebay were legitimately obtained? And let's say the guy is telling the truth--but the crime committed was that the distributor was hiring illegal aliens and paying them under the table. So if I call the police, maybe this poor guy gets deported or something. All he was trying to do was to buy a few morsels of food for his family--and maybe a little toy train for his son--and crutches for Tiny Tim, and.... ok, you get my point.

Some advice from the masses is in order. So far, we've done nothing.

Where does the time go?

Ok I must apologize for the extended time period between rants. I really have no idea why I've let the time pass--it just seems to whether I like it or not.

I've always thought that when I had a job, I would have all this free time to pursue hobbies, etc. It hasn't really happened. I DO remember short spells where I felt like I had nothing on my plate--but lately I feel like I'm racing around constantly.

I recently turned 35--feels older than it probably should. Here are a few things I wish I had time to do:

Rock climb--uggh when was the last time I even got to go to the gym??
Start running again--I used to be so rabid (no, not avid--rabid) about running.
Sewing projects
Knitting projects
Blog (of course)
Lift weights
Clean house--I mean really clean
Finish the remodel projects (HA!)
Go through my pictures and scan the hardcopies
Travel
Garden (ok not in the snow)
Put up christmas decorations before its too late!
Volunteer for something

I'm sure the list goes on--but these are the things I've been thinking of lately. I wish work didn't get in the way--or does it? In reality there are probably a million ways I could better budget my time.

Will there ever be a time that I don't feel panicked to get everything done? Will I ever be one of those people that manages to send out nice Christmas cards and remembers people's birthdays? What is the secret?

Mind Boggling

Enough of politics...

Yesterday I was walking down to the corner store to pick up something for my lunch. I'm not sure what was on my mind, but my guess is that it had something to do with the elections. Something in my senses triggered me to wake from my mental daydream as I approached the intersection. There was a semi truck pulling an empty flat-bed trailer turning right onto the street along which I was walking. It was a pretty tight turn for the truck and, as a result, the tires of the trailer crossed up onto the sidewalk and actually almost hit the building on the corner.

I've never driven a semi, so I can't really comment as to whether it was driver error--it seems like a tight corner, but I marveled at my fortune that I somehow managed to see it coming and waited on the sidewalk until the danger had passed. I began to think about the possible outcome if I had been on my cell phone--or if I had been a mother with a small child. Would the semi have hit me? I thought about how when walking or riding a bike, it is necessary to be hyper-aware of your surroundings--but I know while I drive, I sometimes find myself in a different mental zone. That doesn't seem to make any sense.

I then began to marvel that, here in America, we get our driver's licenses at the age of 15 or 16 --when our reflexes are at their fastest--and we are never required to renew our "certification" (until we are seventy). Driving is probably the most dangerous activity in which we engage--yet there is no continuing education. Does anyone else see that as insane?

landslide....

I have to say congratulations to all you die-hard Obama followers. I can't count myself among your ranks --although I did (somewhat reluctantly--I'm still deep down a Nader fan) give him my vote. The airwaves are ringing with the giddy sounds of liberal news reporters--and I have to say I'm feeling a little giddy myself. I am still reeling over my home state of Indiana going blue for the first time since like 1930 or something. I know Obama will make a good president. I don't think he will be as liberal as I want him to be--or as hard on lobbyists or big businessman as he says he will be--but I know there will be an improvement.

My relief is tempered somewhat by the noticeably absent defeat of constitutional amendments discriminating against gays in both California and Arizona. I am disappointed in my fellow Americans.

entry out of place

I did post a new entry--but it is posted for Oct 23 because that's when it was started. Check it out.