The sun shines bright...
on my old Kentucky home. I've been on the bench for a couple weeks now and am enjoying some time at home with Ella and Tobi. Last week I got into researching my ancestry and actually found out that I'm related to quite a few famous people. I highly recommend taking the free trial over at Ancestry.com and if you'd like, I'm happy to send you a link to my family tree.
Yesterday I took a field trip to Frankfort to visit our state capitol. It's a beautiful building and I was fortunate enough to be able to sit in on a session of the Kentucky House of Representatives. They were talking about coal mining legislation which (sadly) still affects a lot of people in Kentucky. On the up side, the session was opened by a live bluegrass band playing in the House Chamber. What a hoot, and only in Kentucky do you get to experience these things.
We got our tickets for Keeneland in the mail this week so of course I'm starting to think about the spring racing meets. I'm also anxiously awaiting April 10th, when Ella and I will return to New Orleans to attend a wedding and to visit with old friends. Once you've lived anywhere for a length of time, it's funny the things you miss once you move away. I have a tendency to forget anything bad about New Orleans and only miss the good things of course. This will be our second trip back there since Katrina, so hopefully we will see some signs of progress. Reports from our friends down there are not good though. I suppose that anytime you have the national guard "helping" your police force, that pretty much speaks for itself.
I got a letter this week from John McCain, asking me to pledge my support for his candidacy. Oh, and I can also send him some money if I'd like. NPR, Miami University, and the Girl Scouts also asked for donations this week. Ella and I bought a few boxes of cookies, but NPR and Miami U are out of luck for now. Jimmy Buffet announced last week that he is asking for $126 for pavilion seats for his Cincinnati show. Ella and her family think that's perfectly reasonable, I do not. Let's see here... I've seen BB King for $45, Willie Nelson for $60, Bob Dylan for $40, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young for $62... no thanks, Jimmy.
I've been trying desperately lately to give Wal*Mart some money for a new Nintendo Wii but they just can't keep the darn things in stock.
I'm really not sure what to do about Senator McCain. I really like the guy, but I don't see any way he'll make the ballot. I'm not sure how I feel about Rudy Giuliani either though. He's certainly a great American, but so is Willie Nelson, and Willie will never make the ticket either. McCain isn't conservative enough for the bible beaters. Many "nut" Republicans oppose gay marriage because they say that gays will ruin the institution of marriage. Giuliani is on his third marriage though- he's a textbook example of how some straight folks do a fine job of screwing up marriage all on their own. Giuliani also supports a woman's right to choose (abortion), so that's another way he doesn't fit in with (what has been) the core of the conservative Republican platform.
On the other side, Obama isn't black enough for black voters, Edwards has already announced he plans to raise taxes, and Hillary seems to have less and less charisma every time I see her on TV. That's really hard to do because when I first saw her on TV like 14 years ago, I thought she was an ugly ice queen back then. There are women I would vote for as President, she's just not on the list. Hopefully things will improve in the coming months and a good candidate will emerge. If we have another election between tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum, I'm moving to Sweden.
Yesterday I took a field trip to Frankfort to visit our state capitol. It's a beautiful building and I was fortunate enough to be able to sit in on a session of the Kentucky House of Representatives. They were talking about coal mining legislation which (sadly) still affects a lot of people in Kentucky. On the up side, the session was opened by a live bluegrass band playing in the House Chamber. What a hoot, and only in Kentucky do you get to experience these things.
We got our tickets for Keeneland in the mail this week so of course I'm starting to think about the spring racing meets. I'm also anxiously awaiting April 10th, when Ella and I will return to New Orleans to attend a wedding and to visit with old friends. Once you've lived anywhere for a length of time, it's funny the things you miss once you move away. I have a tendency to forget anything bad about New Orleans and only miss the good things of course. This will be our second trip back there since Katrina, so hopefully we will see some signs of progress. Reports from our friends down there are not good though. I suppose that anytime you have the national guard "helping" your police force, that pretty much speaks for itself.
I got a letter this week from John McCain, asking me to pledge my support for his candidacy. Oh, and I can also send him some money if I'd like. NPR, Miami University, and the Girl Scouts also asked for donations this week. Ella and I bought a few boxes of cookies, but NPR and Miami U are out of luck for now. Jimmy Buffet announced last week that he is asking for $126 for pavilion seats for his Cincinnati show. Ella and her family think that's perfectly reasonable, I do not. Let's see here... I've seen BB King for $45, Willie Nelson for $60, Bob Dylan for $40, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young for $62... no thanks, Jimmy.
I've been trying desperately lately to give Wal*Mart some money for a new Nintendo Wii but they just can't keep the darn things in stock.
I'm really not sure what to do about Senator McCain. I really like the guy, but I don't see any way he'll make the ballot. I'm not sure how I feel about Rudy Giuliani either though. He's certainly a great American, but so is Willie Nelson, and Willie will never make the ticket either. McCain isn't conservative enough for the bible beaters. Many "nut" Republicans oppose gay marriage because they say that gays will ruin the institution of marriage. Giuliani is on his third marriage though- he's a textbook example of how some straight folks do a fine job of screwing up marriage all on their own. Giuliani also supports a woman's right to choose (abortion), so that's another way he doesn't fit in with (what has been) the core of the conservative Republican platform.
On the other side, Obama isn't black enough for black voters, Edwards has already announced he plans to raise taxes, and Hillary seems to have less and less charisma every time I see her on TV. That's really hard to do because when I first saw her on TV like 14 years ago, I thought she was an ugly ice queen back then. There are women I would vote for as President, she's just not on the list. Hopefully things will improve in the coming months and a good candidate will emerge. If we have another election between tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum, I'm moving to Sweden.
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