i have finally escaped the land of the mosquito and returned to the land of the duck; traded snow for rain; and the great lakes for the pacific ocean.
moving from minnesota to oregon, is like coming home from a long summer camp. i had fun, but i'm glad to be back.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Saturday, April 10, 2004
good friday
"how do vegetarians celebrate easter?" i'm not a vegetarian. my girlfriend is. for as close as people at my work have ever come to a vegetarian, you might as well substitute 'lesbian', 'communist' or 'shiite'. the people i work with live in and around the twin cities in minnesota. most of them group ni the area or in a foreign country. if you've ever heard garrison kieller's prairie home companion, these are the people he's making fun of, not the people sitting in the audience laughing at his drole sense of humor.
the asker of the question is a 57 year old woman who describes herself as either from new orleans or chicago depending on how you ask her, but she's lived in minnesota longer than i've been alive. her educational background ranges from dropping out of high school and getting her g.e.d. to completing two years of college, from which she left because in her mind higher education had nothing left to offer her. her children are grown and have families of thier own. and, when she's not complaining about work, she talks constantly about shopping, reality television or bowling, sometimes in such a way that i can't quite tell which.
for the last couple of hours, she and some of the other women in my area have been discussing what they are going to eat on easter and whether or not they are going to be the ones preparing the meal. all of the younger gals are cooking, all of the older gals are going to eat meals prepared by thier daughters or daughter's in law. they never ask me, probably because i'm a guy, but maybe because they suspect that i am a better cook than they are, which from the conversations i've overheard, i most likely am.
i take only a second or two in formulating my answer. i don't consider myself christian, and not having kids don't buy into the commercial side of easter either. but, still i manage to answer with a straight face, "they get all dressed-up and go to church just like everybody else. then, when the service is over, they go looking for easter eggs."
the asker of the question is a 57 year old woman who describes herself as either from new orleans or chicago depending on how you ask her, but she's lived in minnesota longer than i've been alive. her educational background ranges from dropping out of high school and getting her g.e.d. to completing two years of college, from which she left because in her mind higher education had nothing left to offer her. her children are grown and have families of thier own. and, when she's not complaining about work, she talks constantly about shopping, reality television or bowling, sometimes in such a way that i can't quite tell which.
for the last couple of hours, she and some of the other women in my area have been discussing what they are going to eat on easter and whether or not they are going to be the ones preparing the meal. all of the younger gals are cooking, all of the older gals are going to eat meals prepared by thier daughters or daughter's in law. they never ask me, probably because i'm a guy, but maybe because they suspect that i am a better cook than they are, which from the conversations i've overheard, i most likely am.
i take only a second or two in formulating my answer. i don't consider myself christian, and not having kids don't buy into the commercial side of easter either. but, still i manage to answer with a straight face, "they get all dressed-up and go to church just like everybody else. then, when the service is over, they go looking for easter eggs."
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
caucus 2004
i just participated in my first political caucus this evening. wow! it was pretty darn cool. let me explain- i am from a state that utilizes the primary system, so the notion of "grassroots" politics has always been just that, a notion. i'd participated in and with political groups in college and for a couple of years after college. they were movements, but not grassroots as they were lacking the sense of community necessary for something to be grassroots.
tonight, it was literally exciting to go into the room for my precinct and see it filled to the brim with my neighbors. sure, i only recognized a couple of folks, but the idea that people had turned off the television for one evening to come down to the school where the caucus was held, is beautiful. and, that so many of the people were young people was nice to see.
so, my candidate didn't win in my precinct. turns out it didn't matter, since he had all but conceded the race as the caucus was starting unbeknownst to all of us...the important thing is people were talking and laughing and meeting and shaking hands and discussing. we chose delegates and alternatives for various upcoming comventions. i just kept thinking the whole time- these people are going to vote in november.
tonight, it was literally exciting to go into the room for my precinct and see it filled to the brim with my neighbors. sure, i only recognized a couple of folks, but the idea that people had turned off the television for one evening to come down to the school where the caucus was held, is beautiful. and, that so many of the people were young people was nice to see.
so, my candidate didn't win in my precinct. turns out it didn't matter, since he had all but conceded the race as the caucus was starting unbeknownst to all of us...the important thing is people were talking and laughing and meeting and shaking hands and discussing. we chose delegates and alternatives for various upcoming comventions. i just kept thinking the whole time- these people are going to vote in november.
