for the first time in my life i attended a political rally. we took our kids so they could experience the event too, but at five and three and judging from all the whining, i would say in retrospect it was too soon.

obama gave a great speech that was one third what i intend to do for you, one third what you need to do for america; and one third “did you hear what that crazy white guy said about me now?” (my personal interpretation on the last third).

the strongest and most moving part of the speech came at the close (too long for me to have memorized) and the biggest laugh line was:

by the end of the week, he’ll be accusing me of being a secret communist because i shared my toys in kindergarten.

i heard one of the cruels describing his interaction with one of the small kids. he was on top of the vehicle with a piece of candy taunting a kid who was begging for it.

the contrition of a hungry child is something i do not want, or need.

the eyes of babylon, jeff key
iraq war veteran

even before this latest economic down turn i had been scaling back but i’ve noticed from watching my groceries roll down the conveyor belt that i’m ok with store brand groceries, but my treats and desserts are always brand name.

my passport was scheduled to expire in january so i sent it in for renewal a couple of weeks ago. i feel remarkably much better now that i have it back in my possession…

i was loading a rental car with tools to do some fall maintenance on a house we recently evicted delinquent tenants from. one of the tools i took along was a compound action tree pruner with thirteen inch saw blade (pictured below). it didn’t fit in the car until i knocked all the seats down and laid it down all the way from the boot in to the passengers seat.

i only had to see the position of the pruner for a second to realize i was a strong contender for a darwin award with a thirteen inch saw blade resting at neck level over the passenger’s seat cantilevered by the driver’s seat.

much to the dismay, i would imagine, to the folks on the email list where i sent my views on gay marriage, i removed the saw blade and turned the pruner around so that in case of an accident i may only lose my teeth, not my head.

i got my paycheck today and i am so excited to see how many shares of future worthless stock my 401k contribution will buy.

i read the headlines on fox news every day to get a sense of what kind of garbage is being fed to their audience of fact hating viewers.

this recent banner made me smile because it exemplifies fox at its best. convincing their lemmings that late night talk show humor passes for liberal media bias while obscuring the fact that their candidates are truly just that much more ridiculous.

when natalie and i see a film in the theater, we’re those unusual stick around until the credits are done kind of people. you know the ones keeping the cleaning crew from doing their thing.

i’m in it for the music credits and the litany of disclaimers about depicting true events or having harmed any animals. but lately, sticking around is paying off dividends as film makers drop easter eggs at the very end of the credits.

i won’t spill any of the details but the two most recent examples that rewarded the six of us left in the theater were iron man and religulous. next time you might think about joining us.

i was on an email list that received the following:

sorry, i just had to pass this along. it really made me think about what effect prop 102 might have on all of us.

thought you might like to see some of the things that are happening in some of the schools in states where same sex marriages are legal.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1352578267/bctid1784521903

i decided to respond to the entire list with:

my sister-in-law is in a gay relationship and has been with her partner for twelve years. they have three kids now and another on the way. her kids have attended public school and come in contact with lots of other kids in social settings. many of the other kids are aware they have two moms and don’t think anything of it. they live in north carolina where gay marriage is not recognized but that hasn’t kept all their classmates and other friends from coming in contact with real life diversity.

i don’t have a problem with diversity books like the one being shown in this video. there are lots of non-traditional families where single parents, grandparents, friends, relatives or gay couples are raising children. the children in these families should not face discrimination or ridicule because they are not part of a traditional family. if the subject matter makes you uncomfortable to explain to elementary school age children, its certainly easy enough to say these couples are best friends or even brothers. i’m certain this miniscule portion of public education, should it ever even exist in your school, should be easy to counter with parental involvement and moral education at home.

my sister-in-law and her partner are two of the most loving and successful parents i know. they are raising productive, thoughtful, pleasant children. allowing politicians to exploit this wedge issue to drive their personal agendas is more destructive to families than anything my sister-in-law and her family are doing.

discriminating against same sex unions only prevents gay and lesbian couples from receiving the legal and financial benefits that heterosexual couples take for granted. things like: social security; medical benefits; and health care directives. gay couples are going to exist if its legal or not and denying them the same rights to provide and protect their families hurts everyone.

if your family has chosen a religious life style i don’t think you should be discriminated against or denied common societal benefits. that same courtesy needs be extended to gay and lesbian families.

the gospel according to matthew, cheers.

it would be fair to characterize me as a new zealand fan boy but one thing my son and i completely agree on, new zealand sucks at halloween. we’re glad to be back in the land of haunted front yards where candy lurks behind every front door for this year’s halloween.

as promised the offers for legal representation to fight the virginia ticket started arriving yesterday.

the kind of thing every landlord loves to find when the tenants have vacated their property: