Rough Road

The events of the last week had me really questioning humanity.

It started with the campaign, which took a really vicious turn. I was hoping, given the state of the world right now, that we wouldn't get into a character/scare-tactic arena with this one. Oh, I was wrong. Not only were there lies being spread, but the fear that has been instilled in us since 9/11 was preyed upon once again. Watching the news and reading the papers...it made me sad that people still think the way they do, and think that it is ok to shout racial epitaphs at people. Why the hate?

That is the other thing that gets me, and really hit me last week...that the people saying they are living a good Christian life really live a life of hate. The God I believe in certainly doesn't hate, and the Jesus I learned about in school lived a life of love and acceptance, not hate and "maybe I'll tolerate you."

Anyhoodle, then, the same day this is all going on, the Wall Street probe (probe, heh) broke the news that Lehman execs took millions of dollars in "bonuses" as their company was failing. Aren't bonuses only to be used when your company is doing well? And, a memo was released that had them laughing off the option of foregoing their bonuses for the year. Meanwhile, thousands lost their jobs and the failure of one of the oldest companies in the USA helped serve as a catalyst for worldwide economic failure. (yes, I know it wasn't the only reason, but it sure didn't help quell any fears and set off a panic)

I live with the belief that people are good. Even those who, on the surface, don't treat me or others well, I like to think that deep down there is a goodness that is for some reason in regression. It really knocks me for a loop when people blatantly disprove this notion of mine. It happened several times last week, and it was really disheartening.

Then came my birthday and the stock market crash. One of the worst days in history for the Dow. Happy Birthday to me:-)!

Debate This

I will admit...I enjoyed a bottle of wine during the debate. I also enjoyed G-chatting with my pal Robin throughout the grand event.

Our IMs went something like this:
annie: WTF is she talking about
robin: WhoTF knows
annie: YES
robin: YES
annie: OMGOMGOMG
robin: seriously?
annie: how many calories in a bottle of wine
robin: global warming?
annie: nice suit!
robin: OMG. What is she talking about
annie: no he didn't
robin: no he didn't
both: are people really so stupid that they'd believe this?

It was a way more entertaining debate, even without the wine.

Required Reading: Walking With the Wind

Sometime last year, my Uncle told me he had a book I would love. My Uncle understands me pretty well, so this piqued my interest. I asked him what it was about, and he said it was written by a guy named John Lewis, and it was about the Civil Rights movement. I told him I would check it out sometime...then he said that my cousin, his son, said he felt like he wanted to be a better person after reading this book. My cousin is a pretty good guy, so I figured this must be some kinda book.

They were right.

The first 2/3s should be required reading in every American history class. It is a first-hand account of the Civil Rights movement, focusing especially on how much of the success was a result of grass-roots efforts. It also went into the politics behind the movement -- which, yes, there were lots of politics at play.

I feel like we didn't learn much about the movement in my classes. Maybe a little about Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. This book opened my eyes in a way no other book ever has. And it gave me a new way to look at people with whom I disagree, whose ignorance astounds me.
We are entering a huge time in our history, where we have the opportunity to make progress or move backwards. There is an eerie similarity to the Civil Rights movement and what's going on now. When zealots on either side of the coin obscure the issues, and use false reasoning to progress their cause. As we move to a place where more and more rights could be taken away, it is important we look back at this very recent history (John Lewis, the co-author and one of the leaders of the Civil Rights movement, is still serving in the Senate). All of this just happened about 40 some odd years ago.

Now's our chance to move forward. I just hope the best choices are made, and that in 40 some odd years, we look back at the "big" issues now with disbelief.

Oh, the Horror

Most people who know me know I don't embarrass easily. I can probably count on one hand the times I have been embarrassed:

1. Sitting in Sister Joan's office, and having to recount what the boys in my class were up to in front of my parents and Monsignor Lucid. This was true shame at its worst...and I hadn't even done anything wrong. To this day, it still makes me a little red in the face.
2. The day my dad started talking to the bum outside of my brother's graduation because he knew the bum and the bum's girlfriend. And there were people I knew standing in line in front of us...
3. When I first brought Luca to the vet because he had a little infection in his private area... I was in the waiting room with a bunch of good looking guys and their big dogs, and the nurse shouted at me, asking what was wrong with my little dog...and I had to decide to use proper terminology rather than "his wee-wee is infected."
4. Today, going into the doctor's office and having to tell her my leg -- which was swollen to about twice the normal size -- was a result of playing kickball. Yes, kickball, and yes, I am an adult (or so they tell me).

While she kept her cool when I was in the office, I bet she had a good chuckle when I left. I mean... adult, swollen leg, kickball...I tried to soften it by saying I had played soccer when the original injury had occurred, and she kept referring to soccer, so I think she, too, was trying to avoid the whole kickball issue. It was nice of her, I thought!

Adios, Semana Loca

This week was a bit of a strange one for me...I won't go into too many details, but suffice to say there was a lot of random stuff that happened, none of it related, as well as the craziness in the markets which made us all run at top speed all week at work.

Last night we had a lot of fun, starting with end-of-season party for the sports club I work on (or, as I was told, where I am a very important person), and then going on after that to other bars and general fun. I would have been happy had it ended there...

But it didn't.

No, the week ended with me completely jacking up my leg, and me being a big crabby baby over it. Granted, whatever I did is not good, and I am going to have to reevaluate things in the morning to see if I need to get into the doctor, but still. It didn't help that I got approximately 4 hours of sleep last night, and was not feeling 100% this morning... so that didn't help the mood. But then, my first jog of the kickball game told me something wasn't right. The first kick gave me another hint, and as I started to run, the leg completely tightened up and I was done for. I stopped, my team yelling at me to run, and just laid down. What a wimp, I know, but I don't think I have ever been in that kind of pain from an injury; the serious, I-think-I-may-throw-up-and-just-want-to-cry-and-hope-no-one-notices-everyone-leave-me-alone for-a-minute-kind of pain.

Yuck. Let's just say, I will not be sad to let this week go!