Whoop-dee-doo!
Yesterday was good. Today, not so much.
Yesterday, I was up at 8:30 am oh my! to get dressed for an almost-state occasion, collect Angie, and head up to Radnor. I had trouble getting dressed due to woefully non-fitting wardrobe issues, but eventually found a presentable outfit that accommodated my self-that-needs-to-cut-back-on-empty-carbs-again. (Or maybe needs-to-cut-back-on-steroids. My shoulders appear to be expanding to fullback dimensions.) Also? It was absurdly hot in my house, or at least within the midlife hormonal stew that is me, so I had to put on makeup in the car. Bah.
We got to Valley Forge Military Academy about 11:35 a.m, parked, and started slogging up the street to the chapel. Wouldn't have been a problem, except for that pesky possibly-broken toe (although I think it's actually just thoroughly sprained now, because it's not as sore as the 2 other toes I've broken in the past.) Near the entrance gate we had clowns to the left of us, in the form of Weldonites carrying silly signs about Sestak being a carpetbagger (Dude. He worked at the Pentagon when he wasn't busy on aircraft carriers. You mean to tell me he should commute from PA, holding up any emergency gatherings of the National Security Council by 3 hours because he's at home when the meeting's called? Or maybe he can live in VA, but his family should be here, so he'd never see them even when he's not on deployment? Sheesh.) and also some nonsense about his union and corporate funding. Which, when you look at Weldon's financial quagmire ... like I said, clowns. And there were jokers on the right, in the form of LaRouchies clamoring for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. Which ... okay as far as that goes, but the rest of their whackjob anti-Semitic agenda? Not so much.
So we got through the gates, were greeted by very very regimented cadets who escorted us into THE WORLD'S LONGEST CONGA LINE OMGz0rZ, but we made it into the chapel within about half an hour. And Clinton was running on Clinton Standard Time, which is not quite as unpredictable as Früvous Time, but close, so we were fine. The guy who had called me late Weds night and all-but-commanded my appearance turned out to be one of Sestak's high school/Annapolis/Navy buddies, who now apparently is doing a lot of PR for the campaign, and led us all in a pep rally while we waited for Bill (who apparently was off in North Philly, hanging out with Bush '41 and Jon Bon Jovi at a Habitat for Humanity event).
When Angie and I first entered the chapel, the people checking us all in had abruptly been told that the program was starting and they needed to process people through as quickly as possible, so my name was taken but not Angie's, and we were promptly handed little flags and lapel-stickers, then shuffled off to the far-left aisle. A single row of people were lined up against the wall, and then more people lined up at the edge of the center standing-room area, with a narrow aisle in between, down which we kept being shuffled by the people further in back of us. Finally, when I got about 2/3 of the way to the stage area, I stopped at a speaker stand because I really didn't think we should keep going into the seated area. I felt like I was blocking the view of people who had been there earlier, so I tried hunching down a little, meanwhile having fun with the "pep rally" atmosphere - music, dancing-in-place, chitchat with neighbors, flagwaving (OMG! I actually felt good about waving a flag! I almost NEVER feel comfortable with such gung-ho nationalism and "patriotic" display, because I feel like it will be misinterpreted as blind, lockstep support of lots of things I ... don't. But with fellow travelers, and especially with a President and a Vice-Admiral who share more of my views than disagree with them (much less brand them "unpatriotic"), it felt like a reclaiming. It's our flag too, dammit, and just because we don't brandish it like a cudgel doesn't mean we're disloyal.)
But the last row of seats, which started at the speaker stand, had 6 empty seats, which were marked reserved, presumably for the dignitaries and VIPs, and the deep pockets who had shelled out the original "VIP" donation amount of $1000. I hadn't paid anything, and I felt quite ridiculous even standing in that prime position in VIP-land. (I'd been considering wearing the power suit and decided against it in favor of more casual silk sweater and pants - but I thoroughly wished I had gone all professional at that point.) Really, since we'd gotten in for FREE I was shocked that we weren't up in the balcony. And once the campaign dude stopped talking, and it was obvious there were Men In Dark Suits running all around trying to be inconspicuous as they secured the room, another campaign aide told us to take that last row of seats, because really - empty seats in front of a PotUS is not of the good, even if there are 3000 or so people in the room.
