madameblogalot

As I was driving today, I was thinking about why I like neither the Democratic nor the Repulican candidates. Of course, I think the two parties have gotten too close to being the same, and that they do nothing but play a big, mean game. So that, I don’t like. Even though I did not get to see last night’s debate, I have seen those two candidates on TV and saw part of a PBS documentary on the two a couple of nights ago. I did learn some interesting things about both of them, some things that I could actually respect about both of them. But when it comes down to it, I don’t want to vote for either one. Among other reasons (things they stand for, believe in, vote for), they are both too arrogant and cocky.

That got me to thinking about the difference in those two words. And yes, I do think there is a difference. Although they may have the same underlying meaning and we can and do use them interchangeably, I think the feeling they convey is different. I guess in my mind “arrogant” is used for someone who is acting “uppity” and “cocky” is someone who is acting like a bully. The connotation of the words may be a little different, but in the end, they turn me off just about the same. So when I see one candidate acting arrogant and one acting cocky, I don’t care to listen to either one of them.

I have been considering another conservative candidate. I like the party’s stance and I did vote for this party’s candidate four years ago. I got an email from this year’s Constitution Party candidate yesterday. In it he talked about not wasting a vote and why he believes voting third party is not a wasted vote. I agree with most of what he said. But in it, he did make a “barb” towards one or both of the major candidates. That really got my ire up. I mean, if he is supposed to be better, why is he stooping to one of the same tactics. Never mind that it was only a small one, never mind that it could be excused as a joke, it was still there. I am wondering if it takes a bit of over-self-confidence (arrogance, cockiness) to even run for President….

A few posts back you see where I talked about my daughter reading Tuck Everlasting. One of her assignments was to post a review on Amazon.com. You can find her review of the book here . Although she did not really review the book outside of saying “good book” and filling in four stars, I do like how she summed up the story.

It has been one month since hurricane Ike blew over us. A lot of work has been done in clean up efforts. But so much still remains to be done. We drove over Galveston Bay yesterday and saw a scene straight off the news. There on the banks of grass were several boats washed up, looking like toys dropped by a distracted child. It was amazing to see and I do not know how those boats will be gotten back to where they belong.

Today, we went down to a small bayside town to help provide food and cleaning supplies. There were many people whose homes are still damaged, awaiting insurance and all the repairs that need to be done, their belongings sitting out in their front yards.

For such a quick visit, Ike sure left his mark….

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” –John Quincy Adams

Even though I am not sure yet who I will vote for (though I am pretty sure that it will not be either one of the main parties’ candidates), tomorrow is the last day to get registered to vote in this election. There have been times in the past when I just did not vote. And in this election it is pretty tempting. However, I have decided that it is important and I have even decided that voting for a third party is not wasting my vote. It is having my say. It is voting my conscience. It is standing up for what I believe in. How can that be a waste? So if you have not registered and like many others have been tempted to just skip it and not even vote, please reconsider. Have your say. Register tomorrow!

voting information for those displaced by hurricane Ike

My daughter started a new book today, Tuck Everlasting. I really like this book (more so than the movie.) I hope she enjoys it as well. I think she will. It raises the question of “What would it be like to live forever? What would it really be like?” Now I just need to get her activity packet together. The way she reads, she’ll be done in a day or two!

Shelly recently posted her “hit or miss” list for September. My list is nowhere as long, but I thought it would be fun to post my own hit or misses.

I’ve only seen a couple of movies this month, which is really more than I do most months! Both were hits for me. Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, 1945 version. It differs from the book, but overall it was pretty good. My daughter liked how they explained the mystery better than it was done in the book.
We also saw Journey to the Center of the Earth. Although it was cheesy in several places, I was ok with it and thought it ended up being a good movie for our family to see together.

As for books, maybe the only one I finished this month was And Then There Were None. I enjoyed this book even though I knew how it was going to turn out (I read the teacher’s literature guide before reading the book.) That did somewhat spoil it for me, but not too much. There were even a couple of spots where I got a little confused, in spite of knowing “who done it”.

I always enjoy reading Reader’s Digest. I have not read everything in it yet, but that is part of what I like about it. I can enjoy pieces and chunks without having to finish it. I also finished reading the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Some friends of ours are Catholic and gave this to me to read through to try to understand some of what goes on in their worship services. We will likely try to attend Christmas Eve mass with them this year. This text was hard for me to get through and I only read small parts at any given time.

I am still reading The Singer Trilogy. It is not hard to read, just hard to find the time. I am enjoying it so far and want my son to read it when I am done.

So for the most part, my reading and viewing this month have been “hits”.

I got this in an email today. It is written by a group of homeschooled students.

IKE

Tall waves warning doom
Ikes unexpected mercy
chaotic echoes….

- written by the Clear Lake Literary Club

A friend of ours was attending college in Galveston. They have been transferred out and are getting set up on another campus this week. He emailed me today and asked if things are getting back to normal. Well, somewhat. Many traffic lights are still out, not everyone has electricity and phones and internet are still unreliable. School won’t start back for another week.

It has even been a bit “weird” going to the grocery stores. This is such a common event that when you don’t have any around you open, it seems weird. And then when they do open, seeing all the cold and frozen cases completely empty seems a bit strange. Many of the stores have done a great job of getting supplies in. Now most common items are available; bread, ice, some milk, some meat and even some “local” ice cream. But it is a weird sight to see such empty shelves and freezers throughout the store.

Ike came to visit over the weekend. We are still recovering.

If you don’t know, Ike is the name of the hurricane that hit the Texas Gulf Coast last Friday/Saturday. It was a high cat 2/low cat 3. It could have been much, much worse. It was bad enough.

We chose to stay through the storm. As scary as it was, I am glad we did. We had almost all our windows boarded and were able to start the clean up process as soon as the weather calmed. It was awesome to see how our neighborhood stuck together. We helped each other prepare, we helped each other clean, and we shared our food. Even tonight at dinner time we carried out what we had left and stood in the street to eat and visit…

There is still much to do for many people in our area. I know it will take time for so many to recover. We have been very blessed. I wish everyone in the area well…

We will likely be visited by hurricane Ike within the 24-30 hours. Many people are choosing to stay and “hunker down” through this one. Nearly all of our neighbors have decided to stay. My husband and another neighbor worked putting up boards over the windows today. Then a few other neighbors decided to as well. One lady’s husband had to work a full day today, so all the guys pitched in and helped her as well as finished up a couple of other family’s homes as well. It was just like an old fashioned barn-raising! But instead of us women frying up some chickens, we actually found a pizza delivery place open so we all pitched in and ordered about ten pizzas, added some fruit and brownies and had a regular hurricane party!

Everyone was so pleased by the camaraderie and the pulling together to help each other out. One man said he’d never seen a neighborhood pull together like that. My son said he hopes to live in a neighborhood like this when he gets to that age. It was really great to see everyone working together (although there were a couple of moments when it seemed as if there were “too many cooks in the kitchen”!) I am sure that the feeling of community and counting on each other and helping each other along is what those old fashioned barn-raisings were all about!