Why I Love Having Barnes & Noble in My Backyard...

James Caan, 1975. Went a bit stir crazy today, so I decided to take a walk in the rain with my daughter this afternoon. Walked into our local B&N DVD section and there it was, the original Rollerball. $14.99 list, 40% off, minus an additional 10% for my membership. Walked out with a 1970s sci-fi classic for eight bucks.

Stopped at the cafe for something to warm the walk home. Back into the rain for a couple blocks to Rite Aid for a nighttime mouth guard. Hooray. Then home to meet Tyler.

Talked to Gavin for a bit, then had a nice long vent with my mom. That always makes everything a lot better. Thanks, Ma.

Listening to Gossip in the Grain by Ray LaMontagne. I got the CD for the girl, but she let me rip it. Riiiip iiiit. Getting ready to make dinner. It's just hard to get motivated, and I have a tummy full of latte right now, so I'm not thinking about food at all.

My face feels weird since for Halloween I ended up shaving some intricate fuzzworks, then trimmed everything back to just the soul patch & chin. Not used to having a naked upper lip. Promised Rae I'd grow it all back out. She was happy to hear it.

Before.

After (and years younger, no?).

Anyway, I'm gonna be extra good to myself tonight. Gonna have a beer with dinner, catch some DVD action with the kids, and hopefully get a jet soak before bed. It's the simple pleasures I often overlook.

Back to Abnormal

While I offer no apologies for waxing political during this history-making past few days, I now return you to your regularly-scheduled blog.

The autumn rain is here. It's not hard rain. It's that Pacific Northwest dense veil of wet that's somewhere between thick fog and real rain. This is the wet we're famous for.

I've been a domestic Superman, clearing space for the imminent move-in, scheduling doctors' appointments and talking to school officials. It's a crazy, crazy time, and I'll be happy when this phase is over. Tyler has his sleep study consult scheduled. In January. Oh well, at least it's now on the books.

Been trying to distract myself from the mundane worries that usually end up as a knot in my stomach making me sick. Today that meant a carry-out lunch from Taco Del Mar and Eulogy. I'd not heard of this film before putting it on my Netflix queue, but man, what a cast and a fantastic script! Hank Azaria is great. And when do we really get to see Debra Winger anymore?

Tonight will be more soup for dinner, and more Buffy episodes. They're good time-wasters in the evening, and heck, I've done everything on my checklist today.

Open Letter

Before I paste his text in this forum, I feel I must preface with a word or two about my stepfather, Bob.

Bob was a Reagan Republican. For as long as I've known him, he's been the lone voice of old-school fiscal conservatism in my large family of New Deal lefties. And this year, he contributed to, supported and voted for Obama. It was an event which sent a collective double-take through my family, but one that quickly made us all beam with pride. Because, far from drinking the liberal kool-aid, Bob had actually listened to his heart and his conscience, and supported the candidate he felt best suited to put us right with the world, and with our own people. The candidate best suited to unite us all with an even head and an even hand. Someone who would not just spend a term putting out fires, but who could re-engage us in the world community and challenge us to achieve great things again.

And that's the gist of the open letter he sent me, with a request to publish on this blog.

* * *

An Open Letter to the Next President,

I’m an ordinary person, capable of extraordinary things. I work with my hands, my brain, the strength of my back and the flat of my feet. I am strong in times of weakness and weep openly and unashamed in moments of great triumph. I am weary to my bones but I carry on with a strength that resides deep in my soul. I persevere in the face of despair. I exult in my neighbor’s blessings and help them carry their heaviest burdens.

I am vain, petty, cowardly, envious and pessimistic. And yet still, mostly hopeful. I am all these things and more: Resilient, moldable, ambitious, willing. I am a citizen of the United States of America. I am you, and you are me, joined as we.

Together as we, let us do great things. Find us the tools then get out of the way. We are the people that forged a tiny, fragile country by defeating the most powerful military force on the planet. We did it on the strength of an idea. We are the country that invented the light bulb and found a thousand uses for the humble peanut through the vision and persistence of brilliant individuals. We are the country that saved a world at war for democracy twice in a single century through the shared sacrifice of a nation. We went to the moon using nothing more sophisticated than a slide rule and vacuum tubes, and watched it on the TV we invented. We defeated Communism and we showed the world what the future of human relations looks like. It looks like you. It looks like me. It looks like us.

We have an uncanny ability to elevate great leaders at pivotal moments in our history and we believe we have done so once again. Make no mistake the challenges are great, as they always are. Save the planet, alleviate poverty, educate the illiterate, seek peace and justice and defend the defenseless. We are ready, as we have always been; to sacrifice tirelessly for our children’s and our grandchildren’s futures, to scrimp pennies and tackle intolerance. Watch the world be amazed and inspired by how we succeed. Please, give us impossible tasks.

