Political Wishes, Hopes, And Dreams In The Age Of Trump

"If your're going to kick authority in the teeth,

 you might as we use two feet."

~Keith Richards

Keith Richards In His Own Words 

Okay, so, as I type this I am sitting in Twitter jail. Or is it, sent to my room? No jail. Definitely Jail. Or as my friend Izzy calls it. Twitmo. At first I was pretty angry that some sniveling fucking pearl clutcher decided that of all the left leaning accounts telling off California Congressman Kevin McCarthy, mine was the most offensive one, but truth is, who knows how many the melting little snowflake reported? It's not like Republicans have any backbone what so ever. But the one thing I will never be able to understand about that lot it, why don't they understand just how much of a moral victory they hand folks like me, when they get us put in Twitter jail?

 Personally, I hope it was McCarthy himself that reported me, because that would mean I got to him! Right now! While he is defending the abusive and dangerous rhetoric of a man clearly on the last legs of any sanity he might have possessed! Wouldn't that be delightfully rich? In actuality, it really doesn't matter because here I sit, all because I made a metaphorical joke about how he is punching himself in the face with his support of Trump. A man who will never show him the same loyalty, that he is showing Trump. As for Twitter, I knew that they could limit free speech on their playground, it's their private property after all, I recognize that, but who knew they could limit hopes and wishes? 

The only possible harm, in my little joke would occur, if McCarthy decided to ACTUALLY punch himself in the face! If he's stupid enough to do that, is that really my fault? But okay, I will go forward on Twitter knowing the only hopes and wishes I am allowed on Twitter, is to see a handsome prince carry off a princess on a unicorn. While the President Of The United States continues to post this...

Lies. Profanity. A blatant disregard for how anything in the world works, including the political systems of other countries, as well as our own. A thinly coded call for civil war, and more. But I can't hope Kevin McCarthy doesn't stop supporting Trump, because, I admit it, it is amusing watching, asshole after asshole, think they will be the one to, experience and enjoy, Trump's gratitude and loyalty. 

Yeah, ask Vice President Mike Pence about that right now.

There is no Autumn Leaf Of The Day in this post, but there will be one in my next post, which will be about a much nicer subject, the #PhotoByRequest project! This week, it's all about the Public Art! 

Look for that post in about an hour!

Yes, Virginia There Is A Santa Claus

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."

-Norman Vincent Peale

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve... can you believe it? I am happy this year. I am focusing on the blessings of the year, and I am kinda like a little kid sometimes, because I really love Christmas Eve, and all the silly traditions Alan and I have. One of which is to meet at Starbuck's, late in the day on Christmas Eve, so we can just relax and enjoy each other's company. :) It's an annual date for us, and it makes me smile. :)

Now I want to share something else that makes me smile, it's one of my favorite stories of the holiday season. The letter from a little girl named, Virginia 'O Hanlon, the an editor of the New York Sun, in which she inquires about the existence of Santa Claus...

Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

Dear Editor

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, Is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O'Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life it's highest beauty as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the untied strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God He lives, and He lives Forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Francis Church, Editor, New York Sun
September 21st, 1897

-OndineMonet
"Magic"
Berkeley, California
December 24th, 2006
Late Evening

John Scalzi's Weekend Assignment # 196: Plans For 2008

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

First the important news: This is the last Weekend Assignment I'll be doing here at By The Way. Next week is the last full week of me doing By The Way, and also we'll be in the thick of the holiday madness, so I think it's best to wrap up this very long-running feature here and now. It's been lots of fun, though, and I hope you've all enjoyed playing along as much as I have.

But I don't want to spend too much time with the past here, because the future is so much more interesting to me at the moment. With that in mind, here is the topic for this week's Weekend Assignment;

Weekend Assignment #196: What are your hopes or plans for 2008? Any big projects for the year? Anything you hope to accomplish or change? Or will you just relax? Because, you know, that's okay, too.

Extra Credit: How was your 2007?

-John Scalzi (By The Way)

Well, I will get to John's question in a moment, but first I want to once again tell John how much I will miss him and the Weekend Assignments, in 2008! Somehow, I wish there were just a few more weeks in 2007, so we could make it to an even 200 Weekend Assignments. LOL. Can you believe I just said that? The lady who began praying for New Year's Eve, just a couple weeks into 2007? LOL. Oh goodness, this was a bumpy year for me personally. I don't want to look back right now, because that is not the focus of this assignment. The point of this assignment is to look into the future. And when I do that, I get excited at the possibilities. :) So when I look into my future, through my crystal ball, here is what I see...

**I am going to take some additional classes on meditation and yoga, in an effort to improve my overall well-being. I need to cut some stress, as that is my number one trigger to my diabetes. Stress is even more dangerous to me then sugar. Don't get me wrong. My numbers are fantastic, my doctor is thrilled with what I have accomplished since July, and on this course, I will be officially diabetes free as of July, but I need more than one good A1C test before I get the full ALL CLEAR.

**I am planning to take a ceramics class. I want to learn something new, and hopefully make some new pals. It's time to climb out of my shell a little. I like people, and I like life, and hopefully they wont hate me on sight. Right? I remember our Blogfather once said, Internet friendships are wonderful, but nothing beats the relationships we have in real life.I am paraphrasing of course, but you get the idea. It sounded like sound advice to me. I have spent too much time in my own little world. I am so done with the past! I am over it!

**I want to volunteer for a political campaign. I have always wanted to do that, and I think it would be a great experience. It's something new, that I have never tried, and I can kind of choose how much time I want to devote to it. This is an important election coming up. Something has to not just change, it has to change for the better! If I am going to put myself out in the world, I want to help make a positive change, even if all I do is stuff envelopes. You know? It's time to do my part for the future.

**In terms of creativity, there is nothing more important to me then my photography. I need to really work on it, not just stick with the same old comfortable subjects, but rather really push myself to go to the edge with it. There are some photography classes available at the community colleges in my area, so why not expand my horizons a bit? :) I took a class online, in Portrait Photography, earlier this year, and I found it very enjoyable. :)

**Overall, I want to just experience life. That's all. My priorities have changed, since I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. I am so lucky that I wasn't told it was cancer, or heart disease or any one of the other things that tend to punch us down for no apparent reason. Since I began blogging in 2003, I have lost 2 good blogging/journaling buddies, Frank and Pam, to those things. I still miss them terribly, and they remind me of how short life is. It's too short to be afraid of the future. So, here I am, thrilled about 2008, and all it has waiting for me, good or bad! Maybe I will do all the things I have listed, maybe I will do none of them, maybe I will do other things that I can't even conceive of. Who knows? Isn't it exciting? Stay tuned, because you just never know with me!

Extra Credit: How was your 2008? ROFLMAO! Well, at first I thought it sucked! Then things kind of tapered off, and now, well, I can look back and see, life has a way of working itself out. All in all... it wasn't the worst year I have ever had. :)

"You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest, that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present."

-Jan Glidewell

-OndineMonet
"Believe"
Merry-Go-Round
Christmas Fantasy In The Woods
Tilden Park
Berkeley, California
November 29, 2007
Evening