I just overheard that phrase (just now) and decided it would make a good title-not that this post is just a bunch of hooey. Well, then again. . .
THINGS I LIKE ABOUT TENNESSEE
1. Trees. There are lots of trees and grass and flowering and non-flowering plants that grow very easily here-I guess I should have said green plants instead of just "trees."
2. The cost of living is VERY low. I live (with J and C, of course) in a 3-bedroom house on a 1/3-acre lot, and pay only $550 per month for rent. By comparison, my brother lives in a 3-bedroom house on less than 1/4-acre in San Diego, and pays $1885. And his yard is dirt, just dirt. My yard is lush green grass (too lush-I need to mow it).
3. I don't know. There is more, but I have to go. I'll finish this list later.
4. Three Presidents have been from TN (see, this page is educational, not just my incoherent babble) : 1) Andrew Jackson, who was a hero of the War of 1812 (actually he was a hero of the Battle of New Orleans, which took place after the war was officially over) but then made a historical ASS of himself by marching the Native Americans (Indians, American Indians-whatever you call them) to Oklahoma to get rid of them. 2) Andrew Johnson was also from TN. He was Lincoln's VP, and helped "put the country back together" after the Civil War. For his efforts, he was almost impeached. God! aren't we on a roll. 3) James K. Polk, whose Presidency was far less controversial, and much more productive, than the other two, brought Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and New Mexico into the United States. All three of them were born in North Carolina-of course, only Andrew Johnson was born after there even WAS a TN to be born in.
5. Tennessee has been fairly prominent in our nation's history. Beside the three presidents, that is. I'm not going to go into it, though.
6. This list is starting to bore me.
hi ho hi ho, it's back to work I go
snikta
Friday, July 28, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
I'm getting ready to go vote. I SO like early voting! It's wonderful to be able to walk right up, check in and then go vote. No waiting on a machine, no making sure you're in the appropriate line for someone whose last name begins with the letter yours does and then going back to the end of the other line because you were in the wrong one. Now, voting here on election day isn't all that bad- this isn't one of the places you heard about in 2004 where people would wait in line all day to vote, only to have to go home because the polling station closed before they got to the front of the line. All the same, it is a lot more convenient to early vote. I would recommend that anyone who lives in an area where it is an option do it (vote early). You know what they say: "Vote early, and vote often!"
BACHELOR PAD
My wife (let's call her J) and daughter (we'll call her C) and mother-in-law (we'll call her Mother-in-law) are going to Atlanta on Thursday to visit the aquarium. That should be fun. I think they'll have a nice time, too. They are going down on Thursday (as I said three seconds ago) and coming back Friday. Not a long trip, but still...
I don't have any plans. Maybe there's a decent band playing somewhere in Knoxville that I can go see (hear? Not much point in going to SEE a band, is there?). I found a cool site that lists the happenings and other thing to do in K'ville, so I will look for something to do. Or, maybe I will sit at home and update this. No, I won't-I'm lame, but not that lame.
BOOKS
I am right now (not actually this second) reading Travels with Charlie in Search of America, by John Steinbeck. (I know, I know. It's nice to be at the leading edge of American literature.) I'm enjoying it enough. It's certainly more sane traveling with John than Jack (Kerouac). I wonder if Steinbeck read On the Road and thought "That is not the way to travel at all. I think I'll show 'em how to take a trip across the US." It's easy to see the differences in the two. Kerouac set off with what, no money? Very little, anyway. Steinbeck prepared for months: he ordered a custom-made vehicle and outfitted it against all foreseeable obstacles. It would be very safe to go somewhere with Steinbeck, but how much fun would Jack Kerouac be? Man!
TRAVELS
I've been a few places in my lifetime. I was born in Chicago, but left there to move here when I was two years old, so I don't remember it. "Here" is Backwards-Red-State-Conservative-Heaven, TN (real near Knoxville). My mother grew up just south of Atlanta, where her mother lived until the mid-nineties, so many a Thanksgiving and Easter and spring break were spent there as a kid. My father grew up in Cleveland, OH, and we made a few trips there, as well. His parents moved to south FL eventually, so many a spring break have I spent there as well. My brother lives in San Diego, and we went there in May. God, that is a NICE place. Don't get me wrong, this is a beautiful area. Lots of green in the spring and summer, fall leaves, mountains, lakes, streams and the like. But the people here. It's not like there are a few people I encounter with whom I don't see eye-to-eye. I disagree deeply with most everyone around here. You hear about "southern hospitality," but you don't see much of it anymore. Sure, people are nice if they know you; but if they don't-not so much. California is where I want to be (so why don't I load up the truck and move to Beverly (Hills, that is)?).
digression--C, who is 6, likes to watch old TV shows. I Love Lucy is her favorite, but she's OK with The Beverly Hillbillies. She calls it the "Bubbly" Hillbillies, however. Say that out loud to yourself a few times: bubbly hillbillies, bubbly hillbillies, bubbly hillbillies...
