instantgirl

Yesterday, while my husband and I were making dinner, he casually started opening the mail. He saw an express letter from his sister and he opened it.  In it was a little card that contained one of those laminated bookmarks that Catholic folks make for the funeral when someone dies.  That’s how my husband found out his father had died a week before.  People suck.

It’s true my husband and his family were estranged but there is no excuse for his sister’s mean behavior.  It turns out the father had been ill since January.  In the card, my husband’s sister wrote that she had tried to call us.  We’re busy people and we don’t have an answering machine on our home phone but it seems like she didn’t make a big effort to contact us.  I am heartbroken at the pain and suffering my husband will have to go through.

The image above is the cover of one of my favorite issues of Granta, issue 37. The title comes from a Larkin poem (asterisks used to protect those who are offended by swear words):

They f*** you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were f***ed up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another’s throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.

Someone sent this picture to me today. I know it’s cynical and mean but I think it’s very true.  This gal in inexperienced and IMHO downright dumb.  Her ambition seems so big that she’ll do almost anything to get ahead.  She uses her youngest child, who has Down’s Syndrome, like he’s a commercial prop.  She trots out her teenage, pregnant daughter as something she’s proud of.  She probably is very proud of her daughter because she enables Sarah Palin to prove that she LIVES her pro-life values.  All of us have worked with someone like this.  Please do what you can to make sure she doesn’t get near the White House.

Keith Olberman and Chris Matthews no longer will be anchoring MSNBC’s news coverage. They will be replaced by David Gregory and the two journalists will be used as commentators. The reason behind the change is that the net feels they were too opinionated, to the left, during the Republican National Convention. Um, has anyone watched Fox news lately? Even Brian Williams gets in a righty comment every once in awhile. I bet I can tell you 90% of every journalist’s voting record. Humans are subjective. What’s wrong with a little left-leaning editorializing?? I just returned from Europe and if you watch CNN international the anchors are CLEARLY pro-Republican. It seems like censorship to me that they have removed these guys from their positions. What the Republicans are good at, and the Democrats are terrible at, are organizing and vocalizing around a cause. They get results. SOMEONE in the media should make a BIG deal about this. It’s just wrong.

The Log Cabin is a organization of gay republications. This is their official statement about Sarah Palin, “Alaska Governor Sarah Palin can help Sen. McCain win this election by appealing to independent and young voters. She’s a mainstream Republican who will unite the Party and serve John McCain well as Vice President. Gov. Palin is an inclusive Republican who will help Sen. McCain appeal to gay and lesbian voters.” Um, well, no. She is against gay marriage and gay adoption. Many people point to this article to prove that she is pro-gay. In fact, she vetoed the bill simply because her attorney general said it was unconstitutional and she didn’t want to break the law. Beware, people. Beware.

Well, I have to admit that John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin as a vice presidential nominee is brilliantly strategic, I think it’s pretty obvious that he’s trying to steal the Hillary votes by picking this gal. It pains me that I can’t support either of the two women who have paid/will pay major roles in the presidential campaign.  Just because they have the same “equipment” as I do doesn’t mean I’m going to run out to the polls and vote for them.

Speaking of va-jay-jays, I had a conversation with my gynecologist about this. She said she had to vote for Hillary because she never thought she would see a women have a chance at the presidency. That’s not a good enough reason for me. Hillary seems like she’s always giving a corporate presentation (although her speech this week was great). Sarah Palin is similar in her driving ambition. Everything she says and does seems planned to benefit her next move. Do we really want someone like that in the White House? Add to that the fact that, just last week, she wondered what the vice president does. Check out her views on offshore drilling. She’s probably invested in oil drilling companies just like Cheney has plowed millions (billions?) into Haliburton.

Please see this post about a beautiful dog named Chai who had to have his tongue removed due to a poorly-design dog toy. There is one hole in the toy and it can create a vacuum which can suck the dog’s tongue into the toy. It’s happened more than once and the manufacturer, Four Paws, has, so far, refused to remove or redesign the product. I just checked their site and the product seems to be removed from the site and I found this post about a product recall.