Once again, it's a Spice World

So, how, exactly, did this conversation go?

Scary Spice: C'mon, Victoria, we really need to do this!
Sporty Spice: Yes, yes, we must! All the cool '80s and '90s bands are doing reunion tours!
Posh Spice: Just because all these other wankers are doing this doesn't mean that we do.
Baby Spice: Please, Victoria. Please. I really need this! I've been doing Prego commercials stateside. I have to get back into the lights on stage!
Posh: That's ridiculous, Emma. Just say no to that stuff.
Ginger Spice: Cripes, Vic. We all didn't marry a guy who'll be playing [soccer] for $50 million a year in California. I could really use the money that this tour could bring in.
Scary: I've got a new baby and a probably paternity case to fight, luv. Please do this for me!
Baby: It'll only take a few months, I promise.
Sporty: I'll carry your shoulder bags for you, Victoria. Anything!
Posh: I wish I could tell you all to sod off, but I don't need that kind of publicity.
Ginger: Great! So, you're in! Umm, will you be the one to call our old publicist? He's not taken my calls in a while.
Scary: Mine, neither. You'll do it, won't you Victoria?
Posh: I can't believe I'm doing this. Fine, I'll smile and play along, but you remember, every day that goes by on this tour, that I do not need to be doing this.

I would almost go to this concert, but I'm positive that the ticket price would not be worth the three or four songs that I'll know and can sing along to. Oh yeah, and Brian said he would disown me as a cool wife if I went to it.

At a drive-in, of course

Goodness gracious, where have I been? I don't know what to tell you, other than, well, I haven't been writing on my blog. Because of your long wait, I present to you my very first haiku ever (I hope it doesn't suck):

Sydney: a good girl
who will sleep through the movie
Ocean's in the car.

ITEM!: I finished a book last night! I've made a deal with myself, you see, that I will knock off two books in my to-be-read pile before I am allowed to crack the spine on the new Harry Potter on July 21. Last night, I finished The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer. The story itself was a good one, but I found myself frustrated by the main character, a whiny, esteem-challenged guy named Wes. Really, he made me say, more than once and out loud, "Dude, get over it!" I've pulled Dan Brown's Deception Point for my next read. The plan is to get started on that one tomorrow night.
ITEM!: On my balcony, there lives two bougainvillea, one plumeria plant, and two desert succulent plants. Also residing there is a very cool birdhouse that I bought at the Mill Ave. Arts Festival in March (or April?). Guess what arrived today (thanks to Mom!): another very cool birdhouse, but this one is in the design of a beach shack. It's so cool (looking, not temperature) out there! I can't wait to have a real patio so I can really go crazy with the flowering plants and kitchy birdhouse look.
ITEM!: No more parenting magazines. I don't remember subscribing to all these kid-friendly monthlies, but I guess I did at some point. I received Raising Arizona Kids today. I'm sure that I had some practical reason to pick this one up: ads for photographers, childcare help, activity ideas. But really, I just flipped through it, thought to myself, "That was a great purchase," and tossed it into the trash. Grr.
ITEM!: I'm on a babyproofing kick. I bought a couple of those cord shorteners today, as well as a power strip protector. The shortener I used for the phone's line and power cord in the living room; and the power strip protector went in the office. For the office, I, of course, had to completely redo all the plugs and cords. Crazy, I know. I need a couple more things for Sydney's room though: a shortener/outlet cover; and an outlet cover/nightlight. I know there's more, but I can't think of what right now.
ITEM!: I hate it when days go by and I haven't blogged. You may or may not have noticed that the web site view tracker is missing from the left. For whatever reason, it stopped calculating page views. For that reason, I deleted it. Really, I think this is a good thing. I was starting to develop a complex on the days when the increase was particularly low. (You know, when only Mom, Daddy and Aunt Bette checked in). This way, I'll no longer be a slave to my own ratings! Freedom!!

Former inmate seeking good deeds to do

You know what Brian said? He said it's "pink-alicious!"
How ridiculous are we that we're both so happy to have a pink bathroom? The towels and rug, I have to say, make the whole space so much prettier, and yes, WHIMSICAL! Brian even thinks that the pink makes the bathroom seem larger. I'm not sure about that, since it's still a pretty tiny bathroom, but I like where his head is at! Pink makes everything better!

