Musings of the Chronologically Challenged™ Fourth Generation

 

ODE TO JANUARY

When I was little, I never liked January. As far as I was concerned, the holidays were over, and I had difficulty dealing with letdown. That's probably because my parents were so successful at making Christmastime so much fun. We always had a big, beautiful tree and we would engage in days of cookie making. My sister, Janet, a few years younger than I, would get flour all over her face and hair when she made them. She would always want to be the one to put on all the sprinkles too, and since Janet was so adorable, my mother and I felt she was too cute to refuse. Of course, there were also Santa's presents, usually toys, so beautifully wrapped they seemed to twinkle under the tree. Christmas was always a dream, so naturally I never wanted Christmas to end.

Ah, but it would, and there would not be much to look forward to after that other than school, homework and tests. Ugh! It's easy to see why January was so hard to take-the contrast between the warm and cozy family experiences and the harsh reality of January was a complete shock. Perhaps you felt the same way too.

Now that I have grown up, I feel very different about January - it has become one of my favorite months. January has a lovely, peaceful quality that can sparkle the depths of winter's darkness like a jewel. After a month of parties, shopping, and trying to keep to my writing deadlines amid the commotion, I find January's calm a welcome change. I like that I can follow my own schedule in January, without concern that I might be swept up into other events. Although I love the holidays and feel it is ultimately good for us to have a break in our normal routines, there is something seductive and charming about January too.

[Anonymous]


A SOUTHERN DEM TEES OFF

Follow the link from Major Don to a Southerner "teeing off" on Howard Dean. The author, Bruce Dobie, is a Southern Democrat from Tennessee. He must have read my mind! Read the entire article "Why I Can't Stand Howard Dean - One Southerner tees off" here.

Some highlights:

"Everywhere I go, I hear people saying how much they hate George Bush. Yet, I can't bring myself to hate George Bush. Howard Dean, on the other hand, is someone I am growing to hate."

"I'm not talking about his positions on the issues. I'm talking about his character, what he exudes and what appears to lie within him. I judge him as do the vast majority of other voters, based only on what I read in print and see on television--"

"Even the simple act of shaking hands appears alien to him. Watch him on television sometime wandering into a crowd. He holds his arm straight out, keeping himself well removed from others, as if warding off germs."

"His ability to deliver a speech is the worst of any presidential candidate in my lifetime. There is no beginning, middle or end to a Howard Dean speech. When Dean is at the podium, he might as well be phoning in a prescription."

"What really ticks me off--and now we're at the nub of my gripe--is that when he opens his occluded trap and starts talking about the South, his unearned entitlement just shows."

"When it comes to the real lives people lead in the South, I don't think Howard Dean feels, knows, understands or remotely approaches the truth about anything we do here. When asked whether he could appeal to Southerners, he said no problem--he was going to speak to the guys who have Confederate flags waving from the backs of pickup trucks. Come again?"

"Say what you will about Bill Clinton, but the man loved people. At some level, what drew Clinton to others ultimately drew them to him. When you love people, you inspire, give hope, lead. From El Paso to Northern Virginia, most average folks are feeling no spark, no lift, and no love from Howard Dean. They sense an obsequious, arrogant Yankee talking at them about what he purports to be."

"He is a man of passion who has none, a man of the people who really doesn't care much for people, a common, grassroots, Internet-based candidate who actually believes he's above us."

[WOW! It would appear to be safe to assume that Mr. Dobie has another Democrat in mind for the nomination!]


OUTSTANDING QUOTES

Money can't buy you happiness, but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.
~Spike Milligan

What's the use of happiness?
It can't buy you money.
~Henny Youngman

I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position.
~Mark Twain

I never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back.
~Zsa Zsa Gabor


IN LOVING MEMORY OF THOSE WHO SERVED

Samuel Adams, Cmsgt
By Timothy Guy, Winter Springs, FL USA

Went missing in action on 10-31-65 in the Bien Hoa province of Vietnam while trying to return to base. He was with 3 other airman, Cmsgts. Thomas Moore, Charles Dusing, and one other who escaped. Please remember him and his comrades as well as all of the other unaccounted for men and women from Vietnam, and their families. Any one knowing of the 6250th civil eng. sqd. in tan son nut in 65 please feel free to email (toadspad@iag.net) me trying to find info on his unit.
















posted by HCL at 12:58 AM