The Democratic debate last night

We all watched the Democratic debate last night. It was a little frustrating; the moderator was asking a number of questions that were trying to draw lines between the candidates, but with questions that were not that important. For some reason the media has latched onto this question of, would you give drivers licences to illegal immigrants? They had every single person answer this question and it took up lots of time with each person wanting to explain why they answered yes or no.

Obama made the point that this question is not important- people aren't crossing the borders to drive. They are coming here to work. Whether they have a drivers licence or not is not the point. Obama said he would give them licences because it improves public safety- which I agree with- but again--not the point and time wasting. Instead they could have been talking about what kind of paths they would lay out for legalization to keep from criminalizing a gross number of people for just wanting to make a living where they are able to.

Dennis Kucinich nearly refused to answer the question because it asked about "illegal immigrants." He said that people can not be illegal, they are simply not documented. I liked that point--I think that is one of this countries issues is criminalizing people that just don't deserve it. I like most all of what Kucinich has to say. I like that he is not afraid to say what he really believes even it makes him not the most likely candidate to be elected. As much as I would like to support him for his unwavering support for peace- I don't think that he could win this election. It is messed up logic, I know, but I feel so desperate...desperate for change and simple sound reason that I want to support a person I agree with on issues and who feels genuine- but also who I think has a serious chance to win the presidency.

I think that Biden is hysterical and refreshing. I love that he doesn't conduct himself like someone running for president. Dodd really turns me off, and then last night when he said that he would protect national security over human rights I was officially done with him.

Bill Richardson is also refreshing. I want to give him a big hug and go eat lunch with him. He strikes me as really down to earth, reasonable and kind. Edwards- I don't know. With he and Hillary Clinton I don't feel like I am really seeing them. Particularly Clinton- it feels to me like she is always putting on a face. This may be normal in politics, but I don't want a normal politician for president, or even a good politician. More than that I want a good person and one who wants to do things differently.

Not that you ever really know from what they say what they will do, but I find Obama much more moving and straight forward. The way he speaks and what he says tells me that he is a thinker and that is important to me. He doesn't lose me in political jargon or cliche- I just feel like we are really seeing him- not just a political face. Of course they all show us what they want to for reasons they have given much thought to-sure. I don't know.

I don't even believe in the whole two party system. I think it is ludicrous. What are parties even for? A person should be able to run under their name and their ideas on the issues that matter. Parties are meaningless and create a false dichotomy. Conservative/liberal, good/evil- that is not a reasonable way to see people or the world. I can't believe in 2007 we are still functioning this way.

Ok, no more going on. But again I would like to restate my desire to sit down to lunch and drinks with Bill Richardson- and Joe Biden too. Wouldn't that be a fun afternoon? I have a very firm stance on fun. I like to have it and if it involves food, all the better. That's all I have to say.

Went to Boulder

The other day Matt, Tara and I went on a hike with Tara' friend Art and his dog Mocha. It began about 5 min. from home in the valley, but we were into black bear country in an hour. We saw so much bear scat that we must have been walking right through the bear in the area's bathroom. In fact, we diverged from the trail and followed what must have been bear trails because the grasses were matted down, but not worn to the dirt and the scat followed the beaten down weeds so we kept stepping over it. Tara and I got off the "path" to water the vegetation and found a bunch of bones. They looked like they were part of a large animal's back bone and scapula.

We hiked to the top of a foothill and bushwacked our way down. Art is not a big believer in established trails so I don't know if I can duplicate our hike. I was pretty wrecked after the hike. Going down a steep hill on no trail beat up my knees and ankles. It was cured soon after lunch at a Mexican restaurant with the best salsa I have ever had. Yes, salsa cures sore joints- but only if there is plenty of cilantro.

