The State of the Union III

Still no word from Dirk! I'm sooooooooo disappointed! Here I am being a good citizen and attentive girlfriend, and all for naught!

OK, now we're down to protecting our country from danger! He reminds us of 9-11 and promises that the terrorists have much worse plans in mind. He says "to win the war on terror, we must take the fight to the enemy." Dick claps and stands immediately. Nancy sits quietly and then finally claps and rises too. I think she felt she had to. If we all know her position, then why does she have to fake it? Or does she support the war and I just assumed she wouldn't? It's not like I actually have any idea what she personally supports. I don't actually pay attention.

Is that Laura wearing a giant, fuschia sweater?!

George is talking about EVIL again! He loves the words ENEMY & HATRED. I wonder if our "enemies" are watching now and making more "explicit intentions." He is reading us a very scary warning. It does make me hope that Daddy Bush will protect me.

Obama looks thoughtful. Behind him, Hillary wears pearls. See? I am also keeping women in their place by commenting on their clothing. Meanwhile I say that [the man] Obama "looks thoughtful." Women are so good at hurting themselves. My bad.

(Condoleeza also has pearls.)

(Condoleeza also looks very serious.)

Ew. He's talking about the blind hatred that led men to come here to the USA to kill us! The way Bush talks I can't help but think he MUST be right! We have to go defend liberty, create liberty and maintain our security. And what else could we do? The way he says it, you'd think he's only doing the proper, godly, American thing. I'm sorry, but I'm buyin! Like he said, we can't leave our "promises undone, our friends abandoned and our security [something]."

This speech is all propaganda. Oh wait, he's going to explain his new strategy in Iraq; I take that back!

Now he's talking about the new troops he'll be sending into Iraq. This makes me sad. 4,000 US Marines with "orders to find the terrorists and clear them out" will be deployed. I would be terrified if that were me or someone I loved.

Now we're talking about rebuilding Iraq once Baghdad is secured. Bush and his military advisors have "carefully weighed the options." He is explaining his choices, his decisions. There was really no option. When he talks about the extremists I am reminded of the fantasy novels I used to read by Terry Brooks. Lots of enemies, wars, darkness; always a major fight on deck. You have to sleep with one eye open and have the senses of a cat if you hope to survive the night. I feel scared now, living in America. Maybe I really am an idiot to go about my day thinking I am so safe. Thank God that Bush is sleeping with one eye open for me.

I like his baby blue tie! Are those squares on it or is my TV signal shakey?

Shit! Bush wants to increase our military men by 92,000 in the next five years! I guess that's not so bad; 452,327 Americans died of heart attacks in 2004. 92,000 is an expendable number.

Cool - we've moved on to the war against HIV. Thanks to the US funding from us(?) things are looking WAY up for HIV and malaria victims.

Well, the talk isn't over yet, but I think I can sum up: George has everything under control. He's doing A+, kick-ass work and we can all sleep a little more peacefully tonight!

Oh, I just realized, Laura is not wearing a fuschia sweater, but an entire fuschia dress!

Hmmm, now we're talking about Julie, the inventor of Baby Einstein. Not sure where this is going.... Hey! There's Julie and her daughter on TV! She is being introduced. I'm still not sure where this is going.... OK, I get it. Now we're talking about Wesley Autrey, who saved the guy in the NYC subway. We're talking about real-life American heros! Wesley looks like a good guy. Tommy Reiman was in Iraq and he was injured in combat. He was awarded a Silver Star. It's Awards Night in DC! I'm guessing Tommy will be the last one up, since he's a war hero and all. Let's see... yes, he was the last one. These people represented the "Spirit of America;" more evidence that "our state of the union is strong!"

Bush concludes with, "God bless!"

Time for a sandwich.

The State of the Union II

Dirk has not posted yet! His copy cat is beating him at his own game! Maybe he is actually listening to what Bush is saying...

Now we're talking about health insurance. I thought he was going to ask us to continue supporting his war. I guess he has to warm us up with his good ideas for the homefront. Lots of applause going on over there. I am not bothering to applaud in my bedroom here in Cambridge. Clapping makes my hands itch. Maybe that's why gonnorhea is called The Clap - it must be itchy.

