Succinct and brilliant , as always.
This is the classy and elegant response to the horror that is Sarah Palin.

I cannot vote, but you can.
Please, please, keep this disaster out of the White House.


Palin: wrong woman, wrong message ... Sarah Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Hillary Clinton. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.
By Gloria Steinem
September 4, 2008

Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even
the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican
Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice
president. We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have
picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so
women can vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the
"white-male-only" sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton,
who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes.

But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a
boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and
opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been
about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for
women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too
many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.

Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no
way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin
shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and
deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that
has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential
candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that
opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that
Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be
like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."

This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even on
issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do the
job because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't
say the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the
spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has zero
background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37
years' experience.

Palin has been honest about what she doesn't know. When asked last month
about the vice presidency, she said, "I still can't answer that question
until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every
day?" When asked about Iraq, she said, "I haven't really focused much on
the war in Iraq."

She was elected governor largely because the incumbent was unpopular, and
she's won over Alaskans mostly by using unprecedented oil wealth to give a
$1,200 rebate to every resident. Now she is being praised by McCain's
campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state income
or sales tax. Perhaps McCain has opposed affirmative action for so long
that he doesn't know it's about inviting more people to meet standards, not
lowering them. Or perhaps McCain is following the Bush administration
habit, as in the Justice Department, of putting a job candidate's views on
"God, guns and gays" ahead of competence. The difference is that McCain is
filling a job one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency.

So let's be clear: The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin out
of change-envy, or a belief that women can't tell the difference between
form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing ideologues;
the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter of
reproductive freedom. If that were not the case, McCain could have chosen a
woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about Iraq;
someone like Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe of
Maine. McCain could have taken a baby step away from rig ht-wing patriarchs
who determine his actions, right down to opposing the Violence Against
Women Act.

Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every
issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that
creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global
warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's
wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only"
programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and
abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to
shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state
school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation;
she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500
million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has
opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly,
only younger.

I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle
Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she does
it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil fuels
but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't just
echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade,
she says that if one of her daughters wer e impregnated by rape or incest,
she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as a
human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that it
also protects the right to have a child.

So far, the major new McCain supporter that Palin has attracted is James
Dobson of Focus on the Family. Of course, for Dobson, "women are merely
waiting for their husbands to assume leadership," so he may be voting for
Palin's husband.

Being a hope-a-holic, however, I can see two long-term bipartisan gains
from this contest.

Republicans may learn they can't appeal to right-wing patriarchs and most
women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist
majority of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to
support the Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite
government into the wombs of women.

And American women, who suffer more because of having two full-time jobs
than from any other single injustice, finally have support on a national
stage from male leaders who know that women can't be equal outside the home
until men are equal in it. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are campaigning on
their belief that men should be, can be and want to be at home for their
children.

This could be huge.

....I witness things that warm my heart.
This week , the prize goes to my son, Vincent.
He, who has an hourly rate job , no car ( a little scooter for transport)
Took the day off work, unpaid, to escort my mother to the eye doctor , to have her every 6 week, very painful, eye shot....(yes, a needle in the eye. Ouch.)
He took her to the clinic on the bus, waited for her, took her home, made her tea and gave her meds and snacks, stayed with her overnight to be sure she was okay.
I am so proud of him.
He knows about love and giving, and family, and kindness and loyalty , and people can count on him.
My motherly heart glows.....

...it happens with crushing inevitability.
May rolls around and Vincent has a birthday. Then June rolls around, and it is Sarah's turn.
Today she is 26. Vincent turned 24 a month ago.
Can it be so? Am I really the parent of 2 adults? How did I get to be living a thousand miles away from them....in a different country.
I should be happy for the amazing people they have become, for the unlimited love I feel for them , for the fact that they have blessed my life.
Instead, I 'm selfishly sad, because I cannot be with them on these days.
After five years away from them, I still miss them fiercely. It will never go away, and really, I don't want it to.