So we shuffled into that last row of seats, along with a couple of other people, feeling the burning eyeballs of jealousy behind us of people who had been there first but couldn't get out of the standing-crowd to take the seats. And THEY had probably paid the non-VIP donation amount, so I felt really ridiculous. But hey. It wasn't like we pushed our way forward ourselves, running over old ladies and stomping on party dignitaries' feet in the process. We were just taking direction. :P
So then the campaign guy thanked all the dignitaries and veterans and local council people and so forth, all of whom were in the seats around us, and then welcomed Sestak. Sestak spoke for a little while about his campaign before segueing into working under Clinton as the Navy NSC guy, and welcomed Clinton with a leading question about that pesky 9-trillion-dollar debt issue that didn't exist 6 years ago - gee, how did that happen Bill? And then Clinton took the stage.
There was, of course, applause and much flashing of cameras, but more than that there were scattered shouts of "four more years!" Which Angie and I decided would make a nice chant, so we started the repetitive rhythm, and a few other people started chanting, until eventually we were shushed because hi, an Important Person was trying to speak. Hee. Indecorous Fruhead habits die hard. :) But he looked quite happy with it all. :)
Then Clinton went into some heavy policy stuff, and the room was surprisingly quiet, which he noted was strange for campaign season, but good because we were paying attention to serious issues, and not just slogans and what he called "Whoo-dee-doo". He talked about health care, and failure of corporate profits to reach workers in terms of salary and benefits improvements, and education, and that little national debt matter, wondering why we wanted to be in debt to Mexico when Mexico can't provide its citizens with enough to keep them from seeing brighter pastures here (ed. thought: hey! maybe our interest payments to Mexico can help fund improvements and social services for ordinary Mexicans! Yeah RIGHT.), not to mention China and India and Saudi Arabia. And he talked about Sestak's military credibility and qualifications and work on the National Security Council, and the real prospects for clean-energy development and self-sufficiency without sacrificing economic growth ("if Denmark can do it and experience 50% growth, you'd think America could do it, huh?") Oh, and a nice little bit about building partnerships and treating foreign countries and their citizens like worthy equals, instead of policies of arrogant unilateralism and "America is so special that we don't have to play by the rules we want to enforce on everyone else.". The whole tone was so positive, so inclusive, so pro-cooperation - there was NO Weldon-bashing. Not that I'd expect Clinton himself to Weldon-bash, because other than Tom Delay and Jack Abramoff and Chris Wallace, he's really not a bashing guy. :D But considering how negative and personal and truth-bending and swift-boat the Weldon campaign has gone, I'm really impressed that the Sestak campaign hasn't brought up the "20th most corrupt Congressman" issue, or the Moonie coronation issue, or harped on Weldon's fantasy-WMDs.
So then it was over, and Bill had to run off to hang out with another local candidate before his gig at the National Constitution Center last night, so we left. And the grounds crew was mowing the field next to the road while we were walking back to the car, so within 3 minutes I was snorting and had a smoker's voice. Yay. We went to very-late lunch at Wild Thyme in Rosemont Village, which was quite nice - it's all organic foods, simply but deliciously prepared. I had a turkey and bacon sandwich with avocado on whole-grain bread (from Le Bus!), and Angie had a Portabella mushroom-veggie-feta cheese sandwich, and we were happy. Then we went to the produce stand for fruits and veggies and imported cookies before I dropped her off at home. And then I came home and napped before taking Pixie to vet for shots; followed by a salad for dinner and lots of television.
