My End or Yours?

THE QUESTION: WAS THAT REALLY NECESSARY?

Jen of All Trades: Um....no

Moments ago (as I was writing this), the Illinois Senate unanimously voted to remove sitting Governor Rod Blagojevich from office. I watched live as each senator cast their vote. Now, I hate the damn guy. I think he is as crooked as a politician...err...wait...

Anyway, as I watched the votes roll in, one dude really pissed me off. I wish I knew who it was, but as he said his "yes" he gestured the thumbs down sign. Was that really necessary? These are our elected officials conducting official SERIOUS business in our state's capital and he is doing playground hand gestures? Isn't that for the rest of us to perform as we watch in our livingrooms (radio studios) with our popcorn (hot tea) watching the circus unfold? You know, those of us not wearing suits representing the people of this already embarassed state. We look so much better than everyone else now, don't we?

The votes are cast in the way I felt they should have been. But I have never been the kind to want to kick a man when he's down. Blago put himself there at the bottom and he will have to live with the consequences for the rest of his life. And now, state senator-whose-name-I-don't-know, so will you. You will forever in my mind be the guy who shamed himself by acting like a child when this state made unfortunate history.

Becky Boop: It was both necessary and appropriate

If as Jen says, the people in Springfield are “elected officials conducting official SERIOUS business in our state's capital,” then I think Blago most of all missed that memo. How else to explain the one man media blitz conducted by our now former Governor in recent weeks? A man who ought to have been worried about the future of his political career, his upcoming criminal defense, and putting food on the table for his painfully embarrassed children (wife Patti recently lost her job as a fundraiser as well), instead went about the “serious” business of painting himself as a political martyr, displaying the unmitigated gall to compare himself to Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi without cracking a smile.

Am I alone in noting that Blago relished this whole ordeal and the circus of it? Eliot Spitzer, the other disgraced Governor of 2008 (we’ll leave Palin alone for now) couldn’t wait for it all to go away, but Blago courted attention and shock value every step. I don’t think he cared about being Governor (as those tapes themselves clearly suggest – being “stuck” and all). He really envisioned himself as some sort of media darling, a newfangled Harvey Milk political martyr. Minutes after his formal dismissal by the legislature, he was planning his next press conference - already tasting that book deal, eventual screenplay and speaking tours (hopefully wearing stylish accessory ankle monitor). The guy obviously loves opportunism and riches, and he might not be wrong that ironically, getting thrown out of office is his ultimate ticket to fame and fortune. He doesn’t care a fig about the people of Illinois or anyone else. He took every chance this week to add more theatrics to his “legacy” This makes me hate him more than I do for the crimes he probably committed. I have never seen such a bald faced user in my life.

So as for this unnamed Senator who gave Blago the thumbs down? If this man is truly the elected voice of his district, I can only hazard a guess that his gesture, if considered immature for the advanced workings of the Illinois State Senate (I will purposely pause for laughter here), is nonetheless reflective of the group opinion of his constituents. In another words, Blago was lucky not to receive a gesture of the more obscene kind from those who decided his ultimate fate.

Back, but not better than ever

So illness has taken over mi casa, as Boop mentioned. The last three weeks have been an extreme dose of germ sharing. Now Rosebud's caretakers are falling to the wicked virus. But, thankfully, Rosebud has turned a corner and is back to begging for new episodes of Barney and Jack's Big Music Show. Which brings me to my thought for the day: TV is NOT detrimental to kids in any dose.

My almost 20-month old has learned to sing and dance and even has picked up quite a bit of vocab from watching these children's programs. If you listen to the experts, they say to limit to an hour OR LESS (!!!!!!) per day. But let's keep it real, shall we? It takes me at least an hour to take care of myself during the day (shower, get ready, nourish my own body with food and drink) and that requires someone else to occupy my daughter's attention. I don't know about you, but I cannot afford a nanny to do said entertaining, so Barney is the lucky man for the job.

What's worse: her laughing and dancing when the "Elmo's World" jingle comes on OR her climbing up and down the stairs in boredom? The latter is an accident waiting to happen, the former a cute photo op.

Let me be clear. I read to her everyday, we chase each other around the house, we have conversations, we play games. But she watches her fair share of tv too, experts be damned. It makes her happy and she learn things! You HAVE to balance it with human interaction, as I have described. Obviously. I am not an idiot. But I am a working mom being pulled in many directions and it helps to have Barney on my side.

Happy Thoughts

Upon reading the insightful comments of new reader jimmypasta (yes, since this is my blog, I do sometimes forget in my wallowing that all of us are feeling some sort of pain), and reflecting for the last couple of days, I have decided to place a moratorium on pity parties. It occurred to me that if I can't find something else to talk about besides how much things obviously suck, I am in for a long and unbearable quarter (year?). So anyway, enough of that and let's talk about what's going right. These little joys may be hard to spot, but they are out there.