...bullshit.
Over at last, thank god.
Now they can actually start being civil to each other .
They had 2 things in common, at the very least:
1) Both have been absolute bullshitters....do, and say what you need to get where you want. Anything goes.
2) Were both on a path to figure out: Who does the average american bigot hate more?A woman, or a black man?

Well, at last we know...I guess.
And it's already been decided, Americans will have neither.
McCain wins. Democracy? Yeah...whatever. Makes me ill.....all of it.
And we ALL lose........
Am I a political cynic?
Yeah, you bet.

This is my favourite Fairytale.
It is from the musical "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"

When the earth was still flat,
And the clouds made of fire,
And mountains stretched up to the sky,
Sometimes higher,
Folks roamed the earth
Like big rolling kegs.
They had two sets of arms.
They had two sets of legs.
They had two faces peering
Out of one giant head
So they could watch all around them
As they talked; while they read.
And they never knew nothing of love.
It was before the origin of love.

The origin of love

And there were three sexes then,
One that looked like two men
Glued up back to back,
Called the children of the sun.
And similar in shape and girth
Were the children of the earth.
They looked like two girls
Rolled up in one.
And the children of the moon
Were like a fork shoved on a spoon.
They were part sun, part earth
Part daughter, part son.

The origin of love

Now the gods grew quite scared
Of our strength and defiance
And Thor said,
"I'm gonna kill them all
With my hammer,
Like I killed the giants."
And Zeus said, "No,
You better let me
Use my lightening, like scissors,
Like I cut the legs off the whales
And dinosaurs into lizards."
Then he grabbed up some bolts
And he let out a laugh,
Said, "I'll split them right down the middle.
Gonna cut them right up in half."
And then storm clouds gathered above
Into great balls of fire

And then fire shot down
From the sky in bolts
Like shining blades
Of a knife.
And it ripped
Right through the flesh
Of the children of the sun
And the moon
And the earth.
And some Indian god
Sewed the wound up into a hole,
Pulled it round to our belly
To remind us of the price we pay.
And Osiris and the gods of the Nile
Gathered up a big storm
To blow a hurricane,
To scatter us away,
In a flood of wind and rain,
And a sea of tidal waves,
To wash us all away,
And if we don't behave
They'll cut us down again
And we'll be hopping round on one foot
And looking through one eye.

Last time I saw you
We had just split in two.
You were looking at me.
I was looking at you.
You had a way so familiar,
But I could not recognize,
Cause you had blood on your face;
I had blood in my eyes.
But I could swear by your expression
That the pain down in your soul
Was the same as the one down in mine.
That's the pain,
Cuts a straight line
Down through the heart;
We called it love.
So we wrapped our arms around each other,
Trying to shove ourselves back together.
We were making love,
Making love.
It was a cold dark evening,
Such a long time ago,
When by the mighty hand of Jove,
It was the sad story
How we became
Lonely two-legged creatures,
It's the story of
The origin of love.
That's the origin of love.

A lazy, slow and gentle Sunday morning.
Coffee, reading, hanging out.
Now I will head over the bridge to Berkeley , to shop for darkroom chemicals and film for my new photo class. My favourite photo store is in Berkeley, and worth the drive. I want to support businesses like this. They give excellent service, don't price gouge. It would be so much easier to shop online, but in an age of small businesses not making it, I want them to make it.

This semester, I enrolled in a more advanced class, black and white only, film only. More challenging darkroom techniques. I have had 2 classes so far, last week. Our instructor is everything I would hope for. Passionate and knowledgeable, full of information, experienced, and caring that his students get the most out of the lessons and labs.
This semester will be challenging. Three hour classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings again, and I usually spend Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings in the darkroom to be able to keep up with turning in assignments on time. And out and about, shooting, every other spare moment that I have.
But I am SO excited. I feel like a kid.....I am back to learning new things again.
I have three classmates who were in the same class as me last semester....so we know each other well, have a lot of fun, and hang out together, being photo geeks, comparing, sharing and inspiring each other.
And my fantasy of buying a Canon 5D is pushed further into the future. Digital can wait....I will get there, eventually. I do not reject technology at all. Just that I am so absorbed by the silver/paper magic right now.