Actually, Europe is the nicest place I have been. Amsterdam was nice, but I don't speak Flemish, and they didn't seem to speak too much English. Germany is nice, and I can carry on a conversation auf Deutsch. Paris is great (and the people were really nice), London is a really cool place (Londoners were not as nice-but for someone, like me, who loves punk, London is Mecca), but Switzerland was AMAZING. It's got it all: scenery, German-speaking people, great skiing and BEER, lots of it! My German came in quite handy one day in Paris (where one would think being able to speak German would be rather unnecessary). I went down to the hotel bar, and the bartender spoke only French (great! I know like 10 words in French). The man next to me turned out to be from Belgium, so he spoke French, but not English. It turns out he did speak German, though. So, through this stranger, I was able to converse with the bartender and get pretty drunk on creme de menthe (it took a LOT of creme de menthe, but he was drinking it himself, and poured it free for me. I'm not one to turn down free alcohol all that often.)
I also traveled with J to visit her parents when they lived in a little town south of Mexico City (they are divorced now, and her mother lives here-he got transferred to China a couple of years ago). Mexico was alright, but it's very poor. That's one reason I don't have a huge problem with illegal immigration. Mexico is sooooo poor, and there is no opportunity there to better oneself. Sure, we send our factory jobs down there, but the reason we do is to pay them $100 a month to work in our factories, and their government does nothing to help improve things. I can't find fault with a person who, faced with a future so bleak and fruitless, sneaks across the border in hopes of finding a job where he can make enough money to get a little bit ahead, and his kids can get educated, so that they won't have to work all their lives for next to nothing. I know it's illegal, and we need to respect the laws we have written, but this is a country of immigrants. Native peoples are now minorities in the US. I know there are people here who are unemployed and need jobs, but I truly believe that illegals take jobs Americans won't. Some argue that they pose a public health problem with all their diseases, and that one is simply not true. They are not a disproportionate strain on the economy. Many of them pay social security and Medicare taxes that they can never hope to recoup, and all of them pay sales and use taxes when they purchase goods and services. In short, there are many more urgent problems facing our nation right now.
Look at that. I squandered my whole lunch hour. Oh, well. Let's go vote!
snikta
BACHELOR PAD
My wife (let's call her J) and daughter (we'll call her C) and mother-in-law (we'll call her Mother-in-law) are going to Atlanta on Thursday to visit the aquarium. That should be fun. I think they'll have a nice time, too. They are going down on Thursday (as I said three seconds ago) and coming back Friday. Not a long trip, but still...
I don't have any plans. Maybe there's a decent band playing somewhere in Knoxville that I can go see (hear? Not much point in going to SEE a band, is there?). I found a cool site that lists the happenings and other thing to do in K'ville, so I will look for something to do. Or, maybe I will sit at home and update this. No, I won't-I'm lame, but not that lame.
BOOKS
I am right now (not actually this second) reading Travels with Charlie in Search of America, by John Steinbeck. (I know, I know. It's nice to be at the leading edge of American literature.) I'm enjoying it enough. It's certainly more sane traveling with John than Jack (Kerouac). I wonder if Steinbeck read On the Road and thought "That is not the way to travel at all. I think I'll show 'em how to take a trip across the US." It's easy to see the differences in the two. Kerouac set off with what, no money? Very little, anyway. Steinbeck prepared for months: he ordered a custom-made vehicle and outfitted it against all foreseeable obstacles. It would be very safe to go somewhere with Steinbeck, but how much fun would Jack Kerouac be? Man!
TRAVELS
I've been a few places in my lifetime. I was born in Chicago, but left there to move here when I was two years old, so I don't remember it. "Here" is Backwards-Red-State-Conservative-Heaven, TN (real near Knoxville). My mother grew up just south of Atlanta, where her mother lived until the mid-nineties, so many a Thanksgiving and Easter and spring break were spent there as a kid. My father grew up in Cleveland, OH, and we made a few trips there, as well. His parents moved to south FL eventually, so many a spring break have I spent there as well. My brother lives in San Diego, and we went there in May. God, that is a NICE place. Don't get me wrong, this is a beautiful area. Lots of green in the spring and summer, fall leaves, mountains, lakes, streams and the like. But the people here. It's not like there are a few people I encounter with whom I don't see eye-to-eye. I disagree deeply with most everyone around here. You hear about "southern hospitality," but you don't see much of it anymore. Sure, people are nice if they know you; but if they don't-not so much. California is where I want to be (so why don't I load up the truck and move to Beverly (Hills, that is)?).
digression--C, who is 6, likes to watch old TV shows. I Love Lucy is her favorite, but she's OK with The Beverly Hillbillies. She calls it the "Bubbly" Hillbillies, however. Say that out loud to yourself a few times: bubbly hillbillies, bubbly hillbillies, bubbly hillbillies...
