Get OUT of there!

To my friends in NOLA don't pass go, don't collect $200, just get out!

Over ,"Out", and far away from Gustav, from Chesapeake, VA

Another Similarity?

Option A:
McCain's choice (Sarah Palin):

Option B:
My choice (Karen Walker):

You be the judge!

Over and "Out" from Chesapeake, VA

Barack O-Biden

And... We're OFF!

Over and "Out" from Chesapeake, VA

Two Thousand-Eight

I am so excited about the election this year. I watched the live local coverage of Barack Obama in... of all places... Chesapeake, VA last night!

I was not sure I was going to watch it live, but am so happy I did. This man (and the man he selects as his running mate) has a vision that McBush just doesn't articulate... My two youngest children went to middle and high school here in Virginia. We have what many states have, standardized testing throughout those grade levels. Here in Virginia they are called the "Standards of Learning" or "SOL's". I watched my teens be taught to these tests. I mean, the schools would lose their accreditation if the scores on these tests were below a certain point. So the focus was always on teaching to the SOL's, rather than"just plain" teaching period...

A few of the things that grabbed my attention:

On the middle class... "Are you better off now, than you were when George Bush took office?" If you are, then vote for John McCain...

On civil liberties... the Bush administration disregarded the constitution in an attempt to maintain "national security"... "The first thing I will do when elected, is to have my Attorney General review all of Bush's executive orders, and those that defy the words of the constitution will be eliminated"...

On health care... Health care extends beyond physical health needs... Mental health, including PTSD for our VETS is not being addressed. Some of our citizens are being locked up in jail, when they should be receiving unavailable health care...

And OMG, I love the parenting reference.... Fathers need to be Fathers, regardless of their relationship with the mother...

I know there are a few McBush supporters out there, but this guy is our future, not our past!

Over and "Out" from Chesapeake, VA

Nineteen Sixty-Eight

I am off today and doing my chores here around the old homestead... I am watching the History channel as I do my weekly three loads of laundry.

Tom Brokaw has always been one of those people I admired... Funny to see him in 1968 as an occasional on air reporter for NBC, and today... as the trusted information icon he has become:

Funny also, the parallels between the then war, in southeast Asia (Vietnam), and our ongoing Bushwhacking (in Iraq). One of the first people, a student from the University of Wisconsin, to protest the draft in 1968, and move to Canada, has since become a Canadian citizen, a well respected attorney, and has started to represent some of our young people today, sucked into the Iraq war by talks of WMD, connections to Al Qaeda, and other Bush lies, tricked into fighting another war similar to Vietnam... I know I am oozing secrets of my age and my political preferences here, but this gets better!

The Smothers Brothers (Comedy Hour, a very popular show in 1968), were censored for being too politically incorrect and ended up being cancelled by CBS in 1969. Yet comedians today, specifically people like John Stewart, contribute their passion for their profession to people just like them. I loved the Smothers Brothers, and yes they did come back!

I was not even thirteen yet that April, when I watched Bobby Kennedy announce that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated in Memphis, TN... My Dad, for whatever reason at the time, had decided to take his wife, four sons, a dog, and a cat across country (to move us and show us all the beauties of our United States) from a very comfortable life in Northern California... We were visiting family near St. Louis, MO when that news came out... The June announcement that year that Kennedy himself was shot and killed in LA, came when I was living with my family in the US Virgin Islands, St. Croix to be more specific. It seems my Father was smarter than I could have possibly known...

The plan for my Dad in 1968, was to find a large sailboat (something in the 60-70 foot range), and take this awkward time to show his "boys", wife, and animals, the world... He wanted to sail around the world with us... We made it to the Caribbean and Bahamas before he passed away in 1979... But that's another story...

Back to 1968... My current "significant other" was not even born yet when these events took place... The democrats self destructed in Chicago of that year... HHHumphrey had no chance after the convention, and we were destined to have a Nixon (who had previously announced he would never seek another public office) in the White House... but then there was George Wallace, from Alabama... Yeah I remember this shit...

Women's equality also became more advanced that year... Miss America 1968 came to be a turning point for women's rights in America, when a live sheep was crowned Miss America before Debra Dene Barnes actually received the bouquet of roses from Bert Parks... Additionally, women trashed their girdles, and bras (mistakenly referred to as burning their bras) along with other articles commonly associated with women.

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1968 also marked the lift off, and voyage of Apollo 8, the first manned mission from earth to venture to the "dark side" of the moon... A precursor to the eventual landing the following year.

We are now 40 years beyond 1968... I am happy to be here, and even happier to be a part of the next "bra burning" generation or group... We are who we are!

Over and "Out" from Chesapeake, VA... in 2008!

Updated/Upgraded Format

Ok, I broke down and upgraded my Blogger account...

.

I Lost a couple of things, but looks like I can add some fun stuff too... Gonna have to play with it a bit, and see what comes up...

Over and "Out" for today, from Chesapeake, VA

Busy, Busy, Busy...

I realized this morning that I have not posted in a few... I have been spending most of my free time with the guy I mentioned a few weeks back...

This has been the most curious relationship I have ever been involved in. We are definitely more than friends, we are physically attracted to each other, spend nights sleeping in the same bed, and intimacy has been no problem for either of us... Yet, and I know this may be TMI for some, we haven't had sex yet! It's actually very refreshing and somewhat stimulating... This one may be a "keeper"...

Otherwise, work has been time consuming, I have not gone in (over the past week) in the usual jacket and tie, but rather jeans and a tee... I had previously mentioned the painting that needed to get done by August 1st, and it took me and a couple of temps through this past Tuesday to get them all done... 17 walls in each of 4 lifestyle category colors... For those not mathematically inclined, that is 68 walls! Glad it's finally over!

The condo up in Ocean View (Norfolk) didn't work out... It would have been a 1/2 hour drive (minimum) for me, and I much prefer to live closer to work. So now the new focus is in the Olde Town area of Portsmouth... It is only 15 minutes from work and living in the old historical part of the downtown area is something I have always wanted to do... I don't mind at all renting from my current house-mate, she is awesome, but I think it's time to try to get something of my own...

Time to start getting ready for work...

Over and "Out" from Chesapeake, VA