My job is going to be more demanding too. A HUGE renovation, and I will be project managing it.....so I am pretty sure my hours at work will increase.

But I will make it, and love it....I know.
I will also look to other artists and photographers for inspiration to keep me fired up.
This "Horses" photo is by Keith Carter, my current photography guru. He is incredible and I absolutely love and admire his work. Here is inspiration:

www.keithcarterphotographs.com/#

And so, to learn, to be inspired , to grow, and be filled up by possibility.

No Matter if the road is long
No matter if it's steep
No matter if the moon is gone
and the darkness is complete
No matter if we lose our way, it's written that we'll meet
At least that 's what I heard you say say
A thousand kisses deep.

I loved you when you opened like a lily to the heat
You see, I'm just another snowman standing in the rain and sleet
who loved you with his frozen love, his second hand physique
with all he is, and all he was
A thousand kisses deep.

I know you had to lie to me, I know you had to cheat
you learned it on you father's knee
and at your mother's feet
but did you have to fight your way
across the burning street?
when all our vital interests lay
a thousand kisses deep.

I'm turning tricks
I'm getting fixed
I'm back on Boogie Street
I'd like to quit the business,but I'm in it, so to speak
The thought of you is peaceful, and the file on you complete
Except what I forgot to do
a thousand kisses deep.

No matter if you're rich and strong
No matter if you're weak
No matter if you write a song
that nightingales repeat
No matter if it's nine to five
or or timeless and unique
you ditch your life to stay alive
a thousand kisses deep.

The ponies run, the girls are young
the odds are there to beat
you win awhile, and then it's done, your little winning streak
and summoned now to deal with your invincible defeat
you live your life as if it's real
a thousand kisses deep.

I hear their voices in the wine
who sometimes did me seek
the band is playing Auld Lang Syne
but the heart will not retreat
there's no forsaking what you love
no existential leap
as witness to your time and blood
a thousand kisses deep

I especially appreciate reading pieces like this following one, sent to me by my dear friend David, who is a true appreciator of "older" women:
Actually, I have been fortunate and blessed to know a number of men who sincerely value and enjoy women over 40. (including a few men who are themselves, under 40.)
This is no "Harold and Maude" scene. These guys get that sexiness and appeal are often earned by slow ripening over the years. And that cannot be rushed. They understand the appeal that is a product of attitude, intellect ,experience and confidence, which are more often present in older women.

SO, all you over 40 (or 50) women out there. Next time you are feeling marginalized or ignored by men, because of your age, remember this.
I read this as a reminder of what I aspire to with every day that I grow older.

(written by Andy Rooney - CBS 60 Minutes. )

"As I grow in age, I value women who are over 50 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

A woman over 50 will not lay next to you in bed and ask, "What are
you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.

If a woman over 50 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit
around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And,
it's usually something more interesting.

A woman over 50 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is,what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of 50 give a damn what you might think about her or what she's doing.

Women over 50 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of
course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

A woman over 50 has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because she doesn't trust the guy with other women. Women over 50 couldn't care less if you're attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won't betray her.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 50. They always know.

A woman over 50 looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not true of younger women or drag queens.

Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 50 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk or if you are acting like one! You don't ever have to
wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 50 for a multitude of reasons.

Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal.
For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman of 50+, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool
of himself with some 18-year-old waitress.

Ladies, I apologize.

For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" Here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire Pig, just to get a little sausage. "

And finally... you probably have to be over 50 just to know who Andy
Rooney is!

ps: The photo is Helen Mirren, a very kickass , very over 50 woman.