's been awhile

So....

Visited Kim on L.I. Good times, good times. We went to a Mets game and dinner with Dave on Saturday. We also spent some time grading papers for the college course she's teaching. That was fun. She's teaching Beloved... I loved that book back in the day!

I'm trying to force myself to read more, like I used to. It's hard because when I get home, sometimes I just don't want to use my brain. And the TiVo's just sitting there.... calling to me...

Over vacation I finished up reading The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which I really enjoyed. It was beautifully written and really sucked me into its universe. It took place in Barcelona during Franco's rule, right after the Spanish Civil War. It's really a book about reading, and it's a mystery. In those two ways, and in the fact that it was translated, it reminded me of If On a Winter's Night a Traveler, by Italo Calvino. I like books that make you think about reading while you're reading.

Now I'm flitting back and forth between two books: Overthrow by Stephen Kinzer (about America's foreign policy over the past century) and The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, about how to best survive a Zombie event. Needless to say, I'm finding the Brooks to be more compelling reading.

The 8 Democrats running for Prez had a debate last week, and I missed it. I only saw the summary of it on Jim Lehrer. I really don't know who I like... I'm thinking Obama, although I really have no beef with Bill Richardson or Chris Shays either. I just can't handle Hillary. I don't like her, I find her phony and sleazy and 100% opportunistic. I don't like Edwards either, mostly because he creeps me out with his glazed-over, super-happy eyes. Ihhhh. I like his wife, though. I hope she gets better.

Honestly, the Republican side is really more fun for me to watch right now. I find it really fascinating that Mitt Romney (my former governor) and Rudy Giuliani are the two front-runners, and then McCain. It's just weird, because none of them are real, staunch, religious-right-esque conservatives. None of them are the next Bush. And I have a hard time imagining the religious right getting really excited about endorsing any of them. Mitt Romney is just a faker. He decided he was anti-gay and anti-abortion at just about the same time that he decided he wanted to be president. This was particularly annoying because he was still the governor of Massachussetts, and he decided to spend his last couple of years showing off to the national conservative base instead of serving our state's interests. He vetoed a stem cell research bill that virtually everyone in MA supported, he got all up in arms about gay marriage, and he started messing with abortion laws, even though he promised not to touch them when he was elected. I have a hard time imagining that the conservative base isn't going to see through this... all of us certainly did. It makes him awfully unappealling to both sides, I think. And Giuliani? I just don't see it. He's got LOTS of dirty laundry. He can't ride that "I was mayor during 9/11" thing forever. Bush tried to do it with the presidency, but it has started to wear off. And then there's McCain. Did you see him on the Daily Show?
Part 1
Part 2 <---- The really intense part.

The thing about McCain is that I really believe he is a decent, smart man and a good leader. I think he has the qualities that a president should have. The problem is that I disagree with him on many many things. Obviously, the war. But also some social issues. Sigh.

I think what I'd really enjoy seeing is an Obama vs. McCain race. I honestly believe that our rhetoric would be elevated by that combination. Imagine the debates! Well-reasoned, thought-out arguments! Civility! It sounds like a dream.

Well, even if that doesn't happen, we can fall back on our low expectations. Whoever becomes president next... can he or she POSSIBLY be as bad as the one we have now??????

k8