All war is unpopular.

Political analysts are talking about how the next president is going to be inheriting the problems of the current administration, for example, what they are calling an "unpopular war." Well... has there ever been a popular war? Has any president been burdened with the thought that he's in the in-crowd, now that he's got his own war? I don't understand the point of discussing how horrible it is that the next president will have to clean up an unpopular war. It seems like a waste of breath to me.

Esther vs. Vashti

Esther was a woman who rose, against the odds, to become the Queen of her country. Then when a decree was made, she risked her life to go before the King and plead for the reversal of the decree to save the lives of her and her people.

It has been hypothesized that a modern-day Esther is beginning to emerge in our country. I am wondering if these people are speaking of a woman who will rise to power and work in the government to reverse a law, or if they are speaking of a woman who will rise to power in the government and stand before the King of Kings to plead for mercy for our corrupt country. In other words, are they speaking about a literal Esther, or a spiritual Esther?

three new books

For those of you who follow my book-report blog, I have three new books posted. For those of you who didn't know I have a book report blog, go here: megcanread.blogspot.com

No, I didn't read these all at once, are you crazy? I don't have time for that. I read them and left them on my desk to eventually get around to writing something about them. That's all.

my cup runneth over

For anyone wondering if the glass is half full or half empty, I would suggest a new, better plan.

Fill the cup so high that you can not possibly raise it to your lips without spilling. For some reason, it tastes better that way.

I don't know, maybe I just love the simple little things in life.

would you use this?

This product whose brand will remain anonymous contains Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde. Would YOU use something that contains 17 syllables? Especially if the last syllable reminds you of formaldehyde?

Where is the country headed?

People are going to vote for the wrong person, because they are uneducated. The sad part is, a lot of people (but not all) have the ability to do their research, but are too lazy. They would rather base their vote and the future of their country on what comes into their inboxes.

I realize the people in this clip are from Harlem. Some may have computers and access to factcheck.org, and others may not. But really, if you are going to vote at all, is there any excuse for not being educated about the candidates first?

http://www.bpmdeejays.com/upload/hs_sal_in_Harlem_100108.mp3

For those of you who cannot open the radio link above, I'll summarize. A radio announcer went to Harlem and interviewed people. He asked, "Who are you voting for?" If someone said Obama, he asked how they felt about the issues Obama stood for, attributing McCain's platform to Obama. They said they agreed with those issues, essentially agreeing with McCain. At the end of the interview, they were asked, "If Obama wins, are you ok with having a woman VP? Do you feel that Sarah Palin would do a good job?" They answered yes.

If you don't understand why I posted this or you don't "get" the meaning of the above paragraph, please don't talk to me again until you have educated yourself. I really don't care how you vote, whether Republican, Democrat, or something else. Just don't vote blindly.

reposted from someone i don't know.

"You know what I don’t get? All the women completely hating on Palin and saying she’s a disgrace to womanhood. The lady decided she wanted to change the way things were run in her town, by most accounts of those residents did well, went on to be governor of her state, had an 80% approval rating, and was chosen to be a vice presidential candidate. She’s relatively well spoken and successful. So she’s pro-life. So she likes guns. Does that make her less of a woman? Less successful? Christ. If we start bashing and hating every woman who has had a child and thinks it’s a wonderful experience and doesn’t believe in abortion, we might as well abandon the idea of feminism as a whole. I can understand disliking her for whatever reason, but when we start tearing each other down for our beliefs, we’re setting ourselves back. It’s not right. We don’t have to agree with each other, we don’t have to like one another, but we do need to respect each other."

~Thanks, random person!

gullible

A woman came into the store today looking for a statue of St. Anthony. She had already gotten a statue of St. Joseph so that he would help her sell her house. But someone told her St. Anthony also helps sell the house. I told her no, St. Anthony is never marketed as the patron saint of house-selling, but St. Joseph has his own little Home-selling kit. Realtors come in here and buy a bunch of them.

She wanted to make sure she was doing it right, so I checked on Google and confirmed what I already knew: yes, there are Catholics out there who get a St. Joseph statue when they want to sell their house. They then bury him (usually upside down) facing the street and near to the for sale sign and as they put the dirt over him they say a prayer. She wanted to be sure he wasn't supposed to be right side up, so I kept looking. When I want things, I ask God directly, so I was quickly losing my patience with this woman. I finally said, "Listen, I'm Protestant, so I don't know much about the saints, and you simply can't believe everything you read on Google. If you want to be positive, you should go talk to your priest." She said, "Oh, I'm not Catholic. I just believe in everything."

I should have tried to sell her a bridge.

hi

I have not had the presence of mind recently, OR the time for that matter, to sit down and write a coherent thought regarding an update as to what's going on in my life. I frequently forget things, make a to do list that usually involves calling 6 different people for one reason or another, and then forget to follow the things on the to do list.

