a sofa on a sunday afternoon, goin to the candidate's debate

Have you been following the Republican primaries? The field of the best and brightest has been pared down a bit. And I'm getting sick of it, so I only listen in a couple times a week. I'm a Democrat/Independent. I'm also a social liberal. I don't think someone has to be God fearing to be moral. I think abortions are sad and should be avoided, but I don't think they should be illegal. I think drug abuse is sad and wrong, but I don't think it should be illegal. I don't really give a damn what gays do in private. I don't care if they get married. And I don't know why anyone would care. It doesn't impact my marriage in any way.









I think all of the Republican candidates are all out wacko wing nut looneys. They imagine an America like "our former glory" "the way it used to be" 'when we were strong" "when we stood for something" "in the way of our founding fathers". Mitt Romney loves to claim he will "return" America to some thing that it was before Obama gave away all our hopes and dreams and sold our souls to the poor people and the Chinese. I'm trying to imagine what part of the founding father's lifestyle he wants back. Plantations with slaves? The labor practices of the robber barons? Segregation? Killing all the Indians? Witch hunting? The Constitution and Bill of Rights have actually in many cases stood the test of time because they can be amended. Unfortunately the bible can not stand the test of time and is not allowed to be questioned. I don't want to live in a world where one of these Republicans can try to build his dream society. If you are poor, Or middle class, Or a minority, Or an addict, Or a laborer, Or gay, Or without health insurance, you are screwed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not all happy with Obama either. I believe in universal health care. But I don't like it being shoved through.









I was awed by the over the top pomposity of Bachman, Cain, and Perry and very entertained.




When they dropped out, I thought the fun was over. But OMG Newt Gingrich is even better. He's so hopelessly flawed and jaded and capricious and bitter and hypocritical. He's a Democrat's dream. We all know he will self destruct if he hasn't already. My fantasy is that he would win the nomination and then self destruct during the national campaign. Newt is a fairy tale character who throws stones while he lives in a house made of sand, glass, and cards. I love him. He's the last alternative to Romney, so it will be Mitt to face the incumbent. Once Mitt ties up the nomination it will probably get boring until after the conventions. Then Obama and Romney can square off in battle. Each promising the world if you would only vote for them. That might be boring. Speaking of boring, I haven't mentioned Santorum. He's the religious right candidate. He hates gays. He hates sinners. He wants God and tax cuts. There are bedroom things that he would like to see people arrested for. His imaginary Creator is better and truer than anyone else's. Oddly, he is the only candidate that doesn't amuse me. I usually enjoy wacky people on some level. I simply loathe Santorum.

I think I could sum up the 2012 election as Democrat vs Republican. That's boring. We all know the shameful secret there. The parties are much the same.

More interesting might be Socialist vs Capitalist. I live on social security and a highly regulated pension annuity. I guess in my retirement, if I vote my pocketbook, I'm a socialist. Ooooh. I said a dirty word. It makes me feel tingly. I hope God wasn't listening, or Rick Santorum.

To break it down further would be to say, the Have's vs the Have not's.

I'm going to swich to decaf, this post is too long. Say goodbye and visit the loo. I hope it's not "Occupied".

LLITTY :::::+::::::

Look Thru Any Window

Now as I type I look out the window. It's a day that appears neutral. Not blue sky. Not stormy. No precipitation. Not sunset just yet. You couldn't say it was a beautiful day. But I live on a little farm. I'm retired. We have pets tame and wild. Our house is leaky and we experience the weather inside too. So no day is just neutral. Let me look out the window again and take in the details. The geese have been flying in huge record breaking flocks. Literally miles long. The days getting a bit longer as we approach groundhog day and the half quarter. I can feel the deepest temperature part of winter coming in. The average temperature for this time of year is a high of 47 degrees. I would be happy if we had that average high temperature. It seems we often don't. Last year temps were way below average. This year it's been pretty good. No snow, no flooding, no frozen pipes. I shouldn't say a word. I should only knock on wood. We've got February to get through. I need to get outside and walk every day or I lose the battle with my glucose intolerance. I need to finish winterizing my engine driven tools and toys so they will start in the Spring. I see my wife walking to the mailbox with our dog "Yukon". I figure we've got about five weeks to go and the threat of a big pipe freezing deep freeze will be over. I sort of hope we get one really big snow just to make it interesting. But I want it to go away quickly and be followed by Spring. I have two aviation thoughts every time I look out the window. First I need to buy, borrow, or lease an aircraft I can fly under rules they call "light sport". And second, this would be an awful day to try to soar in a sailplane. Happy Groundhog Day. One week away. Well, I just can't gaze out the window all afternoon. I'm an important guy with things to do. The only thing on my schedule today was bringing the emptied trash can back up to the house. But I see my wife has already done that. It's very cloudy. But that might make for a beautiful sunset.

Confessions from a Lazy Man

I sure haven't posted here in a long while. Writing, like anything else, is an endeavor in overcoming inertia. It's very nice to have free time to write. That doesn't mean I will write. We all spend our lives seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. Now I am retired. This raises the bar a little as far as the pleasure and pain ratio. I could just hang out all day doing nothing. And I do plenty of that. Yes it's great. But everything is relative. If I had just worked real hard for two weeks and had a few days off to just lay around, that activity would be more pleasurable and valuable to me than if I could do it any ole day. If I come to expect every day to be pleasure and leisure, the bar is indeed raised. I worked all my life until four years ago. I thought having "free time" would be the ultimate happiness. Not having to do someone else's bidding. I had already learned that money and fame would not bring happiness. But I had to actually own the "time" to realize that it would not mean happiness. Happiness is a state of mind. It comes from within. Not from money or time. I don't think one can be happy twenty four seven three sixty five. Happiness is a relative thing. It comes along every now and then in the ebb and flow of life. I think the best one can do is be receptive to happiness and bask in it when it comes around. If I set the bar too high, I want to be happy all the time. It doesn't work. I will then avoid all activity for fear it will cause me pain along with pleasure. For the new year let me itemize a few life priorities that can help me have a reason to get out of bed every day:

think about others, especially my wife and son.

enjoy the animals in my life, they are egoless

keep learning, it's very fun.

dwell in the wonder of things (right now it's the geese, unbelievable)

fall in love with things, ideas, projects, dreams

embrace the mundane

pick up the damn guitar once in a friggin' blue moon

be thankful for my health, such as it is

let disagreeable things go, without trying to right them or get a last word

enjoy the now

remember that now that I am retired..... every day is Friday night.

LLITTY :::::+:::::