I hope we elect a president who can:

• GRACEFULLY get us out of this debacle of a war in Iraq
• Repair the damage Bush has done to our country’s reputation around the world
• Help get the economy back on track
• Improve the quality and availability of healthcare and healthcare coverage for all Americans
• Get America to do its part in protecting the earth and its resources
• Restore our individual rights, freedoms and civil liberties that have been trodden upon in the name of Patriotism, Religion and Moral Values
• Properly pronounce the word NUCLEAR

I found one website that offers a side-by-side comparison of the candidates positions on the various issues, it is VoteUsa.org. It seems fairly objective but I'm not crazy about the format. Can anyone recommend another resource?

HILARIOUS: Hawaii Chair

http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2008/01/hawaii_chair.php

There's A Hole In My Sidewalk

CHAPTER 1
I walk down a street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost… I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes me forever to find a way out.

CHAPTER 2
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t belieive I am in the same place.
But, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

CHAPTER 3
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in… it’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

CHAPTER 4
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

CHAPTER 5
I walk down another street.

by Portia Nelson

Kiva & Pottery again

Have you heard of Kiva? Kiva is in the microlending business. I think it’s a great way for ordinary people to help others in a direct and meaningful, without a huge investment. Check it out.

Well it was back to pottery class this week. It's my first time taking the intermediate class. It's only been about 5-6 weeks since my last class but I almost felt like I was starting over. I couldn't even get my clay centered on the wheel! Boy, did I feel like a dummy.

I don't know what it is about this clay, I guess it's much more firm than the recycled clay I used for so long. I haven't quite figured out yet what I'm doing wrong. Maybe I'm not exerting enough pressure? Ron is a good teacher; he was very patient and helpful. I hope he doesn't demote me back to the beginning class. I did manage to make two medium-sized bowls.

It's a big class - 11 people, I think Ron said. I haven't met everyone yet but they seem like a great group. There are some very skilled potters in my class. I'm gonna try not to sit next to any of them.

Bush: One Year To Go

My Bush countdown calendar tells me that exactly one year from today, the new president of the US will begin his/her first day in office and Furious George will be OUT.

The anticipation is a bit like when I turned 15 and was counting down to the day that I could get my driver's license.

I just happened upon this webiste with Bush countdown merchandise (I'm convinced you can buy ANYTHING on the internet). I got a real kick out of the Fire Bush Hot Sauce:
http://www.bushslastday.com/collectibles.html?gclid=CNKehMeTiJECFRQYsgodvTD_Fw

Good bread, good meat...

Well, here's a tip on the good bread part anyway... It's a book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I ran across it on Ron Philbeck's blog. Sounds like the perfect thing for me, cuz I love me some good bread. Mmmm Mmmm.

I didn't know good bread until I moved to Italy. I was hooked & could always pick up a loaf of awesome bread at any market. You just can't buy good bread here so I'm always on the lookout for tasty and easy bread recipes. I haven't tried it yet, but Ron said he's tried it and it was good.

Aunt Ruby

She was funny as hell, she was a hippie & a rebel, she was a connection to family and a great friend & Aunt. I will miss her.

Some people come into our lives and quickly go.
Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on ourhearts.
And we are never, ever the same....Unknown.

Fresh Fish

Scientists predict that there will be no more seafood by 2048 unless we change current (unsustainable) fishing methods. How to know what fish you should buy?

Blue Ocean Institute FishPhone - send a text to 30644 with the message FISH in all caps, followed by the name of the fish you want to know about, and it'll fire back sustainability info on that species.

Oceans Alive - download a pocket seafood selector and check its up-to-date list for the skinny on the most and least sustainable fish.

NRDC - mercury info and another pocket-sized seafood selector that focuses on mercury levels.

from IdealBites.com

Bogus POTUS

I ran across a long list of Bush nicknames that cracked me up. Here are my favorites:

Bogus POTUS
Chimpy McSmirkster
Dim Son
El Smirko
Furious George
Gee Duh
George WTF Bush
Little Lord Smirkelroy
Occupant
Smirky McHandjob
Unelected Pinhead

Dear Mr. President

by Pink, featuring the Indigo Girls

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind.
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don't know nothing 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You'd never take a walk with me.
Would you?

Politics

I have been trying to follow both parties in the race to the White House but I have to admit I've been paying more attention to the democrats.

I think it’s going to be a fight to the finish for the Republican candidates. It could get ugly (or should I say uglier). I don’t like Huckabee or Romney (too self-righteous and too slick). Either McCain or Giuliani would be better than Bush if we had to have a Republican.

As for the Democrats, looks like that one’s going to be a close call too. At this point I like Clinton for the job.

The more I hear about Obama, the more I realize that he's not the stand-up guy he would have us believe:

• The shady business with his house (I think there’s even more to the story).
• He claimed he would have no lobbyists in his campaign but the guy RUNNING his campaign in New Hampshire is a pharmaceutical lobbyist.
• In the debate on Saturday he bragged about a measure that he helped create to bar politicians from accepting meals from lobbyists. However, the law allows lobbyists to buy meals & drinks for a politician as long as he/she is standing up. I understand you have to make baby steps to get something accomplished but come on...

He says he’s different from other politicians, but he tells half-truths about what he has accomplished, makes promises he doesn’t keep, and obviously is interested in whatever he can get out of this for himself. Sounds pretty much status quo to me.

And if I hear the term "agent of change" one more time, I'm going puke (although I do think it would be a good name for a rock band).