I went roughly three weeks without seeing Steve, and I am aware that recently I went to visit but I cannot remember what brought me to New Brunswick. Oh yeah, that's right. Navin's party. We had a great time (I did anyway) and ate some great food. That may or may not be a topic for another blog entry.

I heard once that for every hour that you are awake, imagine putting one brick into your backpack, but for every hour you are asleep, you take two bricks out. Or maybe it was the other way around. Whatever, the point is that being awake is like carrying bricks on your back. Sleeping in at least one day is required every once in a while. I went from September 14th until October 5th without having a day to unload my bricks, which might account for why I keep forgetting where I put my to do lists.

On October 6th I slept in, I finally got my one day of rest, unfortunately, it was one Sabbath day in a 22-day week. What may be worse is that Sundays are NEVER restful days for me.

Today, I left work, and had the revelation that in the past week and a half, I feel I have not done one thing "right." Sure, I probably have... it just doesn't feel like it. Teaching my class tonight (yes, I teach now) I didn't stick with the schedule I wanted. Coming home, I couldn't even park my car. I called my mom outside to come and park it for me. And I don't feel like I am being a good girlfriend.

So thats an update on my life. Sounds pretty crappy when you put it all in black and white, but despite that, I really WANT to be doing all the things I am doing. Not counting the not-getting-to-see-Steve part. And the not sleeping part. And the not being able to park my own car part. Ok well yeah I just really needed to get stuff off my chest tonight that's all.

Trashiest thing since the Staten Island Dump

Ok. I laughed through this because its absurd. I firmly believe it is ok for a preacher to publicly state a political opinion. However, do it with some class, style, elegance, or something.

It seems the preacher and I share the same contempt for the news stations though. Someone's got to tell them that no one gives a darn what a politician's family does, what is important is that politician's OWN beliefs and actions, and what that politician will be passing into law. And for Pete's sake, can we give the pregnant minors some privacy, please?

http://www.atlah.org/broadcast/ndnr09-03-08.html

holiday

In honor of Willie and in memory of my days at Nordstrom, I have to point out that today is Raw Nahashnah.

Another life question...

Why is it that when I'm curious about you, I pay a penny for your thoughts, but when I have an opinion, I pay you two cents to listen to me?

Oh, the irony...

This is not a new development, but today I was struck by the irony. What does a person do when they are allergic to allergy medication?

news

I went to the doctor on Monday for a physical... they did basically exactly what they did in June except that I had no symptoms of anything except allergies, which I told the doctor. And he said, "What do you do for your allergies?" and I said "Grin and bear it," mentioning that in extreme situations I take a children's dose of Benadryl or a half dose of Sudafed. So they called with my bloodwork results on Wednesday.

"Dr. Bain says your bloodwork results show you have allergies."

REALLY??? LIKE, OMG!!

Why I love 99.1

This is my local radio station. I get tired of them and turn them off, but then I always come back, because of things like this:

1: They've come out with a new study that says if you keep a bowl of candy on your desk at work then your coworkers will see you as a warm, friendly, and inviting person
2: Johnny while we're talking about this, can I ask you to have something other than Mary Janes and lollipops in your bowl?
[general agreement from the other morning show radio hosts]
1: haha! I'll just turn off your microphones! Now you can't bother me!! Haha! Nope, no one can hear you, your microphone is off!
[He turns it back on so one of them can do the weather report]
Her: Today, its going to be partly sunny, with clouds that look like marshmallows. Highs 76, lows in the 50s. Rain this weekend so you're going to want to grab the chocolate.

scents and memories

Its funny the things a smell will evoke. Sometimes its a strong memory, or a nostalgic feeling. Smells can make us happy or sad, or give us really bad headaches.

Today, I watched the funeral procession leave. Then some of the ladies from the church stayed behind and began to set up for the repast. As the smell of burnt coffee wafted down the hallway, I had a brief memory of Nordstrom before realizing that it was not "Nordy" quality coffee but something more fitting for a church-sponsored event. Then I smelled store-bought coffee cake, and that combination mixed with the lingering smells of embalming fluid and old people from the morning's events reminded me of a reunion of my dad's geneology group. After that I began to smell catered ziti, the kind that float in a pan of water with a heat candle underneath it. And for some reason, that smell made me feel panicky.

I cannot remember what happened involving ziti and a dangerous situation, but some part of me associates that smell with danger. It is a strange thing, the way the brain makes associations. But that panicky feeling is what made me start thinking about all the smells and the memories, and this distinct lack of a memory intrigued me.

Thats all. Just a comment about how weird the mind is.

Miley Cyrus Rant

Ok, I was trying not to. Honestly. I like the "good girl" image, and her connection to the purity-ring Jonas brothers (even if they broke up). American youth need role models who are not telling them to go have sex before they are emotionally and physically mature enough to comprehend the consequences.