And today, I am dead. *sigh*. Must have been the damned pollens set dancing by the mowing operation . After 2 days of feeling great - fully recovered from the Death!Cold of last week - I am back to being headachy and congested and sore-throaty and achy as hell. Bah. Actually, when I woke up there was a message on my machine inviting me to a Sestak luncheon followed by a debate with Weldon, but ... gah, even if I'd heard the phone ring and so gotten the message on time; and even if I had been given more than a half-hour's notice to get showered, dressed, and drive to Drexelbrook on the other side of this township, there was just No. Way. Not today, not the way I'm feeling. Which is why I'm really NOT a high-powered staffer type, I guess. I need a lot more turnaround time than that.
So it's going to be a very lazy rainy afternoon for me, filled with hot beverages and soup (Progresso Southwest Chicken mmmmm) and Motrin and maybe some BolthouseFarms berry smoothie mixed with seltzer and a splash of pomegranate juice (dirt cheap at the produce stand. It's from Georgia (the republic, not the state), so I hope its pricetag doesn't mean it's radioactive, or pressed by barefooted 4-year-olds. But when a quart costs $14.99 at the Acme and other such places, and $3.79 at the produce place, I'll try the produce-place version thankyouverrehmuch. All of their other imports are excellent - Israeli hummus, European chocolates and cookies (including Kinder candies OMG!, but alas no Eggs), Italian pasta and olives and cheeses and hams, so I figure it's worth a shot.
Oh oh oh! And we have a new black matte box on our computer desk, and its insides are functional but nothing has been transferred over to it yet. So I'm GETTING my life back, it's just stuck on some other hard drives right now. So my regular email is still not downloadable, so keep emailing me at gmail if you have things to say.
But when it's back, I hope I have MILLIONS of good pictures of a silver-haired smiling man, or at least one or two. And I really need my Photoshop, so I can make a "proud member of the reality-based community" icon. :D
And I'd like to listen to some music, too.
Finally, a supersekrit message for horvendile: I know you tried calling a couple of times, but I've been either out or busy. Should be around tonight between 7-9 or this wknd tho.
Yesterday, I was up at 8:30 am oh my! to get dressed for an almost-state occasion, collect Angie, and head up to Radnor. I had trouble getting dressed due to woefully non-fitting wardrobe issues, but eventually found a presentable outfit that accommodated my self-that-needs-to-cut-back-on-empty-carbs-again. (Or maybe needs-to-cut-back-on-steroids. My shoulders appear to be expanding to fullback dimensions.) Also? It was absurdly hot in my house, or at least within the midlife hormonal stew that is me, so I had to put on makeup in the car. Bah.
We got to Valley Forge Military Academy about 11:35 a.m, parked, and started slogging up the street to the chapel. Wouldn't have been a problem, except for that pesky possibly-broken toe (although I think it's actually just thoroughly sprained now, because it's not as sore as the 2 other toes I've broken in the past.) Near the entrance gate we had clowns to the left of us, in the form of Weldonites carrying silly signs about Sestak being a carpetbagger (Dude. He worked at the Pentagon when he wasn't busy on aircraft carriers. You mean to tell me he should commute from PA, holding up any emergency gatherings of the National Security Council by 3 hours because he's at home when the meeting's called? Or maybe he can live in VA, but his family should be here, so he'd never see them even when he's not on deployment? Sheesh.) and also some nonsense about his union and corporate funding. Which, when you look at Weldon's financial quagmire ... like I said, clowns. And there were jokers on the right, in the form of LaRouchies clamoring for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. Which ... okay as far as that goes, but the rest of their whackjob anti-Semitic agenda? Not so much.
So we got through the gates, were greeted by very very regimented cadets who escorted us into THE WORLD'S LONGEST CONGA LINE OMGz0rZ, but we made it into the chapel within about half an hour. And Clinton was running on Clinton Standard Time, which is not quite as unpredictable as Früvous Time, but close, so we were fine. The guy who had called me late Weds night and all-but-commanded my appearance turned out to be one of Sestak's high school/Annapolis/Navy buddies, who now apparently is doing a lot of PR for the campaign, and led us all in a pep rally while we waited for Bill (who apparently was off in North Philly, hanging out with Bush '41 and Jon Bon Jovi at a Habitat for Humanity event).
