Virginia Breeze

, originally uploaded by Davidlind.

Tags: beach, davidlind, people, photo, Photos, virginia, Virginia Beach

I don’t really get too involved in politics.  And I enjoy life a great deal more as a result.  My feeling is that there have always been economic cycles and nobody is going to be elected who can repeal them.   Prosperity comes and goes.  We make far too many foolish decisions to allow it to stay forever. And we have lessons to learn.  Nobody is going to stop that from happening.

A lot of people want to blame Bush for the economic problems that face us now.  But I don’t blame anyone in particular.  I don’t think they really control the tides of our economic fortunes.  They can influence them however.  They can make things somewhat better or somewhat worse.

Reagan made things somewhat better in the eighties.  Before him Nixon and his evil twin Jimmy C. made things much worse than they had to be.  And we haven’t gone into a recession since George W. Bush took office.  It has been a time of relative prosperity.  We often forget that Bush prays a great deal and that can be very helpful.   But it’s all over now baby.

I find the notion of Democrats trying to load these recent events on a truck and dump them on W’s doorstep to be pure politics and just a little bit over the top.   Democrats have not been stellar performers where the economy is concerned either.   Nobody has done a great job.   And a lot of mischief makers on Wall Street have taken advantage of the tides and reaped their rewards.

The finger pointing is just unbelievable.  Why didn’t they work together to find a solution to some of these economic problems?   Because they have and will always be too busy fighting.  They don’t want solutions.  They want power.

Eventually we do find solutions however.  Things blow up or fall apart or freeze and it’s over.  Whatever has happened is finished.  The economy commits suicide or keels over and dies.  Players retire or go to jail.  It’s done.  RIP.

And at this point something HAS to be done.   New ideas are tried.  Everyone (or most sane people) recognize the mistakes of the past and away we go again. At first with great sincerity and later with more games and abuse of the system.

But one political party will be blamed for the crash.  And the other one will claim the mantle of savior.  We know how this worked out in the 1920’s and 1930’s.   Democrats won the contest and enjoyed fifty years of supremacy as their prize.

Who is going to win this time?  Because it’s not about the winner of this election.  It’s about identifying the next Herbert Hoover and the next FDR.

Sometimes you have to lose in order to win.  In which case you run the oldest candidate who has ever run this race.  You find someone who has already been diagnosed with the worst kind of cancer there is and who is rumored to be kind of crazy when he gets agitated.  He does things like calling off his campaign just as things are heating up.

You find someone who makes Bob Dole look like JFK.   And you run the guy because you don’t want to do Herbert Hoover anymore.

No party can win all the presidential races.  The trick is to win the ones that will help your cause and to lose the ones that will hurt your cause. Old men make decisions like this.

And that’s why I’m busy listening to Craig Ferguson, taking photos, blogging and enjoying the autumn leaves instead of watching the debates.   I’m still going to vote on election day.  But I doubt it will mean much unless a lot of folks have the same idea.   People sometimes don’t vote because they feel the results are predetermined “rigged” in some way.  Dead people vote and so forth. They are right but they don’t always think about someone actually wanting to LOSE an election.  They don’t equate politics with boxing for example.  And they should because it’s no better a sport.

I’m going to vote because it’s my duty.  But don’t expect me to watch all the theater that is going on now.  It’s not that compelling.  Craig Ferguson does a much better job. And I have seen it before.  Besides, I need to store and share some of the good times and feelings with my several readers.  Ghosts and evil illusions will  try to block our paths. They always do.  But we may elude them if we recognize their ways and look beyond their speeches.

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Tags: economic fortunes, economic problems, eighties, fifty years, finger pointing, foolish decisions, george w bush, mischief makers, reagan, recession, relative prosperity, savior, stellar performers, wall street

Hey it’s three thirty in the morning and here I am at the computer!  I was dreaming and having a conversation with someone about Charlize when suddenly there she was!   And I was startled into awakedness.

I wish she wouldn’t jump out at me like that.  Her beauty is rather overwhelming and when she in one of those aggressive characters she plays it’s impossible to keep the dream together.  It vanishes.