Robert Pace
On behalf of the citizens of the U.S.A.

A Proud American

I don't know when I've felt this kind of pride (if ever) in my country. Not everybody likes it, and really, not everybody has to. History was made, and a lot of people's faith in the process was redeemed. This is a 232-year-old promise fulfilled.

As I sat watching the acceptance speech with misty eyes, Raechelle turned to me, equally misty, and said to me, "I'm so excited for Tyler and Kayleigh, to grow up having hope and pride in their country." As one who has traveled abroad in the last eight years, I had to agree.

I don't know if the enormity of the situation has really sunk in. It may be days yet. But I'm breathing a big sigh of relief that the election cycle is over, and it was enough of an electoral landslide that Obama's victory is not in doubt in any way.

Yes, things are still tough, and yes, the country has a long, hard slog out of a deep hole. I don't think anyone is delusional enough to believe that electing Obama will be a panacea. But it's one hell of a positive step. The people have spoken - let's do this.

My Bro

I just took Gavin to lunch at the Swell for his birthday (which was last week, but apparently he was "too busy" to let his big brother take him out for pub food). Speaking of pub food, my friend Mark was working the kitchen today, and came out to recommend the special, a steak melt (using a new marinade). Fair enough. Two steak melts, please.

Yum.

We had a great conversation and caught up on a few things, which was really nice. The cool thing about a brother is that you may not see each other all that often, but when you do, you're back to wanting to yell at him to get out of your room... Er, I mean, you're back to hugs and chuckles.

Happy Birthday again, Gavin. And thanks for all you've done (and continue to do).

P.S. Can you tell who Gavin voted for from the pic above?

A New Hope

I'm stealing the subtitle from the original Star Wars movie to illustrate my current state of mind. And it's not just the election - everybody knows how this Jeffersonian liberal in a blue state casts his ballot. It's much, much more.

November 1st was my New Year, and it already feels like it. There's been a sort of pallet-cleansing of the soul recently, and although I'm not going into too much depth here, suffice to say it's really good, forward progress.

Some of it has to do with the dream I had last night, wherein my dad gave me a guided tour of my entire life, a la A Christmas Carol or It's a Wonderful Life. Some of it has to do with the fact that Gavin has helped hold Tyler's feet to the fire with his school work and attendance, and it appears to be working. He cheerfully and promptly left with us for school this morning. Some of it is the improvement in Tyler's and my relationship recently. Some of it is grownup relationship-related (and again, not going into detail - only that it's forward momentum).

Overall, there is a sense of optimism and hope for the future. My future. Our collective future. In every arena. And that is a feeling I wish everyone could have, at least once. That's all I have to say about that.

Tonight we'll be going to Dan & Trish's place for Election Day coverage, dinner and wine. We're bringing a bottle of champagne just in case, and Rae is staying here tonight. And on the topic of Election Day, why is this not a national holiday?? If we're going to pride ourselves on our democratic process, why not give people the day off to exercise their rights and do their civic duty? Let's revel in the process we helped invent, and reinvest in our national pride.

That's all I got.

BOO 2: Electric Boogaloo

As TBGE mentioned on her blog mere moments ago, Saturday was a lot of prep, a lot of cleaning, a lot of decorating, and a lot of fun! Special mad props go to Darlene for contributing to the bar and for set-up and tear-down. She's amazing (and Caleb gets a mention for the clean-up too).

Tyler was a ninja, but he shucked the costume after an hour or so, making the occasional appearance with Elvis. Kayleigh again donned her Willow costume, and was joined by Trish as Buffy. Dan came with a Bible, glasses and a neatly trimmed mustache, and a nametag that read "Hi-dely-ho, Neighborino!"

There was a nice mix of Raechelle's crowd and mine, and everyone got along splendidly. It was actually a really nice social experiment, and it seemed to work well. Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber were in attendance, as well as Grouche Marx.

We had cobwebs on the lights and pictures, we had spiders and bats everywhere... black lights, candles, strobes, colored light bulbs, a rock party playlist, ambient creepy sounds playing low on my "antique" radio, and silent horror films going on the projection screen (thanks to my projector getting repaired). Everyone had a great time, and at about 3AM the last of the guests trickled out. Pics are here.

The majority of Sunday was spent cuddled on the sofa, watching football and Buffy episodes, and doing light chores. It really was a nice, low-key day.

So, this week is mostly organization for me - prepping spaces for Rae's stuff, reserving the truck for the move, etc. Oddly enough, after last weekend (and my New Year upon me), I'm not stressing as much. We have an election night gathering at Dan & Trish's on Tuesday, but aside from that, I'm in move-in prep mode.