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Ides of June
It's June Gloom season around here, and now that the summer has finally slowed down to its usual pace I'm enjoying the cool foggy days. C is still in Spain but will return on Wednesday. From what I can tell she's had a remarkably productive trip - her interviews of Spanish bureaucrats (a group made of individuals who are often hard to pin down) have given her a treasure-trove of new data and she had a very pleasant experience giving a guest lecture at a university there. In her absence I've had a fun and relaxing time reading (finished 2 books just last week) and watching the Lakers choke. I have absolutely no love for the Celtics, or any other team from Boston for that matter, but the nice thing about a Lakers-Celtics series is that I'm guaranteed to see one team I don't like lose.
Last weekend I had a really pleasant visit with friends in Minnesota. I keep telling myself that I did manage to find myself in Minnesota in June - not January - but I was impressed with the beauty of the rolling hills of Central Minnesota and the hustle and bustle of the Twin Cities. I had many memorable meals there, but none so memorable as my dinner last Saturday night at the restaurant co-owned by Garrison Keillor (click on my photo of the menu above to see the desserts). Plus, if you didn't know - the Twin Cities citizens are the most literate in the country...so it has to be a nice place.
In other Prairie Home-related news, I did buy my tickets for PHC's appearance at the Santa Barbara Bowl in August and secured tickets to Keillor's September appearance at Pepperdine. Maybe I'm going a little overboard in my love for Minnesota. After all, the cool, foggy days of June in Southern California are awfully nice. I'm told it isn't 70 degrees in mid-afternoon everywhere.
The Freak Show
Now that Obama has secured the Democratic nomination, I suspect the Freak Show will begin any day. The Freak Show is the term coined by ABCNews' Mark Halperin to describe the right wing's pathological desire to destroy anyone standing in their way (for more discussion, read the excerpt from Halperin's book here). From bogus DrudgeReport stories to ridiculously stupid email forwards (almost all of which can be debunked by Snopes.com), I suspect my inbox will soon be filled with such invectives. I'm wondering if anyone on the right side of the political aisle has ever stopped to ask why, just why, in the GOP message handlers' consciousness do Gore, Kerry, Clinton, and soon to be Obama all have the same character? Clearly they are all different individuals, admittedly some much more likable than others, but after the Freak Show gets through with them they all seem to appear the same. Maybe, just maybe, they aren't all the same; maybe the same wacky playbook gets run against them each election year and enough gullible Americans buy that meta-narrative.
Take, for example, the supposed Reverend Wright "scandal" for Obama. Did Rev. Wright say anything in that oft-played YouTube clip that Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson didn't say? Wright suggested that 9/11 was the "chickens coming home to roost" for America and Falwell blamed 9/11 on feminists. Both comments were equally outrageous. But Obama is held to a different standard than is McCain Sure, Obama continued to worship at Wright's church, but McCain actively sought out rapprochement with Falwell after he'd blamed 9/11 on people who believe women should get paid the same wages as their male counterparts. Call me biased, but I actually side more with Obama on this point, for I've been a member of several churches whose minister held different beliefs than I...and no doubt most of us have. The decision to stay or leave a congregation is (and should be) much more complex than whether or not we like a sermon or two here and there. Actively seeking out Falwell after similar comments? At the very least I'd say McCain's and Obama's offensiveness on that issue is a draw. But I don't hear people saying they liked McCain until Falwell, Hagee, et al.'s comments surfaced. In subsequent months Wright made even more ridiculous comments, leading Obama to leave Wright's church...so, to summarize my thoughts, I don't see why this could possibly remain an issue.
Oh well. If this is all the GOP can throw at Obama, they need to pack it up. I would much rather McCain talk about just how exactly he plans to define victory in Iraq that would necessitate not making any changes to our policy there. Or what exactly he plans to do with the economy, an area he has admitted not knowing much about. Or how exactly his presidency's policies would be any different from a Bush third term. I have several friends who have questioned the specifics of Obama's proposals (psst...there's here), but I think McCain seems even more vague. Eliminating pork spending sounds nice, but I don't think anyone who's running on just that platform is asking enough of America.
P.S.
Yes, Hermit Jeremy, that is my library on the front cover of this month's Choice.
CCL and Lake Wobegon
I don't normally take naps, and the few times I do they're usually of the 15-min. power nap variety. Today I laid down on my couch with the Sunday papers and thought I would "rest my eyes" for a few minutes; over two hours later I woke up from a nap and have felt groggy since. I'm pretty exhausted.
The Christian College Librarians conference began on Wednesday and went through yesterday morning. I think it went well - only one major snafu happened that I'm aware of, and the crowd expecting their continental breakfast during checkout yesterday was remarkably patient as catering brought down the food a good bit late. (It was all ordered a few months back; all the other meals were on time and place. I can forgive catering one meal, I guess.) It was good to see old friends and I think people seemed to enjoy themselves. Moreover, maybe I won't need to think about hosting this conference for another few years. I do greatly appreciate all the help I got from people here at Pepperdine.