But I went to bed early last evening so it’s alright.  Nine to three is six hours.  And it only takes about three to five minutes to exit earth and its concerns.

My younger son Zachary and the beautiful Ashley have parted ways.   He moved out.  She kept the dog Bruno.  It’s sad when young lovers “divorce” but they had some good times and definitely learned some valuable lessons.  Hopefully they will enjoy the rest of their college years.

I would encourage all young people to invest their time and energy in the freedom they have to grow and explore life.   Learn to treasure the freedom you have as much as the love you feel for someone.  Why go down the long road to domestic life now when every day can bring a new adventure?

Zachary told me he is going to go to Spain for his senior year at VCU.  They have a coop program.  I think he said he was going to stay in Barcelona.  And he wants to start a shirt business at school.   He went to Richmond City Town Hall to find out about licenses and insurance.  He needs investors (me).  He found an art student with experience in shirt design.  Away we go!

I heard from my older son Jeremy yesterday.  Sarah had to go back to Virginia Beach where her family live for something.  So Jeremy is alone in a big house in Lynchburg for a few days.  And he misses his young family.  So he called his Dad.  Isn’t that nice?  We talked about the Washington DC pro football team.  When he was growing up they were in their glory years.  We would go to Jeremy’s soccer games and listen to them on the car radio.  What blissful  times we had when the soccer and the football both went well.  Usually the football did and the soccer did not but we enjoyed travelling around the state together anyway.

The Washington DC pro football team (I believe they still associate themselves with Native American culture) have suddenly become amazingly good.  Jeremy says it has a lot to do with their new coach Jim Zorn.  But they have amazing players and their new quaterback Jason Campbell hasn’t turned the ball over in awhile.  Maybe since the year started!  Is that possible?  His passes seem amazingly accurate.  Jeremy says that Zorn used to be a quarterback and he has really helped him.

The coach wanted to give them Monday off after their great win over Philly but the players said they wanted to practice.  They don’t want to have a let down against the teams that are coming up with poor records.  How smart is that!  How amazing too!  Giving up a day off!  Has this ever happened before anywhere?

Both Jeremy and Zachary are ecstatic about the team!  Onward to the playoffs!

Maybe I will make some scrambled eggs.  But only if I can find a pan that doesn’t have a Teflon surface.  And then it will be time to read some of the blogs on the old blogroll.   Or eat some egg rolls.  Or go back to bed.

I’ll be there in a minute Charlize.

“Oh Hi Beth!   Would you like some scrambled eggs?”

Tags: art student, charlize, coop program, football team, glory years, good times, lynchburg, pro football, richmond city, senior year, shirt business, soccer games, young lovers

I have really started to enjoy Craig Ferguson since stumbling upon him in an interview he did with Michelle Pfeiffer.  I was amazed at that moment by the mental gymnastics he effortlessly pulled off to make an average conversation sparkle.

He is a very smart guy and a tremendous conversationalist.  Here is a video where Tommy Smothers says he is the heir apparent to Johnny Carson.  That’s a pretty cool assessment.  And it tells me that I’m not too far off in my appraisal of this guy.

I record his shows and generally play them at night before falling off to sleep.  It’s a nice way to end the day.  Craig you are a cool guy.  I admire you a lot.   And here is an interesting in depth look at Craig from someone who has some very good writing skills and a keen eye for detail.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-braudy/an-impolite-inquiry-into-_b_60025.html

Susan Braudy tries to get to the bottom of Craig’s sexuality.  Good luck there Susan!  He is a riddle wrapped in an enigma as the old saying goes.  But he is also a very good hearted guy and one who often says to his nervous guests “I will protect you”.   It really is a new kind of television he is inventing late at night.  Hopefully NBC will steal him away from CBS and give him the money he deserves and the time slot America needs him to have SOON.

Oops.  You know what?  I bet CBS doesn’t want this video flying around the internet.  If i can find it I will post it here ASAP.  Or go to YouTube and find it.  It’s worth the time and effort.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wfUM-7oSLxY

Tags: cbs, conversationalist, craig ferguson, good luck, huffingtonpost, michelle pfeiffer, riddle, sexuality, smart guy, tommy smothers, writing skills, Youtube