Proof of Life

I can't believe that he's gone.

A fleeting thought that I can't even explain the genesis of drove me to google an old flame last night. The oldest of serious flames, really. And the very first item that came up was a newspaper article about a man of the same name dying in a motorcycle accident last year. Too many coincidences added up in the article, and the dread settled in as I found his memory page on the web.

I gasped when the page came up. It was him. Some gray hair and wrinkles, but the same warm, smiling face. I browsed the slideshow of pictures spanning his obviously very full, joyful life.
He had children and step-children, and grandchildren...a Harley! The pictures portrayed a life well lived. Far too short, but well lived, indeed.

I've pondered all day as to what exactly has touched me so deeply about this. It's not a loss to me, in any kind of everyday real life sense. Certainly a loss at some level, I guess. But what I really think hit me hard is the question that I've known has been bubbling to surface since I laid eyes on that memory page: What will the pictures of my life portray to those I leave behind someday?

Sarah and the Bear

I'm smiling after reading this article about Sarah, Todd and Piper Palin encountering a mama bear and her cubs just a couple of feet from them as they salmon fished. While the article mentions the Palins were "stunned", I must say that they appear very poised in the photo. That doesn't surprise me a bit.

Coincidentally, a friend and I had just been talking about Jimmy Carter's famous fishing encounter with a ferocious, attacking, swimming(!) "Killer Rabbit" a/k/a Killer Water Bunny. The official photographs mentioned in this article don't do the menacing rodent justice, so I decided to use a cartoonist's rendition of the encounter for fairness in comparison.  Here we go...

                                           Sarah and the Bear:

                                       Jimmy and the Killer Water Bunny:

I'll leave it at that.

Snips and snails and gecko tales.

About that gecko...

I read today that GEICO has fired voice talent Lance Baxter AKA "D.C. Douglas", heard in several GEICO commercials, over some voice messages he left at FreedomWorks. FreedomWorks is a limited government advocacy group linked to the Tea Party. According to this article, Mr. Douglas left some nasty messages where he called Tea Party protesters "mentally retarded" and speculated whether protests would lead to someone getting killed. The article goes on to say that FreedomWorks then put Mr. Douglas's voice mail messages online and asked their supporters to call GEICO to complain resulting in the firing of Mr. Douglas.

This story has troubled me since I read it on Twitter via @teh_Dede. I don't like what Mr. Douglas did and what he had to say. He was wrong to do what he did, even though he says he was motivated by the belief that there were racial and homophobic slurs hurled during the Tea Party protest right before the health care bill vote. But did he deserve to have his messages publicized, his employer contacted (through a campaign) and then fired? I struggle with that answer, I really do. This reeks of scorched earth and tit for tat, and in my gut I feel it's wrong.

I don't have to like what Mr. Douglas has to say or what he believes. I don't want to defend it, and won't. But I do have to live in this country with people who will disagree with me AFTER I hope we see a big correction in our government leadership come November. I'd like to change hearts and minds, not bash over the head.

I've never been to a Tea Party protest, but I've always been proud of my fellow Americans, whom I've felt were representing me. They're great patriots to me and their interests are largely mine. They're out there showing the country that change can be brought through peaceful, thoughtful protest. This is what I want to continue to support and to associate with the Tea Party, or conservatism, for that matter. Getting people fired for relatively mild political statements doesn't fit those ideals for me, personally.

Now I know the Tea Party didn't do this. FreedomWorks and their supporters did. But they're going to be linked to the Tea Party as if the whole movement is behind it. That's the way the media works. Whether we, as supporters of this movement or conservatives in general, nod our heads in approval matters.

I am a proud Tea Party supporter and a political conservative.  I am not nodding my head.

ADDED: I tweaked the wording a little. I'm not trying to say this one thing will ruin the Tea Party movement or the conservative message. That would be silly of me. I'm saying that I feel a responsibility to say that I don't agree with this. On either side. And I hope it's a one-off thing and that conservatives and Tea Party advocates with a fair amount of power like FreedomWorks continue to focus on thoughtful protest and dialogue in hopes of persuading on the issues.

Silly stuff.

My son and his cousin of the same age went to stay with their older cousin at her dorm for a "family weekend" at Michigan State a couple of weekends ago. We had at least an hour drive home from there, so, having the two teenagers captive (hehe) I worked on prying some bits of their weekend out of them. I was mostly unsuccessful, but I did get this little back and forth which, silly person that I am, I found very amusing.

Apparently, his cousin (the one his age) had some, er...intestinal gas. Okay, he's pretty known for this. Can I say farting? Oop. I just did. Anyway, so apparently his cousin farts. College boyfriend of college cousin remarks on it. My son thought that the word used by the college boyfriend to describe it was hilarious. He just couldn't remember it!

Son: "He said ____'s fart was....beastly, or something like that. No, that wasn't it."

Me: [laughs] "Try to remember!"

Son: "Hmm...epic? No...darn it."

Me: "EPIC!" [laughs]

Son: "That wasn't it! I don't know...efficient?"

Me: [laughing so hard that I can't breathe...boys laughing at me laughing]

Efficient!

Wine and song...

Well, I blogged best friend Amy's birthday dinner, so I thought I'd slip in a few words about mine (from last night).

My sister Moira and Amy came over last night to spend the evening at my place for my belated birthday celebration. They put together a wonderful steak salad, brought some wine, and then after dinner we all sat down to watch "Mamma Mia" together.

The wine:



The salad:



The song:



Thanks, you two! What a lovely evening. XO

Terms of Endearment

This holiday season, I've opted to immerse myself in happy thoughts. The political goings on that I've been following, coupled with recent terror threats had me on edge and...dare I say --- a bit crabby? Heh. So, following some recommendations on Twitter, I recorded all of the Thin Man movies, watched a bit of a Three Stooges marathon, and followed it all up with a Looney Tunes bonanza on the Cartoon Network. Ahhh...the therapeutic effects were amazingly successful.

The combination of these movies and cartoon/comedy shorts got me thinking a bit. What is it that makes me feel good about a show or a movie? Well, the easy answer is a happy ending. I'm definitely a sucker for that. But there are truly sad movies I'd watch over and over as well that seem to lift me up in the same way.

Pondering this, I began to formulate a list of (at least somewhat sad) movies that I loved, but probably couldn't take watching again, along with a list of similar movies that I had no problem viewing over and over.

First, the list of movies I thought were excellent, but have not viewed again:

1. The Deer Hunter
2. Frances
3. Family Business
4. Life is Beautiful (though I'd really like to try to watch it again)
5. The Untouchables (I'm sensing a theme here..hehe.)
6. The English Patient
7. Braveheart
8. The Last of the Mohicans
9. Million Dollar Baby
10. Bang the Drum Slowly

Now, the list of the movies I will sob my head off watching, but can't help but view over and over:

1. The Green Berets
2. Affair to Remember (Some may call this a happy ending. Me? Not quite.)
3. Terms of Endearment
4. Ordinary People
5. Legends of the Fall
6. To Kill a Mockingbird
7. Penny Serenade
8. Imitation of Life
9. Stella Dallas
10. The Alamo

That's just a start. Are there any that you would add to either list?

The "Kids"

My son (second from right) and some of his cousins. They're all getting SO big. Makes Aunt Darcy all misty.

Merry Christmas!