Say a few for NOLA and the Gulf Coast tonight

Photo: www.bbc.com, AP

More information at the following:

www.cnn.com
www.msnbc.com
http://www.cityofno.com/
http://www.nola.com/t-p/

Gustaf, don’t you have anything else to do?

-S

Goodnight, sweethearts, goodnight

He sings his puppies to sleep.

I wonder if it would work with two classic brown tabby Maine Coons? We’ll find out!
-S

Fun with romance authors

Jane Porter with a advance reader’s copy of Julia Quinn’s “Mr. Cavendish, I Presume”,  San Francisco Airport, August 3, 2008

A little secret: Most romance authors are also voracious readers. Jane was holding the current object of my reader anguish and envy — an ARC of “Mr. Cavendish, I Presume,” the second book in a new series by Julia Quinn, and not available to me till the end of September. Julia Quinn was on the flight back to Seattle with us. I resisted the impulse to beg. Julia didn’t have a ton of ARC’s.

I’ll get my own copy at the bookstore. By the time I can sit down with it, I’ll have finished at least the first draft of the book I’m writing, the conference planning will be OVER, and I’ll be on a hot date with “Mr. Cavendish” and some Fran’s Chocolates.

Ahh. October 13th. I will get there!

-S

And we see history tonight in Denver, Colorado

Barack Obama at Invesco Field, Denver, CO

Photo: Rob Curtis, USA Today

Barack Obama accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party for the presidency of the United States tonight, and delivered the following speech. I’m not reprinting the entire thing, but I am encouraging my readers to take a look at it if you didn’t watch it on television.

http://www.necn.com/Boston/Politics/Prepared-text-of-Obama-nomination-speech/1219978370.html

We meet at one of those defining moments – a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can’t afford to drive, credit card bills you can’t afford to pay, and tuition that’s beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government’s making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

During Senator Obama’s speech, I realized that I have questions for him. Since I am just one more American citizen that has found the past eight years almost intolerable, someone needs to ask, and it’s going to be me.

Senator Obama, you promised “change” in Washington. You made some very audacious promises earlier this evening — you will cut taxes for the middle class of our nation. You will end our dependence on foreign oil. You will hire an “army of teachers”, early childhood educators, and make sure the children of the United States have a “world-class” education. You will enable Americans to receive the same health care members of Congress receive. You will end tax loopholes for American companies that offshore jobs. These are only a few of the promises you made.

In the past eight years, the average American has had to tie a knot and hang on as politician after politician after politician promised “change”, and failed to deliver. In the 2000 election, Al Gore was found to be the winner in the NORC recount and by every other measurable standard, and his party didn’t stand behind him. He chose to focus his attention on the urgent issue of global warming instead of another fruitless run for public office. Do I blame him? No. His work has already had measurable impact in our country and in our world. In 2004, John Kerry promised that he would “fight for” all Americans, only to fold like a house of cards less than 12 hours after the election, and before the vote was even counted. We have been told repeatedly that when the Democrats obtained a majority in Congress, things would “get done”. They’ve been done, all right — the Republicans have rammed through an agenda that is nothing short of destructive, with the blessing of the vast majority of Democrats.

The American people can’t take another eight years of Bushanomics. As you noted, jobs that can support a family are leaving this country faster than we can bring them in. People are losing their houses because ARMs are adjusting upwards at the rate of hundreds of thousands of loans per month across the country. Gas prices have spiraled, which caused food to spiral in cost as well. I’m sure your wife can tell you exactly how much more it costs her to go to the grocery store these days, right after she stopped to get gas to go there. There are still 47 million uninsured in America, and many of the insured can’t afford the drugs their doctor prescribes.

You promised “change” to an entire stadium full of people tonight, and to millions watching at home. Will you promise real, measurable change to ME? How about the millions across this land who have listened to the same rhetoric over and over, and are daring to hope that this time, things could be different? What is it that you are willing to do to show that you are different, that you will get results, that people can depend on you and on your word?

Here’s my next question, Senator Obama. You chose Senator Biden for a running mate. Are you aware of Senator Biden’s work on the execrable bankruptcy legislation, not to mention his work for the credit card companies that are currently raping the average citizen? Sorry for the graphic language, but you can’t tell me that the legislation shepherded by Senator Biden did not harm the average American. One must have credit to obtain anything in this country. When an even one-day-late payment (despite an overall good payment record,) can send a credit card interest rate to 33%, your comments about “government not being responsible” ring hollow. What are you and Senator Biden proposing to do about this little problem? Will it be “business as usual” for him?