When Angie and I first entered the chapel, the people checking us all in had abruptly been told that the program was starting and they needed to process people through as quickly as possible, so my name was taken but not Angie's, and we were promptly handed little flags and lapel-stickers, then shuffled off to the far-left aisle. A single row of people were lined up against the wall, and then more people lined up at the edge of the center standing-room area, with a narrow aisle in between, down which we kept being shuffled by the people further in back of us. Finally, when I got about 2/3 of the way to the stage area, I stopped at a speaker stand because I really didn't think we should keep going into the seated area. I felt like I was blocking the view of people who had been there earlier, so I tried hunching down a little, meanwhile having fun with the "pep rally" atmosphere - music, dancing-in-place, chitchat with neighbors, flagwaving (OMG! I actually felt good about waving a flag! I almost NEVER feel comfortable with such gung-ho nationalism and "patriotic" display, because I feel like it will be misinterpreted as blind, lockstep support of lots of things I ... don't. But with fellow travelers, and especially with a President and a Vice-Admiral who share more of my views than disagree with them (much less brand them "unpatriotic"), it felt like a reclaiming. It's our flag too, dammit, and just because we don't brandish it like a cudgel doesn't mean we're disloyal.)
But the last row of seats, which started at the speaker stand, had 6 empty seats, which were marked reserved, presumably for the dignitaries and VIPs, and the deep pockets who had shelled out the original "VIP" donation amount of $1000. I hadn't paid anything, and I felt quite ridiculous even standing in that prime position in VIP-land. (I'd been considering wearing the power suit and decided against it in favor of more casual silk sweater and pants - but I thoroughly wished I had gone all professional at that point.) Really, since we'd gotten in for FREE I was shocked that we weren't up in the balcony. And once the campaign dude stopped talking, and it was obvious there were Men In Dark Suits running all around trying to be inconspicuous as they secured the room, another campaign aide told us to take that last row of seats, because really - empty seats in front of a PotUS is not of the good, even if there are 3000 or so people in the room.
So we shuffled into that last row of seats, along with a couple of other people, feeling the burning eyeballs of jealousy behind us of people who had been there first but couldn't get out of the standing-crowd to take the seats. And THEY had probably paid the non-VIP donation amount, so I felt really ridiculous. But hey. It wasn't like we pushed our way forward ourselves, running over old ladies and stomping on party dignitaries' feet in the process. We were just taking direction. :P
So then the campaign guy thanked all the dignitaries and veterans and local council people and so forth, all of whom were in the seats around us, and then welcomed Sestak. Sestak spoke for a little while about his campaign before segueing into working under Clinton as the Navy NSC guy, and welcomed Clinton with a leading question about that pesky 9-trillion-dollar debt issue that didn't exist 6 years ago - gee, how did that happen Bill? And then Clinton took the stage.