It doesn’t seem that Edwards has the momentum to win the nomination. He seems a little slick too. I think that $300 haircut may have done him in. Maybe he’s too pretty -- maybe the American people want an ugly president. I do think it was pretty crappy for Kerry to publicly endorse Obama after Kerry & Edwards ran together in the last election.

Whatever happens I hope the citizens of the U.S. go into the primary and the general election with their eyes wide open (unlike the last presidential election).

MAKE POTS NOT WAR

Ok, everyone loved my MAKE POTS NOT WAR t-shirts that I made for a few potter/pottery-lover friends of mine. Several people have asked where they can get one - so here it is: http://www.cafepress.com/makepots. Tell your friends. THANKS!

AACK... petroleum on my lips??

I just discovered that Chapstick is made out of petroleum. I didn't realize that I've been smearing petroleum on my lips all these years. Gross. Who knew? I guess if I'd thought about it, I coulda figured it out. Aside from the fact that petroleum is a non-renewable resource, petroleum is a probable human carcinogen.

I haven't tried either of them yet, but here are some natural alternatives:

• Chapstick has a couple of lip care products that are made from natural ingredients.
• EcoLips that makes organice lip care products (found this on Ideal Bites).

It makes me wonder how many other products I use daily that are made out of petroleum or petroleum by-products.

Who ya gonna vote for?

I've been listening to all of the news about the presidential race (or as Jon Stewart would call it, the Clusterf#@k to the White House) and it occurred to me that I should vote in the Republican primary. I doubt I'm the first person to think of this, but I think it's a great idea.

For the most part, I think I can take whichever Democratic candidate gets nominated, but there are a couple of Republican candidates that would likely make Alec Baldwin move to Canada, if nominated. So my idea is that we should all vote in the primary of the opposing party. Who is the guy or gal you'd least hate to see in the White House?

I'm a genius.

Oh wait, I'm sure there would be some smart-ass like Howard Stern who would start a "vote for the worst" campaign and we'd wind up with Sanjaya in the White House.

Dammit.

Anyway, if you're still undecided and you'd like to know where the candidates stand on environmental issues, here's a link to a website that will shed some light (from a CFB, of course) on the subject. http://www.grist.org/feature/2007/07/06/candidates/

Fun & Facts

Here are a few links to things that I have received that I thought were entertaining or informative that I wanted to share (click on each heading for a link to the related website).

ELFIGHT – from Laura; her stepbrother co-created and starred in this short movie about good elves gone bad (click on the image to view the movie).

JIBJAB – from Diann; the 2007 Jib Jab year-in-review.

UNWANTED GIFT CARDS – check it out for some ideas of what to do with them.

DOLPHINS FIRE CAM CAMERON – from Debi; you have to feel a little bit bad for Cam Cameron - he walked into a bad situation that got worse with the injuries. And you can't help feeling that all of the turnover is only making matters worse. But we've come to expect that a coach who goes 1-15 for the season is going to get his walking papers.

SPEED RACER - from Danny; see the trailer for the Speed Racer movie. What a kick. For nostalgia, if nothing else, I will definitely watch this flick (it has some pretty big name actors).

BLONDESTAR - I don't recall who sent this to me, but it is a crack-up. My apologies in advance to all my blonde friends (you have to watch it all the way to the end).

2008

Well, here it is... 2008 (I'll refrain from making some lame, old-guy comment about my perception of the passage of time).

Whether or not you are a person who likes to make NY resolutions, most of us have the urge to look back at what we've accomplished (or not) and to look ahead to what we might like to do in the coming year. It's just one of those mini-milestone moments (like birthdays), that inspire introspection.

They say that the unexamined life is not worth living, so go ahead, examine. If you're so inclined, here's a link to a horoscope website from Mary Anna: 2008 Horoscopes. Mine was pretty heavy, I'll have to ponder & meditate on it for a spell before I can become one with it.

Anyway, here are some of my random thoughts/goals for the coming year:

Pottery: Practice makes perfect. Well, I don't have THAT much free time, but I'd like to make a decent mug with a handle. I want to learn more about surface decoration; then I might like to try my hand at making a plate & a pitcher.

Music: It's been a while since I've stretched my musical legs - I'd like to explore some new artists, stations, venues, maybe even genres. I haven't been to the symphony in some time; I'd like to do that. Maybe even try out an opera.

Art: Take time to appreciate other forms of art (in addition to pottery & music).

Reading: I love to read, but somehow never seem to make the time these days. I have a pile of books on my bedside table that I've been intending to read. Would like to read those and more.

Work: Do something interesting at work. Shake things up this year.

Family: Take time to savor every possible moment with my family. Not that I don't treasure every moment with them now, but we can always do better. More adult time with Debi and more play time with the kids.

Food & Health: Debi and I have made a pretty good start at eating better and in general trying to be healthier. I'd like to continue that trend. I should drink more water (but not from plastic bottles).

Multi-media: We've been putting this off for so long, maybe if I put it in writing, it will embarrass me into finally doing it... we bought the hardware & software to digitize all of our home movies and photos, taught ourselves how to do it all and we still haven't done it yet. I would REALLY like to accomplish that this year.

Politics: Like Jen, I would like to see us elect a president who will govern with intelligence, dignity, patience, compassion and understanding. A tall order, but I've got my fingers crossed.

Football: I would like to see the Dolphins at least have a winning season next year. I desperately do not want the Patriots to win the Superbowl this year (or pretty much any year).

Here's to a good 2008 for us all!