What else is going on today? Well, our girl, Paris Hilton, walked out of jail a little after 12 a.m. this morning. I'm glad for her. And I'm all about her making as much out of this as she can, because as far as I'm concerned, she got a raw deal. I think that the judge was trying so hard to make an example of her that he went a little ass-over-teacup, and punished her far more than she deserved for her offense. Who knows how long her epiphany about being a better person will last, but I applaud her efforts. If she really does dive into a life of good deeds and philanthropy, she could really make a difference (money-wise, anyway). This world is all about second chances, and I think that Paris deserves one.

Always go with whimsical

Who knew that I could have a practical vs. whimsical argument with myself in the towel department of Bed, Bath & Beyond? Not me. But I did, and because of that, I ended up bringing home a set of purple towels that I figured would be a better match with my bedroom linens instead of the pink I wanted to buy. When I got home, I set out the tubmat, hung up one of the bath towels and laid out the rug to decide if I like the look. I also hung an old pink towel to make a comparison. Really, I don't like the purple.
And then, my husband comes home and says, "What happened to the pink? I like the pink better. See that pink. I like it better. Why did you chicken out and go with the purple?" I'm like, "I decided to be practical and go with a color to match the bedroom." He goes, "Practical? When did that ever work out for you?" I reply, "I know! I guess I'll exchange them tomorrow or Wednesday."
Here's my logic: 1.) I still like the green and white stripe accent bathroom accessories, though who knows how long that will last. And now I can keep my eyes open for cool pink stuff for the bathroom, too. 2.) Why match the bedroom when I know that when we move into a bigger house we'll be getting a king-size bed and therefore, new bed linens anyway? 3.) Pink is pretty.

Studio sucky

I remember what else I wanted to write about today.
This afternoon, as Sydney slept, I watched last week's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Next week is the show's final episode. Um, good. If the rest of the season's offerings were going to be as s-l-o-w as the last three episodes, complete with minimal character development, maximum emotional theatrics, and well, boredom, I'm glad I won't have to suffer through it anymore. (Well, beyond next week anyway.)
What is up with this show? It started out as a cool little firecracker, and has devolved into some icky tripe that I can barely get through, and that's without the commercial breaks! I love so much about it: Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, Steven Weber, Timothy Busfield, Amanda Peet; and, more in the initial episodes than in the past few, crackling dialog and smooth quips.
I hate that a show I loved has fallen into a shadow of itself (just like Gilmore Girls did). I hate that, because of this, we may never get another Aaron Sorkin show on television (criminal). I hate that it may take a season or two for Perry and Whitford to get on the screen again. I hate that I invested emotion, time and effort in the death of this show.

Baby pig pink

* Sony cracked me up this week. Oh sure, they shipped my earpiece for my phone, but they also sent it via the FedEx option that requires a person in the home to sign for the package. I can appreciate that this is necessary for the people who buy Playstation 3s or something, but doing that for my cheesy $20 earpiece was ridiculous. Luckily, on the third attempt, Brian was home, and was able to sign for it. At any rate, I've tried it out a couple times, and the earpiece works like a charm. Yay me!
* Whenever I attach the tray to Sydney's highchair, Oliver comes running over. He knows that the tray means it's Cheerios time, and that means that he'll be getting a low cholesterol treat ... or 10 of them. It all really depends on how agile the little fingers happen to be that afternoon.
* Baby and I took a quick trip through Bed, Bath & Beyond today. I'm still looking for some new towels for my bathroom, and was hoping to be inspired. And holy damn, I was! There was the most wonderful shade of pink! I want pink towels! Best part? When I asked Brian if he could handle pink towels in his bathroom, he said, "Sure, whatever you want." (It sounds defeated written out like that, though it's not meant to be. He was more enthusiastic than a period at the end of the statement, but not as excited as an exclamation point. Create your own punctuation.) I'm so excited! I can't wait to get my new towels!
* I had a most lovely weekend with my mommy. I wish I lived closer so we could hang out more.

What's that smell?