Now we're onto border control and this experience is strongly reminding me of taking meeting minutes during my department meetings at school. George speaks like a patient, all-knowing father. I really have no idea what he's saying. It's a lot of statements that sound nice, but I'm not really sure how they'll turn into a specific action.

Now he's saying that our country has been dependent on foreign oil for too long! We have to look into different energy forms. It's like I'm reading Sierra Magazine! Maybe they misunderstood when they wrote that George Bush was an enemy to the environment. He's telling me now that he even wants to use wood chips and grass waste to make energy! He wants to reduce gas consumption in the US by 20% in the next ten years. I'm guessing that's a low goal, but I really don't know. More clapping. Dick Cheney doesn't look so happy about all this oil-cutting talk. Oh, but he's clapping and he never looks happy anyway.

I'm confused. Bush sounds like such a conservationist. Maybe everything I read about him was wrong! He's really ready to protect us!

Dick Cheney reminds me of a toad.

The State of the Union I

So here I am - a woman easily influenced by her boyfriend - doing her American duty and waiting for Dirk's running commentary on the state of the union address. This is likely the first address I have ever listened to, which I will admit only to you, Dear Reader. Also, I am curious how Dirk will go about posting a running commentary, and likewise, I am curious how *I* will go about posting a running commentary.

The opening comments were interesting, and I was very aware of the "Madame Speaker" part. Now I've gotten distracted from Bush's speech because I'm busy typing. My main thought when I see George Bush (which I also thought about his father when I was but a child) is, "George is a good-looking guy!" He opened with his best smile. Now he's looking serious and sounding heartfelt as he speaks about our children's education.

I found it interesting that yes, Bush made a point of acknowledging Nancy Pelosi's position as the first woman Speaker. And he says something to the effect of how proud her father must be to see his only daughter on the stage tonight. I can't help but think that noone would speak about a father's pride if the person was a MAN. But Nancy is still some guy's little girl. I wonder what other people thought of that?

Empty Nest

It's been awhile. Things I have wanted to say include:

• It was fun to read Tsjaz's New Year's Eve blog and actually have participated in all the events he described.
  
• I've learned that eating beans is a great way to feel full, experience stable blood sugar for longer periods of time and eat in my prescribed calorie range and not be hungry.
  
• I'm reading Eat to Live, a diet/nutrition book which is heavily anti-animal product and seriously pro-vegetable, fruit and bean. It's appealing.
  
• Today embarks me upon my third week of classes and also my first day of classes at the school I'm an adjunct at.
  
• I really am reaching for things to say, which is probably why I haven't blogged in awhile.
  
• Dirk and I had a fun football party at my house yesterday. It was my first time hosting a football party and also marked the most attention I had ever paid to football.
  
• Unless you count the football party we went to LAST weekend, but I was only paying close attention to try to surgerically remove the diarrhea-of-the-mouth girl who had attached herself to Dirk and wasn't giving him a chance to watch the game. I suddenly had a LOT of questions about what was going on with that game. It seemed to work too.
  
• Dirk really liked Diarrhea Mouth's extremely quiet boyfriend, who was paying close attention to the game.
  
• One more thing: DM's sister had admonished her before the party to please let other people watch the game. That makes me smile to myself.
  
• I was listening to her wondering, "Do people experience ME like this?" I fervently hoped not, but considered that some people damn well must.
  
• Bullet point goes here.
  
• That was supposed to be a joke.
  
• Dirk was particularly sweet yesterday. Maybe it was the football.
  
• It is snowing! I love it when it snows!
  
• I also recently read Why Gender Matters, which I thought was fascinating. It almost has me convinced that I should send my kids to single-gender schools.
  
• I don't actually have any kids that need sending to school.
  
• I don't actually have any kids at all.
  
• Oh, and the final thing: My roommate went off on her between-semesters break. (She's at Harvard, they do things oddly there.) The apartment just feels empty without her or Dirk here. So I have some Empty Nest Syndrome now.