• On a personal note, my baby niece appears to be on the mend, and I expect that Jen will bring her unique voice back to this page very shortly. It may sound trite, but I should stop for a moment and remember to be thankful for my friends, family and health. Too often we (I) take this for granted.
  


• Kudos to my good friend Wayne, one of few people I know who is actually receiving a deserved promotion in this time of constant layoff. There is no one worthier.
  


• Our pets: these critters know not from recession and hardship. Each time I clean up my 15 year-old cat, Snuggy's, latest pile of gluttonous vomit, or I break up a scuffle between he and his 5 year-old brother, Jordan, I am thankful that not all routines are affected by the downturn in the economy.
  


• I am going to Atlanta overnight on business this coming Monday. Temperatures will be in the mid-50s and sunny while I am there. Considering that Chicago hasn't seen anything above 18 degrees in more than a week, this escape is clearly a cause for celebration.

What kinds of things are you thankful for today?

The Worst Week Ever?

Jen and I promised a weekly point/counterpoint feature for our readers, "My End or Yours?" It was with 100% good faith that we made the commitment to deliver the piece every Friday. However, it has become clear that 2009 is slated to be a most unpredictable year, rarely in the positive sense.

On Jen's side (I am speaking for her since she has more important business to address), her littlest munchkin has contracted Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Thankfully, it appears the baby, with any luck, will not contract pneumonia or worse, but I'd appreciate the good wishes and prayers of you fine people anyhow.

On my side, where to start? Insomnia, an odd falling out with my personal trainer, a husband who continues to be beaten by a stagnant job market, a nearly untenable office environment at my own job. And then folks, the icing on the cake...

I dosed myself with Nyquil last night in an effort to achieve something more than four hours of sleep. Miraculously, this finally worked, where wine, sleeping pills and sex had failed me earlier. Now perhaps my body had simply hit the wall, but I am choosing to view the good people at Vick's as angels of mercy. I was zonked out from 10:00 PM until 8:00 AM this morning. I woke up, finally feeling refreshed. It is brutally cold in Chicago, but the sun is shining and I was ready to embrace the day.

I had a 9:00 AM appointment with my new personal trainer (the former one is dead to me - another story for another time), and made my way to our car to make the short drive to the gym. The last thought I remember having before my mind went blank is" "Damn it Eddie! Why did you have to park in such deep snow?" As it turned out, this question was superfluous. Why, you may ask? Because I can't very well drive anywhere without a full set of tires can I? I worked my way toward the driver side door only to notice a broken jack burrowed beneath a thick layer of ice at my feet. My eyes continued to move Southward and this is when I noticed the rear tire was gone. For some reason, I stared dumbly for what felt like hours before my mind was able to process that I had been vandalized.

Now readers, I live right in the middle of an affluent City neighborhood, on a street that is simultaneously well lit, well traveled and well patroled by the Federales (that is the cops for you you non-Spanish speakers). Before I could realize the emotional fallout of this violation, I adopted a thoroughly scientific approach to sussing it out. How could someone jack up my car, steal a tire and simply walk away unnoticed? Acquaintances of mine have since theorized that the broken jack left behind, as well as the fact that I continue to have three good tires, suggests a crime interrupted. Normally I am empathetic to those who have had their work disrupted, but in this case I am counting my blessings.

My favorite part (I say this with obvious sarcasm) of having your car vandalized is that you are the one who has to make all the phone calls and fork over the $500 deductable. The cretin who committed this act dropped our car, as it appears, rather hard on the ground as they made their getaway, and it's more than possible the axle, or some other part of the vehicle, has sustained damage. I guess I'll know more on Monday when the State Farm adjuster comes to have a look. As I have alluded, my husband is presently out of work and this is just one more thing to deal with that wasn't needed.

My insurance agent says that in times of depression, crimes such as these become more prevalent. He says he is getting 3-5 calls a day from people who suddenly find themselvs without tires. Really? What about Americans coming together in times of crisis? Must we all go Lord of the Flies on each other?

The reason I have put a question mark beside the title of my post is that I am loathe to say the worst is over. It seems that when I make these assumptions, the Karma Genie pops up out his hiding place to remind me that things can, and will be worse yet. Case in point: I have a meeting with the tax man later today.

Is anyone else having a hideous week like Jen and I? Lie to me people. Tell me that things are going to get better. I typically thrive on brutal truth, but for the moment, reality is just a bit too rough for my stomach.