But my friend posted a youtube video to her blog... and I watched it... and could not refrain from a response.

The song is called "7 things" and the "7 things" are a reference to the seven things the song writer hates about her boyfriend or ex-boyfriend or whoever he is. The song ends with her stating the 7 things she loves about him as well. My first thought when the song started was, "Oh wow is that really Miley Cyrus singing? She looks about 13 but her voice sounds like she's 27." It was a bad youtube video, so it looked lip-synched as well. Honestly, I'm not crazy about the voice of whoever sang the song, Miley or not.

Secondly. Miley Cyrus cannot count. The song is called 7 things. But I count more than that.
1-2-3 "You're vain, your games, you're insecure
4-5 You love me, you like her
6-7 You make me laugh, you make me cry
8 I don't know which side to buy
9 You're friends, they're jerks <- you're friends?
10 When you act like them, just know it hurts
11 I wanna be with the one I know
And the 7th thing I hate the most that you do
12 You make me love you"

Granted, I know which seven lines are MEANT to be the "7 things" but quite obviously Miley has not experienced life and heartache enough yet to know that each of those 12 things on their own are possible reasons for hating someone. Except #11, which makes no sense at all. Maybe I'm also inexperienced and just don't understand #11.

Anyway. Got that out of my system.

Perspectives on Death

Today when I walked into the bookstore I was informed that the church from which we rent (they are in the same building.) would be holding two wakes with a funeral tomorrow. Thus, there would be a body lying in state for the whole day but "Don't worry, he's in heaven." What does that mean? That if he's not in heaven I have something to worry about? Zombies? Ghosts? What?

At around 11, a customer walked in and said, "You know there's a dead guy over there?" I said that I had been informed of the days events, and the customer said, "Yeah well, the door is wide open and there's no one in there, he's just lying there and the door's not shut." Both the "door wide open" and the "no one in there" indicates this person believes a dead body should be watched and if possible, barred from getting up and leaving the building. (In case you were wondering shutting the door does not block a person's view of the room; the double doors are glass, as well as a floor-to-ceiling sliding glass door, and 50% of the walls are made of glass.)

To appease the customer, I went up to the church office to ask Emily if we could close the doors, even if they were still waiting for the flower arrangements to come. She said that there was, in fact, someone "watching" the body... watching it for what I am not sure... but it would not be a problem to close the doors.

At 2, when the wake was just starting, a customer came in crying because she dropped by to pick up a book and had not been informed that this man was dead. He'd been the best man at her father's wedding in 1953 and she came in in complete shock that he was now dead.

When Lakshmi came in, she looked at me and said, "There's a body over there." I was tempted to respond, "Huh... wonder how that got there." But I didn't. Unfortunately for Lakshmi, the kitchen and lunch room are down a hallway directly adjacent from the pulpit, which is where the coffin was. She braved it and went to get some water.

Thinking over the whole day, though, it seems to me that I've become somewhat desensitized in some ways. I've been to so many funerals that it doesn't really phase me to see a dead body, and honestly, I've had scarier nightmares. I can put on soft, peaceful music to match the mood of the service, but I can go right on suggesting books for people and filling out order forms just like every other day. I wonder if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Trisha Yearwood

"When you go to sleep and you can't find a dream, won't you try me? A place you can whisper the secrets you keep, that's what I'll be. When you've given up and there's no one to trust, come and find me."

Haha which kid is worse?

According to an article I read, Lindsay Lohan once wrote that she wanted to "release a politically/morally correct, fully adequite [sic] letter to the press ... simply to state my oppinions [sic] on how our society should be educated on for the better of our country."

Now, since I don't follow the tabloids enough to call her LiLo, nor do I know what she has been up to since she got out of jail, if she was in fact in jail, and I most certainly don't know what got her in trouble, or what her next movie is going to be. But I find it extremely hilarious that the person who wrote the above quote offered to publicly endorse Obama. The article goes on to say that she encouraged her fans to make voting decisions based on facts and to vote for Obama. What's wrong with her? Doesn't she know that if she has fans they are 13? Did anyone tell her that 13 is below the legal voting age? Is SHE even old enough to vote?

In other news... I had a family come into the bookstore today.

Kid: Mom Mom I want a webkin!! Mom, get me a webkin!!
Mom: Sorry honey we are here to buy your sister a confirmation gift.
Kid: but mom i want a webkin!! get me a webkin!! she's going to have more than me if you don't!
Sister: no i won't, mine all died, i don't have any.
[Mom is focusing on the confirmation gift instead of the boy and he's getting impatient. He grabs the animal and rips the tag off]
Kid: "there! now you HAVE to buy it."

And she bought it.
And I am thinking: I can recommend a really good parenting book if you'll just follow me.

Smack that kid upside the head!