It's so hard to find a new fragrance. You know how every once in a while, you just think, "I've got to smell like something else." I've been on the hunt for some time now, and really, have been quite disappointed by what's out there. If it doesn't smell like an old woman, then it's something that a teenager would wear. Both options just don't do it for me.
Yesterday though, while scooting our way through Saks Fifth Avenue's perfume counters to the restroom, Mom and I were nicely accosted by a pretty girl with a square bottle. "Would you like to try Versace?" Since she offered it on a paper strip rather than attempt to squirt me directly, I decided to take the polite route. "Sure," I said, took the paper, and kept heading down the hall. Color me surprised when I lifted the paper to my nose and was pleased by the scent residing there.
Rather than commit to the smell right there, I had the girl (a twin of Cameron Diaz) spritz my wrist as a test. Thankfully, Saks was our first stop so I was able to get some mileage out of my scent test before leaving the shopping area. About 30 minutes, and some time both in the sun and in shops, later, I decided that I really liked this particular smell. I made my purchase, but still only bought the small bottle.
I was pleased to note that, in the bag, the salesperson had also dropped some samples for me. I'm not dumb, my dears. I've wasted too much money on a scent that I ultimately decided I didn't like. Thank goodness for these samples. I'll be experimenting with them for the next day or two before deciding whether this new smell will really become my new scent. So far, I'll glad to say, it's gotten positive reviews.

Not that anyone's asking

So Sydney's almost eight months old now. She's about the same age as a couple little girls in our Music class on Tuesdays. I found out today that two of these girls' moms in the class are pregnant. In fact, they are at the end of their first trimesters. One had the big ultrasound today and found out that their new baby will be a boy. I don't know how these women with kids so close together do it. Of course, one of these new moms-to-be freely admits that this latest bundle of joy was a mistake/accident.
Really, right now, I can't think of anything worse than being pregnant again. I'm just starting to have real fun with the baby I've got, and beginning to appreciate her little budding personality. I couldn't imagine sharing her with someone else, even if it did end up being her brother or sister.

Speaking of baby, Sydney and I had our first trip to the swimming pool this afternoon. I almost passed out blowing up her little float, but she had such a good time moving around in the water, kicking her feet this way and that, and splashing drops all over her face. Already, her little pink bathing suit is a bit too small, but it'll work for the next month or two. It only took us 30 minutes to get ready for the pool, though now that I know what to bring, it'll go a bit faster. It's my intention for this to become a regular thing. (But seriously, I was more nervous about how I would deal with being in a bathing suit than she. Yikes.)

Tonight's intriguing television

I'm an armchair observer of the British princes. I'll read something if it comes across my path, but rarely go out of my way to investigate or find anything on them. Tonight though, I made the time to sit and watch the Dateline NBC interview that Matt Lauer conducted with Prince William and Prince Harry. I was intrigued, I'll admit, and completely fell for the network's marketing campaign. I've always given the boys the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their press coverage. I'm glad of that, because having watched them tonight, I'm happy to see that they seem to be normal guys (as normal as they can be anyway), dealing with a life of extraordinary circumstances. And after 10 years, they are still a couple of protective boys regarding their mother. I didn't expect anything less of them, actually. I'm intrigued by the "Concert for Diana," and will be happy to watch it July 1 (if only to check out Duran Duran) ... assuming I remember.

I've painted nails on my fingers and toes the most delicious shade of purple. It's a shimmery, dark lavender that seems to complement my porcelain (Brian would say "pasty") skin. I always get so annoyed at myself because I put off doing my nails for so long. It's stupid that I fight it, since the process only takes 45 minutes or so, and then I get to sit back and watch TV with no should-be-doing-something-else guilt while I'm waiting for them to dry.

41 down, 9 to go

I got the Washington quarter today! Excitement! As I entered it into my U.S. Mint collectible fold-out map of the country, I felt a surge of anticipation for the day when we finally receive the last of our state quarters. Only nine more to go!
I have no idea how long it was in my wallet. I pulled out all my change for Sonic at lunch and was struck by how shiny one of my quarters was. I looked at it a second time and was pleased to see a "2007" at the bottom. "Yay!" I thought. I don't remember having seen this one! A new quarter!
Freakishly, this was one of those random things that comes along and makes your day a bit brighter. I mean, I was dragging quite a bit this afternoon, what with sending out two Father's Day cards rather than three this year, and this shiny quarter, and the eager excitement I felt towards finding the rest of them throughout this year and next, gave me something to smile about. Call it stupid and trivial, but that is exactly what I needed today.
State quarters left to collect: Idaho, Wyoming, Utah (2007); Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii (2008).