But for now, back to life, back to reality. Tomorrow, C leaves for a two-week research trip to Spain, during which we'll have the upstairs of our condo painted and blinds and shades put in. On Wednesday night I'm flying to Minneapolis to spend the weekend with a friend. I've never been to Minnesota before (except to connect through MSP), and I'm terribly excited to see real Minnesota Lutherans in their native habitat. My friend R tells me that we'll be visiting Stillwater, MN ("Booktown, USA"), and I'm especially excited to visit Loome Books. Like my odd relationship with Iowa, I've always been fascinated by Minnesota, even though I've never been there. I think I might make a good Minnesotan. Maybe I'm too much of a cold, jolly, white guy.
(Speaking of MN, you knew I couldn't let this post go without saying how excited I am about this.)
The Christian College Librarians conference began on Wednesday and went through yesterday morning. I think it went well - only one major snafu happened that I'm aware of, and the crowd expecting their continental breakfast during checkout yesterday was remarkably patient as catering brought down the food a good bit late. (It was all ordered a few months back; all the other meals were on time and place. I can forgive catering one meal, I guess.) It was good to see old friends and I think people seemed to enjoy themselves. Moreover, maybe I won't need to think about hosting this conference for another few years. I do greatly appreciate all the help I got from people here at Pepperdine.
But for now, back to life, back to reality. Tomorrow, C leaves for a two-week research trip to Spain, during which we'll have the upstairs of our condo painted and blinds and shades put in. On Wednesday night I'm flying to Minneapolis to spend the weekend with a friend. I've never been to Minnesota before (except to connect through MSP), and I'm terribly excited to see real Minnesota Lutherans in their native habitat. My friend R tells me that we'll be visiting Stillwater, MN ("Booktown, USA"), and I'm especially excited to visit Loome Books. Like my odd relationship with Iowa, I've always been fascinated by Minnesota, even though I've never been there. I think I might make a good Minnesotan. Maybe I'm too much of a cold, jolly, white guy.
(Speaking of MN, you knew I couldn't let this post go without saying how excited I am about this.)
Remind Me
Remind me - why do we listen to some of these folks? (h/t SF)
Swamped
I haven't had a week this busy in quite a while. So busy, in fact, we turned down tickets to last night's American Idol finale (if you knew how much C loves David Cook that will tell you everything). Classes and library dog-and-pony shows nearly every night this week; final plans for next week's Christian College Librarians conference are taking shape. We had a speaker cancel and needed to juggle a few venue locations at the last minute, but I think things are in the home stretch there. It'll be nice to have this crew on campus.
Domestic life is also busy. We've decided to do some home upgrades, which for me means spending more time in Lowe's and Home Depot than I really can stomach. New custom blinds for the living room, custom shades for the master bedroom, and a professional paint job for our upstairs living room, dining room, and master bedroom (they have cathedral ceilings; no way I'm climbing up a ladder to paint 18-foot high ceilings and walls). After the paint is dry and the blinds are installed, then we'll move on to putting down hardwood floors (probably bamboo - they're better for the earth) in the kitchen, dining room, and living room.
But the week continues. Tomorrow I'll have fun at the SCATLA meeting - it's a fun crowd, and we're meeting at Hebrew Union. And after the meeting we'll have dinner in Chinatown and then to Dodger Stadium for the Dodgers-Cardinals game (fireworks night, too.) On Sunday we'll see game 3 of the Dodgers-Cardinals series. Three days; two Dodgers games. I feel so torn everytime the Dodgers and Cardinals play; I know I married into a Cardinals family but, frankly, I've never lived in St. Louis. Meanwhile, I've now lived in Los Angeles longer than any other place in my adult life. These are the times that try men's souls.
Domestic life is also busy. We've decided to do some home upgrades, which for me means spending more time in Lowe's and Home Depot than I really can stomach. New custom blinds for the living room, custom shades for the master bedroom, and a professional paint job for our upstairs living room, dining room, and master bedroom (they have cathedral ceilings; no way I'm climbing up a ladder to paint 18-foot high ceilings and walls). After the paint is dry and the blinds are installed, then we'll move on to putting down hardwood floors (probably bamboo - they're better for the earth) in the kitchen, dining room, and living room.
But the week continues. Tomorrow I'll have fun at the SCATLA meeting - it's a fun crowd, and we're meeting at Hebrew Union. And after the meeting we'll have dinner in Chinatown and then to Dodger Stadium for the Dodgers-Cardinals game (fireworks night, too.) On Sunday we'll see game 3 of the Dodgers-Cardinals series. Three days; two Dodgers games. I feel so torn everytime the Dodgers and Cardinals play; I know I married into a Cardinals family but, frankly, I've never lived in St. Louis. Meanwhile, I've now lived in Los Angeles longer than any other place in my adult life. These are the times that try men's souls.
California Propositions
I'll definitely be voting for this in November, because I want my state to be even more like France. (I doubt there will be anything else controversial on the ballot, no?)
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