Actually, Europe is the nicest place I have been. Amsterdam was nice, but I don't speak Flemish, and they didn't seem to speak too much English. Germany is nice, and I can carry on a conversation auf Deutsch. Paris is great (and the people were really nice), London is a really cool place (Londoners were not as nice-but for someone, like me, who loves punk, London is Mecca), but Switzerland was AMAZING. It's got it all: scenery, German-speaking people, great skiing and BEER, lots of it! My German came in quite handy one day in Paris (where one would think being able to speak German would be rather unnecessary). I went down to the hotel bar, and the bartender spoke only French (great! I know like 10 words in French). The man next to me turned out to be from Belgium, so he spoke French, but not English. It turns out he did speak German, though. So, through this stranger, I was able to converse with the bartender and get pretty drunk on creme de menthe (it took a LOT of creme de menthe, but he was drinking it himself, and poured it free for me. I'm not one to turn down free alcohol all that often.)
I also traveled with J to visit her parents when they lived in a little town south of Mexico City (they are divorced now, and her mother lives here-he got transferred to China a couple of years ago). Mexico was alright, but it's very poor. That's one reason I don't have a huge problem with illegal immigration. Mexico is sooooo poor, and there is no opportunity there to better oneself. Sure, we send our factory jobs down there, but the reason we do is to pay them $100 a month to work in our factories, and their government does nothing to help improve things. I can't find fault with a person who, faced with a future so bleak and fruitless, sneaks across the border in hopes of finding a job where he can make enough money to get a little bit ahead, and his kids can get educated, so that they won't have to work all their lives for next to nothing. I know it's illegal, and we need to respect the laws we have written, but this is a country of immigrants. Native peoples are now minorities in the US. I know there are people here who are unemployed and need jobs, but I truly believe that illegals take jobs Americans won't. Some argue that they pose a public health problem with all their diseases, and that one is simply not true. They are not a disproportionate strain on the economy. Many of them pay social security and Medicare taxes that they can never hope to recoup, and all of them pay sales and use taxes when they purchase goods and services. In short, there are many more urgent problems facing our nation right now.
Look at that. I squandered my whole lunch hour. Oh, well. Let's go vote!
snikta
Saturday, July 15, 2006
I'm in awe! One can actually grill things in the microwave!
I just made one of those Stouffers Corner Bistro paninis, and it actually has grill marks. It didn't have grill marks before I cooked it. I checked. (In case you're wondering, I didn't decide to start blogging because of this new technological advancement-it just happens to be sitting on my desk, so I am writing about it.)
A little about me:
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
Height: 5'10"
No, I'm not reading my driver's license. Hair color and age aren't listed on TN licenses. My God! Am I boring or what? Let's see...I am a liberal who lives in the Bible belt, and works in a county government office. My boss is a Republican. All my co-workers are Republicans. And Baptist. The conservativism in here is palpable.
Someone asked me today if I really believe in gay rights. (This is someone I work with, not some random person asking random questions of random strangers.) "Of course," I said. "God makes people gay-who are we to take their rights away?" I didn't intend to be poetic, it just came out that way. Anyway, his look of complete shock (shock and awe in the same blog post! (see above)) was priceless. He didn't respond, just walked away. I assume he was speaking of marriage rights for gay people, not voting and free speech.
POLITICS
I guess partly because of my particular affiliations, we don't discuss politics much at work (yes, my boss IS a politician). Well, we don't discuss national politics very much. People who disagree--strongly--on political issues really shouldn't discuss them. I'm pro-choice, for example, while my co-workers are pro-life.
digression- What poor labels those are. Because I'm pro-choice, I should not be thought of as not pro-life. Is not a person who is on the opposite side of an issue from those who are pro-something logically anti-something? I am not anti-life at all. I rather enjoy having life. So, then, shouldn't we call it pro-choice and anti-choice? That's much more accurate. What about anti-freedom?
I'll talk (write, type- whatever) more about my personal politics later.
Right now it's raining like a bitch and I need to get back to work.
snikta
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