Switch to the left

I had the most lovely lunch today. Thanks to Tara, who was my lunch companion, and the adorable place we ate, I had my first girlie lunch in a while. More than two hours of chat, giggles, and melancholy memories were just what I needed today. (Thank you, T! You're awesome!) Even though the outdoor table got a bit warm by the end of our lunchtime, the restaurant was a new and wonderful place for me to take people. We started with hummus and spicy pita chips; Tara had the crab cakes with a baby green salad; I had the chicken strawberry salad (amazing); and we finished up with the chocolate raspberry baby cake (incredible). Just as Tara said it was, it's a perfect place to take Mom, and I can't wait to introduce her to it!

So how many of you know that there is this switch on a ceiling fan that changes the blade direction, which in turn changes whether it'll blow cooler or warmer air? Am I the only person ignorant of this phenomena? Katy is the brilliant person who said, after listening to me complain about the fans not blowing cool enough, "Well, are you sure the blades are going the right way?" Needless to say, we checked out the blade direction, but it's been so frickin' hot here that either way it was too warm in Part 2 of the apartment. Tonight though, I was able to investigate this blade-direction thing, and found that, no, they weren't turning properly to cool the room. I've fixed that, so I'm hoping that all will be better soon.

I want yesterday's earpiece

Okay, I'll say it. I hate the Bluetooth accessory to my phone. For reasons that are typically me, of course. I don't like that I have to take it into the house with me to charge it. I don't like that I have to remember to turn it on and off. I don't like that it's little and easy to lose. (As I type that, I really don't even know where my stupid little Bluetooth is.) I don't like that I'm one of those people with the blue flashing light in my ear when I'm wearing it.
How to solve this problem. Well, check out Sony Ericcson.com, and that says that there is, indeed, a plug-in earpiece that is compatible to my phone (contrary to what the AT&T guy told me so he could get me to buy the Bluetooth. Liar). Unfortunately, the Sony web site doesn't allow for purchases right from it, so it pointed me towards the closest retailers that should have it. The first place was the AT&T store, you know, the one with the liar. Second was Best Buy, which didn't have it, and the third was Radio Shack, which also didn't have it.
So it looks like an Internet search is in my future. I don't think it'll be that big a deal though. (The Internet has everything!) I'm sure that some random web site has it for sale. Someone else must sell it, I mean, even if it is a nonexistent earpiece that no one stocks because they can get more money for the Bluetooth.

UPDATE: Actually, after an exhaustive, 30-second Internet search, I found that Sony Ericcson does sell the earpiece online. I have ordered it, and it should be here next Thursday. But still, on the record, I hate the Bluetooth.

An ode to Ollie

He lies on my bed,
comfortably snoozing away,
enjoying his place
next to me.

Whenever I'm sitting on the sofa,
he is always resting on my lap,
like I was made to be
his cozy, cozy pillow.

He's really a measure of perfection,
my sweet, adorable pooch.

Whether stretched out on his back,
curled up with Pluto,
or deftly avoiding his sister,
he's the coolest beast ever.

Everyone should be so lucky,
to have such a dog,
who also happens to take up
the entire sofa during movies.

Pixarland would be cool

I'm a Disneyland kid at heart. Really, I am. I can find my way around that place blindfolded in the middle of the night, with nothing but the map in my head.
What I am not is a Disneyland "purist." I dig that the park is changing here and there. Some people are like, "I can't believe that they're adding Capt. Jack Sparrow to the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' ride." I think it's cool that they did that. Capt. Jack is frickin' awesome, and the ride is frickin' awesome. Why shouldn't they be together?
And nothing makes me happier than the recent opening of the Finding Nemo submarine ride. The park should absolutely be incorporating newer movie characters into rides! Besides, the old submarine ride sucked. It was a dark, hot, claustrophobic waste of time that once ridden on, never had to be done again. With a remodel based on a bright, happy movie, I expect that the ride will be much more fun, and certainly more worth the wait.
Really, I think that Disney should have invested in expanding the original park, complete with a couple new "lands," different gift shops, and themes based on the newer characters, rather than build that colossal eyesore California Adventure. That place isn't worth the time out of a vacation, and certainly not a ticket price that's equal to Disneyland's.