Yesterday Tara, Matt, Joseph and I went to Boulder. It took just over a half an hour and was a beautiful drive. We ate lunch and window shopped on Pearl street, a pedestrian area full of shops and restaurants. I found the greatest shop called Two Hands Paperie. They sold hand made stationary, cards, paper, sealing wax and seals, books on paper cafts...heaven. It was the kind of store I would open, but mine would also have yarn and coffee.

We had a really nice day and after eating dessert twice and talking to a neighborhood cat, came home.

Read a great book!

I just finished reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, on loan from Kirk. What a wonderful book! It had an epic feel about it because of the weight of what one of the main characters, Joe Cavalier, goes through and the years that it spans, from the 1920's America to the 50's.

Joseph Cavalier, a follower of Houdini, escapes to the US from Nazi-invaded Prague as a 17 year old. He comes to live with his cousin Sammy Clayman. They get into the business of writing and drawing comic books while Joe is trying the save money and take steps to get the rest of his family out of Prague, which proves to be a task that changes his whole course. Here is a quote about escape that I like from the book.

"...the usual charge leveled against comic books, that they offered merely an easy escape from reality, seemed to Joe actually to be a powerful argument on their behalf. He had escaped, in his life, from ropes, chains, boxes, bags, and crates, from handcuffs and shackles, from countries and regimes, from the arms of a woman who loved him, from crashed airplanes and an opiate addiction and from an entire frozen continent intent on causing his death. The escape from reality was, he felt-especially right after the war-a worthy challenge."

How could we all deal with the tediousness of life as well as the repercussions from everything that we do without allowing ourselves escape? That is one of the reasons I love to read so much. I get to be outside of my own life for a while and even though the characters are fictional, I feel like I am getting to know more about the world I live in somehow.

Anyway, thanks Kirk for the book loan- you are a good friend to make such a wise recommendation. I've already requested another Michael Chabon book from BookMooch. It is called The Final Solution: A Story of Detection. It's about a retired beekeeper in Sussex who meets a boy with an african gray parrot that recites German numbers. I guess it is about the man trying to figure out what these numbers mean and the story of the boy and the bird.


A new thing with me--I got my own domain name! I don't have an actual page up at the address yet, but I will update my progress here. I don't have a program to put together a site, so I am starting to learn html so that I can write it myself. I don't want to put it up until it at least resembles a real web page and has some content worth coming for. The address is going to be www.grumpybunnyprojects.com
In years to come I would love to be able to sell some craft projects from it- but it will start out as a personal-just for fun- page.

Well, I've got to tweak my resume for a research writer position I saw yesterday. Sounds fun, eh?

a movie to miss

So here is a note on that movie Dead End Road that we watched on Halloween. The movie box said that it was"the best independent horror film of 2005." We came to realize as the night went on that there must have been very few independent horror movies put out in 2005. My friends, you can afford to miss this one. I owe you this information if we are close enough for you to be interested in what I am up to. May it serve you well.

Joseph and I recently went camping in the Rocky Mountain National Park for a couple of nights. Wow. I am completely in love with the fact that I can drive 2 hours and be in such a dramatically beautiful and moving place. Since it is late October, as we hiked and got higher in elevation we went from a few patches of slushy snow in the shade to knee deep snow when we got above tree line.

We didn't see much wildlife- I think because we camped in a canyon with a glacier capping the end. It was at about 10,500 ft. It was cold at night but not horrible, in the 20's, but during the day it got into the 50's and 60's depending on how high you were. We hiked up to an alpine lake, Glass Lake, above the trees over this rock field with huge boulders covered in snow that go up to meet a nearly vertical rock wall.

It was a good trip, but for now, two nights on the cold ground is enough for me. As we were hiking out and got closer to the trail head where people were casually day hiking, the fresh clean people would pass us and they all smelled sooo good- like shampoo, soap, flowers and coconut...Then I realized that it wasn't that they smelled strangely good, but that we stunk badly. Hhmm, yes we smelled and my hair was a rat's nest. When we got out of the park we went straight to a bbq restaurant in Estes Park where I got a giant chili cheese burger and a beer. I like Colorado.