Saturday, November 29, 2003
please, mr. president
when i was a child, my grandmother instilled one guiding principle in my brother and i, when you go someplace, leave it in a better condition than when you arrived. for us boys, this usually applied to camping, or to staying at her house for the weekend. as i've gotten older, i've tried to apply this to the rest of my life, with the side-effect that i expect others to do the same.
i certainly expect my elected officials to hold themselves to the standards which i and the rest of thier constituents hold themselves. i expect that if they don't hold themselves to at least the same standard as the public, that it is the people's duty to do something about it, whether it be simply reminding them, or kicking them out of office.
i do not agree with president bush's war in iraq. it seems ludicrous to wage war on a whole country just because of one man or a small group of men. i believe that mr. bush himself stated about the same when addressing the terrorist attacks on new york and washington d.c.
but, i can't go back in time and change what the u.s. has done. all i can ask is that we make it right. we destroyed iraq's infrastructure, we are obligated to rebuild it at least to the level it was at prior to the war in iraq, even prior to the gulf war. part of this infrastructure is the oil pipeline. part of rebuilding it, is putting control of it back in the hands of its rightful owners.
please, mr. president, do right by your people. do right by your country. do right by me and my grandmother.
i certainly expect my elected officials to hold themselves to the standards which i and the rest of thier constituents hold themselves. i expect that if they don't hold themselves to at least the same standard as the public, that it is the people's duty to do something about it, whether it be simply reminding them, or kicking them out of office.
i do not agree with president bush's war in iraq. it seems ludicrous to wage war on a whole country just because of one man or a small group of men. i believe that mr. bush himself stated about the same when addressing the terrorist attacks on new york and washington d.c.
but, i can't go back in time and change what the u.s. has done. all i can ask is that we make it right. we destroyed iraq's infrastructure, we are obligated to rebuild it at least to the level it was at prior to the war in iraq, even prior to the gulf war. part of this infrastructure is the oil pipeline. part of rebuilding it, is putting control of it back in the hands of its rightful owners.
please, mr. president, do right by your people. do right by your country. do right by me and my grandmother.
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
let it snow
I hate winter but love the first snow of the year.
Why do I love the first snow of the year? Fair enough question. I live in the Twin Cities. If you’re not from here, you probably don’t realize how large they are, and you probably don’t realize how dirty they are. I’ve never been to New York City, or to Philadelphia, or to Chicago, but I bet my reasoning is applicable to them as well. I hate how dirty the cities get, and most of it is litter. The first snow falls and the discarded cigarette pack ceases to be a cigarette pack and becomes a bump in the snow. It becomes a bump the same way a rock or a pile of leaves becomes a bump. For a brief while (sometimes a long while), I stop passing judgment on the garbage and just look at the beautiful white landscape.
I grew up and have spent most of my life living in the Pacific Northwest, within an hour or so of the Pacific Ocean. We don’t get a lot of snow. I think it would be fair to say that we don’t even get snow every winter, not counting appreciable accumulation. So, the first snow brings with it a kind of child-like euphoria, that’s reminiscent of Christmas coming.
Plus, it’s not that cold for the first snow. The temperature hovering right around freezing is absolutely balmy compared to the sub-zero temps I know are coming.
Why do I love the first snow of the year? Fair enough question. I live in the Twin Cities. If you’re not from here, you probably don’t realize how large they are, and you probably don’t realize how dirty they are. I’ve never been to New York City, or to Philadelphia, or to Chicago, but I bet my reasoning is applicable to them as well. I hate how dirty the cities get, and most of it is litter. The first snow falls and the discarded cigarette pack ceases to be a cigarette pack and becomes a bump in the snow. It becomes a bump the same way a rock or a pile of leaves becomes a bump. For a brief while (sometimes a long while), I stop passing judgment on the garbage and just look at the beautiful white landscape.
I grew up and have spent most of my life living in the Pacific Northwest, within an hour or so of the Pacific Ocean. We don’t get a lot of snow. I think it would be fair to say that we don’t even get snow every winter, not counting appreciable accumulation. So, the first snow brings with it a kind of child-like euphoria, that’s reminiscent of Christmas coming.
Plus, it’s not that cold for the first snow. The temperature hovering right around freezing is absolutely balmy compared to the sub-zero temps I know are coming.
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