The bees are my favorite

I must know: Are any of you watching the show Creature Comforts on Monday nights? It is actually quite funny, and it's certainly a dry sense of humor going on there. The premise is a documentary news crew going around the country and asking questions of animals throughout it. The questions are fun bits of fancy such as, If you could change anything about your appearance, what would it be? What do you think of flying? These are from tonight's episode, and even though I can't remember any from last week or the week before, I know that they were pretty funny. The whole thing is a giggle. Now imagine that the guys behind Wallace and Gromit are the puppeteers behind the animals, and you've got a great 30 minutes of television. (This picture is just one example of the animals that "participate" in the surveys. Think pigs in a pen, cockroaches on a counter, dogs on a street corner, poodles in a kitchen, birds in a cage, lobsters on a pier, and a fish in a brook, and you get the idea.) As it is, the cast is a clever one, the questions are well staged, and the animation is charming. I highly recommend this one, as a perfect solution to a long Monday!

Section Q, row 17, seats 9, 10 and 11

I'm tired. Really tired. As I write this, I'm yawning.
The Red Sox may have lost, but we had a great afternoon anyway. You remember how I was all, "We'll just take her with us because our seats suck"? Well, never one to sit back on crappy seats, I hopped on the Diamondbacks web site this morning to see if we could get a better set of three seats. I had thought that if we got Syd a seat of her own, we could bring along the baby carrier and have someplace for her to hang out not on us. The team must have released more tickets to the public last night or this morning, because I got us some wicked good seats for today's game. We were, if you can believe it, 17 rows up from the Diamondbacks' dugout. Field-level was, of course, a bit more expensive than we had planned on paying, but, at the end of it all, we thought, "This is going to be our only Red Sox game this year, so let's make it an awesome one."
Anyway, our little girl was a frickin' rock star for the whole game. She even managed to sneak in a half-hour nap during the fifth inning! And let me just say that getting a seat for her carrier was a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant idea on my part! The carrier fit perfectly, and putting her between us kept her occupied and entertained by us both, jumping from both our laps to her seat constantly, and not bothering all the others around us. Everyone around us thoroughly enjoyed her jabbering and smiling (so they said) and told us many times how cute she was, even if she is a Red Sox baby.
The game itself was pretty sucky. I hate pitching duels. Games are so much more fun when it's the offense battling it out rather than the pitchers. Still, it was good to see Dice-K pitch, and fun to berate Randy Johnson for ever being a Yankee. There was a ton ... a ton ... of Red Sox fans in the stands. Seriously, Brian and I think that at least half of the stadium was full of the Nation. It was a drag that they lost though. For whatever reason, the team that kicked D-back ass the last couple days chose to sit this one out. Doesn't matter really, we had a great day with our kid, our team and each other.

She doesn't have a Sox hat though

It looks like the kid will be going to her first Red Sox game tomorrow. The temporary nanny that I arranged to ensure that we would be able to attend the game on our own flaked out on us (with a back injury). Because of that, Brian and I have decided that, well, our seats aren't that amazing anyway, so we might as well bring her along with us. I know, that doesn't sound at all enthusiastic. I will say that thank goodness the nanny was here on Friday so we could go to the movies. If we hadn't had a few hours to ourselves that day, I'd be a lot more irritated right now!

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is a decent-enough movie, but not at all the closure that I was looking for. I mean, yes, the loose ends were tied up and we did get to see Keith Richards in pirate garb, but I still didn't love it as much as I would have liked. I just felt like each star said to the script writers, "In this movie, I would like my character to do this ...," and it was added. It was a bit disappointing, actually. Still, as it's the first movie theater offering I've seen in close to a year, I loved it!

Speaking of movies, I can't wait to see Ocean's Thirteen. I just finished reading an interview that Brad Pitt and George Clooney participated in for Entertainment Weekly, and if anything, I'm more excited to see this flick. I always love a good movie, and it's even better when you know the actors had fun working on. There's no denying that these guys had fun, and that makes the whole thing that much more awesome. Maybe we'll get to go next weekend.