Inaugural Musings

Undoubtedly, yesterday was a majestic day in America. After eight long years of war, divisive politics, religious agendas applied to the public sphere, economic crises, torture, Katrina, and a backward "War on Terror," it was refreshing to almost a suprising degree to realize the Bush years were truly over. America is back, better than ever, with Captain Obama at the helm. But aside from the more obvious chatter about what the day meant for African Americans in particular, critiques of Michelle Obama's fashion choices, and who did or did not gum up the oath of office, I noticed a few tidbits that our readers may have blinked and missed. These little moments reflect the lighter side of the day, the details that we may forget in time as we recall what January 20, 2009 meant to us. So here, for your reading pleasure, are some of these vignettes:

• For those of you, like me, who regularly view CNN and have long believed that Anderson Cooper (or "AC" as the kids like to call him) was the resident rock star, think again. AC was relegated to flunky status next to the domineering Wolf Blitzer. Welcome to "The Situation Room" bitch!
  


• Could Joe Biden be any happier to be Vice-President? So many of us are cynical when it comes to politicans and the way they view their offices: little more than a post that legalizes theft and other criminal behavior. How invigorating to see Biden with the enthusiam of a child standing in front of a stack of presents on Christmas morning. Way to go Joe!
  


• Obama is clearly the most gracious man on the planet, thanking W for his "years of service" during his speech and such. But did anyone notice that Bush seemed to slink down a little further in his seat each time Obama drew a distinction between the dogma that has driven the last eight years, and our new President's vision for the next four? I always assumed that Bush was either unaware or unconcerned with his status as a personified wrecking ball, but perhaps he is more in tune than we thought.
  


• Cheney injured his back and spent the day in a wheelchair pushed by his slave, er wife, Lynne. Fine, there is a warm spot in hell with my name on it, but I couldn't stop laughing at the irony. Mr. Big Shot leaving the White House in much the same condition as his policies have left America: crippled, weak and pathetic looking.
  


• There was Roland Burris, seated right behind Obama, smiling almost as wide as Biden. At least Blago has made someone happy.
  


• Who the heck was sporting that sweet red pimp hat about three chairs behind Obama?
  


• I'll say it if no one else will. Aretha Franklin is a legend, but her "My Country 'Tis of Thee" roundly sucked. That bow hat was something fierce though. Work it!
  


• The media was wild with news of the collapse of Senators Byrd and Kennedy at the luncheon following the swearing in. Kennedy, praise God, appears to be fine. But um, Robert Byrd just left to go to his office. Can't a 91 year-old leave a room without someone proclaiming his imminent death? This proves that the members of Congress are no better than a gossipy sewing circle. Oddly, I find this comforting.
  


• All that fuss and hoopla, anger and excitement and Rev. Rick Warren gives the most lame and boring invocation ever. Where's Jeremiah Wright when you need him?

History

I don't want to say too much on the inauguration, as I hope this historic day will prove to do the talking for me. I just want to say that I was home watching it with a sick Rosebud and I was overwhelmed when Obama walked out. I couldn't help but tear up with the hope of a better day. I just hugged Rosebud and said "Things are going to get better." I wish KK had been there to see my emotion. She feels for me when I cry, and I think she really would have grasped the significance of today if she were there.

I guess Boop and I like confrontation...

because I got into a scuffle of a totally different kind this weekend; me vs. an eight year-old.

You may be thinking that an eight year-old is probably not so much of an equal match for this late twenty-something, but let me clarify that I was a mother lion defending my cub. You see, we were at a children's museum patiently waiting our turn to push our faces into a bunch of pegs and see what we looked like on the other side. This rude shorty did not know the meaning of sharing and apparantly neither did her bit#@ of a mother. So, when rude shorty went to see her shape on the other side for the seemingly one thousandth time, I told KK to go ahead and take her turn.

Rude Shorty came back to the other side, saw KK, and tried to shove her out of the way - OH NO SHE DIDN'T!!! - Yes, she did. I politely (or perhaps not, my memory conveniently seems to be a bit fuzzy on that one) grabbed R.S's swinging arm and said "No, we are taking our turn now. You had plenty of turns." Pretty calm reaction considering I wanted to tackle her the ground and teach her some manners. Course, all I would have taught her is to punch and scratch when you feel threatened.

Anyway, I am no longer surprised when I see a lack of manners from parents, but I also saw a lack of concern from R.S's mom when she didn't seem to care that this Lion put her paws on her little R.S. Cub. My sympathy for R.S. having a poor mother figure quickly faded, though, when I saw how much fun KK was having with the pegs. Afterall, this is the society of "me me me". And she's just as pretty as a group of pegs as she is in the flesh. AND we took two or three turns, then let the next group move in. That's how it works.