One Issue Voter

After being out driving this week, I think I could become a one issue voter. If a candidate promised to ticket everyone who drove in the passing lane when they weren't passing anyone--I would donate money to that person's campaign, put their sign in my lawn, show up at their rally and put my "x" by their name on election day.

I'm embarrassed to say that this is how shallow I am.

Why don't people move over? One woman I know said she couldn't go back to the other lane because she drove a pick-up truck and it was too hard---hey, hey, hey--how about getting off the road if you can't handle the vehicle. Others say they are going the speed limit and have a right to be there--oh for pete sake, time to mosey on back to Mayberry RFD. And others, I'm sure, are just unaware or on their cell phone or are planning to pass someone or turn left at some point in the next 100 miles or so. Again, I know I'm a little bit on the ornery side about all this.

For several years, I've reminded the little darlings that when I die, it is their responsibility to tell their father to move out of the passing lane. Mr. Wonderful gets a little too comfortable in the left lane and is slow to put on his blinker, check over his right shoulder and slide back over to where he belongs. (I didn't pick up on this when we were dating--love is truly blind)

So, if you've been thinking about a political career but didn't really want to be bothered with foreign policy, recessions, depressions, global warming, crime, health care, mortgage meltdowns, poverty, energy resources and all those other big fancy issues--maybe this is the place to start. You can count on my vote.

Potlucks

A potluck, also called a covered dish supper, faith supper, a carry-in or Jacob's supper in different parts of the country or cultures, is in my estimation, consistently one of life's best culinary experiences. It's been a good week for me, I've been to two--nearly reason enough to raise my arms and praise the Lord (but behavior like that could get me barred from future feasts in my Scandinavian Lutheran neighborhood so I won't be risking it).

A potluck may seem like a free for all to the uninitiated but to pull off a good one takes some top-notch organizational skills. Some have themes, some have part of the menu provided, some require only some of the eaters to bring food. The organizer has to decide how many main dishes, salads--vegetable, pasta or fruit, breads, desserts, beverages (if not provided). Are the plates and utensils going to be provided or should everyone bring their own?--but even then someone will forget, you have to have spares. Bring a big sturdy plate--no flimsy nine incher.

My least favorite potluck was at an all natural, organic food store. Not only did it have the most unidentifiable foods, they were mostly inedible, at least to my cream of mushroom soup trained palate. My favorites are church potlucks when there are a lot of older women who don't have any fancy ideas about food. Hotdishes, jello salad, hotdishes, buttered buns, hotdishes, more jello salad, and another dozen or so hotdishes.
Hallelujah! Amen!!

art studio ramble

Last weekend my friend, Gina, and I went on a tour of art studios in western Wisconsin. I think we saw about 10 or 12 studios and drove about 100 miles. My vocabulary for talking about art is so limited--I don't know how to tell you about the great stuff we saw. Pottery, painting, sculpture, jewelry, glass work, photography, woodworking, iron smithing-and variations in each category. It was phenomenal. It was cool, beautiful, inspiring, calming, exciting and on and on.

My appreciation of art is uninformed and unsophisticated. I don't know what makes art good or bad and have only a minuscule bit of knowledge about technique or style-- enough to recognize the difference between a Picasso and Monet, and that's about it. But, as we cretins like to say, I know what I like and you can bet your crayolas I saw a lot that I liked on Saturday. It would have been fun, (in a "look at me, I just won the lottery" way), to be able to buy something from each artist just to show them how much I appreciate what they do.

The artwork was great, the weather was perfect, the scenery wonderful and as an added bonus, I got to spend the day with Gina, who, it could be said, is a piece of art herself.

The truth about politics

Only a month and we'll be done with the current cycle of campaigning. The advertising will go back to more benign topics and the TV news/talk shows will remember that there's a whole big world out there that doesn't need to be seen through the red and blue filters of the Democrat and Republican parties.

I was out walking today and listening to music (have I mentioned how much I love my Ipod?). A song came on by The Roches, called "Who Cares". Here are some of the lyrics:

I like to watch TV
listen to the news
hear what everybody is saying
there's a lot of talk about God
peace and safety and
war and fear and
there goes a girl in a bikini

This guy's saying that guy's an idiot and
she's on the right, he's on the left and
everybody's screaming and yelling at each other and
calling each other jerks
its a party

Who cares where the truth lies
Who cares where the truth lies

Guys dressed up in suits and ties
look you straight in the eyes
telling you lies
but I really wish I knew
what they were talking about

Meanwhile human beings
are being strung up on bridges and
little kids getting their legs blown off and
young soldiers are coming home no more

who cares
who cares

After listening to all the words being thrown back and forth by the politicians, their ads, their parties, the analysts, the newscasters, the comedians, and any of us, who've so charmingly been reduced to being "joe six pack" or "soccer mom"--its easy to see where the sentiment of the song comes from.

We can only guess our best at who is being truthful the most often and who has the most workable solutions to all of the complicated problems that face the US and the world. I have strong opinions about who is better suited to the job but I recognize that they are only opinions based on my biases, life experiences, likes and dislikes etc. There are precious few verifiable facts regarding any candidates past record (those records are so like Bible verses in that they change depending on who's doing the interpreting) and no mortal can tell us what will happen when one or the other is elected.

So....if you want to talk politics with me, don't be getting all high and mighty thinking you know the truth--because then I'll just have to start my own little delusional rant. And that'll just suck the fun right out of running into each other, don't you think?