Lastly, Senator Obama, you railed against “cynicism” during your speech. I, and million of other Americans, have every reason to be cynical. We have been failed by those in the political arena repeatedly. We have long memories. Only a fool would go back for more after being slapped in the face, for instance. Those we elect have worked against us so many times. Senator Obama, do you keep your promises? Will you surround yourself with people who are as dedicated to true and lasting change as you say you are?

If you are whom you claim to be, the American people will start again on January 20, 2009.  If you are not, I fear for our nation. You are our last best hope, Senator. It will take a strong spine, a cast-iron stomach, and the courage of a lion to clean up the mess and start over. Are you up to it?

-S

Baby, baby

There seems to be a baby boomlet going on right now amongst the romance author population of the Seattle area.

Here’s to the new mamas.
-S

Eighty-eight years ago today, women won the right to vote in America

Hillary Rodham Clinton and her greatest achievement, her daughter, Chelsea Clinton

Photo: AP/Ron Edmonds

I registered to vote shortly after my eighteenth birthday. My mom looked on proudly as I signed the registration card. I didn’t get to vote in a presidential election for another two years, but to my knowledge, I haven’t missed a general or presidential election since. We’re big on voting at the Casa de Strategerie/Dauphin household.

I think a lot of people take voting for granted. It is amazing to me that people in other countries fight and die for the right to cast a ballot, but fifty percent of American adults can’t be bothered. I’m sure people are shaking their fists at the computer right now and telling me how things are. I have two responses: We get the candidates we deserve. Two, if we can’t be bothered to even vote, how can we expect change?

Speaking of voting, earlier this evening, The Dauphin and I tuned into the Democratic National Convention. I wanted to hear Hillary Rodham Clinton’s speech. Those who are regular readers of TLPC know that I haven’t always been a Senator Clinton fan. At the same time, she did what few women had the courage and determination to do: She ran for President. She gave those guys a race. She got her ideas into the national dialogue. Most of all, she showed another generation of little girls it’s possible to do just about anything. She made eighteen million cracks in that glass ceiling. There will be a female President of the United States in our lifetimes, and Hillary Rodham Clinton deserves our thanks.

I stand on the shoulders of millions of other women who showed courage through the years. There are too many to name, from all backgrounds and all walks of life. They fought to change not just their circumstances, but their daughters’ and granddaughters’ futures. They fight on. For every little girl who wanted to be or do something that wasn’t “ladylike” or “appropriate”, (like be an astronaut, major in math or science, or succeed in a male-dominated field like politics,) and was told over and over and over, “You can’t,” there’s a woman who decided that wasn’t the right answer. She kept going. Kept fighting. Kept trying. She would succeed.

Some little girl will stand on my shoulders, too. I welcome it.

In the meantime, congratulations, Hillary. Keep kicking that ceiling till it bleeds daylight, for all of us.

-S
another chick with three names

Seahawks fans everywhere: Time to say a few to Saint Sebastian on Lofa Tatupu’s behalf

According to www.saintsforsinners.com, Saint Sebastian is the patron saint of athletes. While I’m not especially religious, I believe it’s a good thing to have all the help we can get.

Lofa tweaked his knee in last night’s game. It’s supposedly a bruise, but he was having a MRI today. To say that he’s our team is an understatement, and we’re all a little worried.

I’m putting a Band Aid with “#51″ written on it on my knee, too. (Homage to Jruss from www.seahawkaddicts.com). Solidarity and all that, you know! Get well soon, man!

-S

The Dauphin has a cold.

It’s time to break out the Puffs and the chicken noodle soup again. I knew something was going on yesterday when he actually admitted to taking some Airborne without being begged to do so. He’ll be resting comfortably on the couch while I’m jumping around like a chimp on Red Bull — the Seahawks game starts in less than an hour.

Poor baby. I’ll make sure he gets some soup and goes to bed early. He’ll be feeling better soon.

-S

“Katrina’s Children”

St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Street in New Orleans

The third anniversary of the worst natural disaster in United States history is upon us again. It seems a filmmaker has documented some of the children who lived through it, and their stories. I wish I could post the entire article, but we’ll have to content ourselves with a link and some excerpts.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008132486_pitts24.html

There are many wrenching scenes in “Katrina’s Children” but arguably the most wrenching is not the girl crying because the hurricane left her so fearful of water she can no longer swim, or the boys touring the wreckage that once was home, or the children recalling how corpses floated by, writhing with maggots. No, the most wrenching scene comes when Tyronieshia tries to read.

She pauses before the sign warning of penalties for bringing firearms onto the elementary school campus — yes, they need a “no guns” sign at an elementary school — but she can’t read it. She struggles to do so, but it’s no use. She can’t decipher “carrying,” can’t figure out “firearms.”