There was, of course, applause and much flashing of cameras, but more than that there were scattered shouts of "four more years!" Which Angie and I decided would make a nice chant, so we started the repetitive rhythm, and a few other people started chanting, until eventually we were shushed because hi, an Important Person was trying to speak. Hee. Indecorous Fruhead habits die hard. :) But he looked quite happy with it all. :)
Then Clinton went into some heavy policy stuff, and the room was surprisingly quiet, which he noted was strange for campaign season, but good because we were paying attention to serious issues, and not just slogans and what he called "Whoo-dee-doo". He talked about health care, and failure of corporate profits to reach workers in terms of salary and benefits improvements, and education, and that little national debt matter, wondering why we wanted to be in debt to Mexico when Mexico can't provide its citizens with enough to keep them from seeing brighter pastures here (ed. thought: hey! maybe our interest payments to Mexico can help fund improvements and social services for ordinary Mexicans! Yeah RIGHT.), not to mention China and India and Saudi Arabia. And he talked about Sestak's military credibility and qualifications and work on the National Security Council, and the real prospects for clean-energy development and self-sufficiency without sacrificing economic growth ("if Denmark can do it and experience 50% growth, you'd think America could do it, huh?") Oh, and a nice little bit about building partnerships and treating foreign countries and their citizens like worthy equals, instead of policies of arrogant unilateralism and "America is so special that we don't have to play by the rules we want to enforce on everyone else.". The whole tone was so positive, so inclusive, so pro-cooperation - there was NO Weldon-bashing. Not that I'd expect Clinton himself to Weldon-bash, because other than Tom Delay and Jack Abramoff and Chris Wallace, he's really not a bashing guy. :D But considering how negative and personal and truth-bending and swift-boat the Weldon campaign has gone, I'm really impressed that the Sestak campaign hasn't brought up the "20th most corrupt Congressman" issue, or the Moonie coronation issue, or harped on Weldon's fantasy-WMDs.
So then it was over, and Bill had to run off to hang out with another local candidate before his gig at the National Constitution Center last night, so we left. And the grounds crew was mowing the field next to the road while we were walking back to the car, so within 3 minutes I was snorting and had a smoker's voice. Yay. We went to very-late lunch at Wild Thyme in Rosemont Village, which was quite nice - it's all organic foods, simply but deliciously prepared. I had a turkey and bacon sandwich with avocado on whole-grain bread (from Le Bus!), and Angie had a Portabella mushroom-veggie-feta cheese sandwich, and we were happy. Then we went to the produce stand for fruits and veggies and imported cookies before I dropped her off at home. And then I came home and napped before taking Pixie to vet for shots; followed by a salad for dinner and lots of television.
And today, I am dead. *sigh*. Must have been the damned pollens set dancing by the mowing operation . After 2 days of feeling great - fully recovered from the Death!Cold of last week - I am back to being headachy and congested and sore-throaty and achy as hell. Bah. Actually, when I woke up there was a message on my machine inviting me to a Sestak luncheon followed by a debate with Weldon, but ... gah, even if I'd heard the phone ring and so gotten the message on time; and even if I had been given more than a half-hour's notice to get showered, dressed, and drive to Drexelbrook on the other side of this township, there was just No. Way. Not today, not the way I'm feeling. Which is why I'm really NOT a high-powered staffer type, I guess. I need a lot more turnaround time than that.
So it's going to be a very lazy rainy afternoon for me, filled with hot beverages and soup (Progresso Southwest Chicken mmmmm) and Motrin and maybe some BolthouseFarms berry smoothie mixed with seltzer and a splash of pomegranate juice (dirt cheap at the produce stand. It's from Georgia (the republic, not the state), so I hope its pricetag doesn't mean it's radioactive, or pressed by barefooted 4-year-olds. But when a quart costs $14.99 at the Acme and other such places, and $3.79 at the produce place, I'll try the produce-place version thankyouverrehmuch. All of their other imports are excellent - Israeli hummus, European chocolates and cookies (including Kinder candies OMG!, but alas no Eggs), Italian pasta and olives and cheeses and hams, so I figure it's worth a shot.
Oh oh oh! And we have a new black matte box on our computer desk, and its insides are functional but nothing has been transferred over to it yet. So I'm GETTING my life back, it's just stuck on some other hard drives right now. So my regular email is still not downloadable, so keep emailing me at gmail if you have things to say.
But when it's back, I hope I have MILLIONS of good pictures of a silver-haired smiling man, or at least one or two. And I really need my Photoshop, so I can make a "proud member of the reality-based community" icon. :D
And I'd like to listen to some music, too.
Finally, a supersekrit message for horvendile: I know you tried calling a couple of times, but I've been either out or busy. Should be around tonight between 7-9 or this wknd tho.