Ten years old and she was already well on the way to illiteracy and the life of don’t-have and can’t-get that usually comes with it. You realize, here is a child who was failed by her school, failed by her community, failed by her family. Then, three years ago this week, the storm came and she was failed by everything else.

It’s not possible to see the resulting film at a theater. As a result, you’ll have to buy a copy of “Katrina’s Children” from www.katrinaschildren.com. Fifteen percent of the proceeds will go to children’s programs in New Orleans. I wonder if the local video store would take a donation. There’s some people in our hometown that might need to see it, for instance.

For those who’ve never been to New Orleans, you’d either love it, or you’d hate it. There is no in-between. The heat’s oppressive. Even before Katrina made her visit, New Orleans was a place of staggering beauty and heartbreaking squalor. Stately mansions and grinding poverty. The haves, and the huge number of have-nots. I was there for a conference years ago. I didn’t see a lot of the haves, but the have-nots were happy to share what little they had with us. I fell in love. I hope someday I’ll get to go back again.

I also hope the author of the original article, Leonard Pitts, Jr., will forgive my fudging a bit on the “fair use” laws. I have to include all three paragraphs here. It should be written on the hearts of those who believe it’s okay to consign the Gulf Coast (and its children) to the scrap heap. I could make a lot of political points here, but let’s take care of the already born. Let’s get them an education, food in their bellies, a safe, stable and mold-free roof over their heads, and THEN they can “pull themselves up by their bootstraps”. For the kids of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the bootstraps got washed away in Katrina, didn’t they?

We cry out as the famous-for-nothing live their train-wreck lives or the ballplayer runs for daylight or the TV news tells us about this week’s missing coed, but we fail to hear the quiet, painful sound of Tyronieshia trying to read.

Then a mammoth storm swallows an American city whole. And some of us cry out that liberals should not send help to a red state, or that God allowed the storm because New Orleans is too tolerant of homosexuals, or that this tragedy proves certain people are lazy and welfare-dependent. But we fail to hear Erica, who is 10, weeping because she saw babies die in the convention center’s heat and stench.

We forget that children are in the room sometimes. We push our agendas and assign our blame and impose our narratives and forget that they are right there, taking it in. Yet, if some of them were failed by schools, community and family, all were failed by the Army Corps of Engineers, the mayor, the governor, the emergency-management director and the president. And don’t think they don’t know.

If you have $25, buy a copy of “Katrina’s Children” and donate it to the local independent video store. It may open some eyes.  If you have a little more, ACORN is helping low-income people rebuild in New Orleans. We can at least get those kids a place to live, huh? Even $10 a month makes a difference.http://www.acorn.org If you’re feeling especially flush, do a simple Google search the next time you’re buying a gift for someone else, and get it from a business in NOLA. (The Little Pink Clubhouse recommends www.saintsforsinners.com, for instance.)

Thanks to the filmmaker, Laura Belsey, and the author of the article, Leonard Pitts, Jr., for reminding us yet again that the work continues.

-S

Fantasy football draft, or my friend Samantha’s wedding?

Fantasy football is already giving me gray hair, and we haven’t even had the draft yet! I was just telling my friend Michael that I’m picking Chris Henry AND Ocho Cinco. When I’m done there, Marshawn Lynch is coming to my team! I’m going to have the most turbulent locker room in the history of professional athletics! I wonder if I could have Michael Vick activated, too. (You KNOW the Cowboys are scooping that guy up thirty seconds after his sentence is over.)  Just imagining those guys together in the same building — oooh, they’d make the Raiders of the 70’s and 80’s look positively benign. (Hey! I need an Art Tatum-type, come to think of it. He brought the nasty.) Things just won’t work for me unless there’s someone bleeding on a daily basis. Really!

When I’m not mulling over how I could utterly screw myself and my team up beyond comprehension (hey! I’ll pick the Fins’ defense! Yeah, that’s it!) I’m thinking about the little road block in my fantasy football draft day fun: My friend is getting married that day. Not only is she having a wedding, her new husband’s fantasy draft is the same day! I don’t think they’re providing wireless access. I’m either going to have to learn how to text (yeah, right,) or I’m going to have to buy a BlackBerry so I can surf the Web. Sacrifices must be made.

Here’s a question. I’m a reasonably bright person. I can do a lot of things. Why can’t I seem to master the whole texting thing? If I’m texting you, it’s from the website, where I can type in what I’m going to say, hit “send”, and have a reasonable expectation of my message arriving somewhat intact. I’m missing the whole texting revolution. Then again, the spelling errors inherent in texting would leave me curled in the fetal position alone, wouldn’t they?

I have to get back to my draft board. Hopefully, everyone’s having a great weekend!

-S