Caramel and marshmallow, covered in chocolate

ITEM!: Some things naturally lend themselves to theme parks in Florida. The latest inspiration for a park is the Harry Potter series of books. Quite brilliant, actually. This image is a rendering of what Hogwarts, overlooking the town of Hogsmeade, would look like in the park. Well, I'm all over it.
ITEM!: Is it possible to care so little for a sport that no one seems to know who's playing in the finals? Does anyone even care who wins the NBA Finals? More specifically, anyone not from San Antonio or Cleveland? (I looked it up to know who was playing.)
ITEM!: The CBS show, Jericho, has been picked up for a mini-season next year. Yay! I love that the network has listened to the fans about this one. Granted, a low-ratings show, but sometimes, a show needs to be fostered, nurtured and loved. Now let's just be sure that not only the current fans but new ones tune in to the second season. The network has said that if there are enough eyes on the screens, it may pick Jericho up for a full third season.
ITEM!: I found my resume last night. Thank goodness I had the foresight to burn it onto a CD many months ago. The on-computer version was lost in the great hard drive death of 2006. I would have been pissed to have to re-type that whole thing. Now I just need to get the guts up to start sending it out!
ITEM!: Brian and I made a small investment in See's Candies this weekend. I think I will leave my computer now and go check out the health and well being of a scotchmallow.

Parisian jail

Yeah, yeah. I know. People should be held accountable for their actions. I applaud that. I really do. Sometimes though, I just feel so bad for some of them. Witness our girl here, Paris Hilton. She broke the law; she goes to jail or serves some kind of time for the community or something.
How is she different from anyone else? She's not, and she shouldn't get preferential treatment. I just feel sorry for her. I mean, here's this girl who is so removed from what most people would call "real life." She knows nothing about the real badness out there, as she's been so perfectly shielded by money and fame. And today, she's in jail. It's probably so scary for her.
I'm having a sympathy moment here, but make no mistake, I'm not that naive. I'm sure that when she gets out, she'll have a book deal and another reality show, and will be trumpeted for surviving the situation.

"Ick": 1; emotional stability: 0

I gotta tell you, I had a pretty bad day today. Not bad as in bad stuff happening, because on the whole, it was an okay day like that. No, I had a rough one emotionally. It's weird how I can be going along, happy and stable as all, and then suddenly, I just drag down. It's not ever a specific thing, or any real set of circumstances that I can point to, it's just an overall feeling of "ick."
The reality of my head and heart right now is that I'm unhappy. I don't like my apartment anymore; I don't like being a stay-at-home mom anymore; I don't like being sad because Howie's gone (that, I'm afraid, will be around for a while. There's nothing I can do about it.); I don't like this odd feeling of waste; and I don't like being so far away from my mom and friends.
What to do. Well, first off, I'm sending out my resume tonight and tomorrow. This odd wastefulness feeling is reminiscent of my six-month job hiatus when we moved to Boston, so I know the solution there. Job hunter, heal thyself. As for the apartment issue, I played around with the air conditioner vents in part 2 of the apartment again, so I'm hoping that'll make me feel better. But, if that falls through, B and I found a new complex around the corner that we really like. Huh. Howie's gone. That just sucks. As for being far from Mom and friends, well, that's a matter of time, too. Who knows when we'll make it out to Cali.
As it is, just going through my issues of the day is making me feel better about them.

Positive things about today: I submitted a request for more information from a nanny company in regards to their babysitting services; we bought chocolate; Sydney was cooperative at lunch; the Red Sox are beating the Yankees; and I think the Pottery Barn coffee tables will work. So really, the whole day wasn't a complete wash.

Yankees suck

Alex Rodriguez is a dirty baseball player. I mean, as if his little girly slap during the American League Championship Series in 2004 wasn't cheeseball enough. In a game earlier this week, while running the bases between second and third, Rodriguez called off the opposing team's third baseman from catching a pop fly, pretending to be a player on that team. Just another example of chickenpoop baseball. (Even Yankee manager Joe Torre said that the move wasn't necessarily a good act.)
But check out the fans in my beloved Fenway Park acting out against this Yankee. Leave it to the Red Sox fans to take A-Rod to task for this one, too. I love that Red Sox Nation latches on to any new reason to hate this guy, in addition to the several hundred already.

Read the Constitution, not the Bible

"Faith adopts key role in 2008 campaign." This article bothers me. It bothers me a lot. (Click here to read it on Yahoo!.) Why, in any way, does it matter what a candidate's religious beliefs are? And how is it anyone's business? Even more importantly to me, a pagan: why is this information crucial to electing a president?
I find that I rather respect those who keep that information to themselves, preferring to not use it as a way to gain voters. Of course, in this day and age, using religion to gain votes is the way of it. Our current president certainly did that when citing Jesus Christ as his favorite philosopher. And sadly, the current crop of presidential wannabes are following in those footsteps, hiring strategists to help them reach religious voters.
I'm going to pull out and post a couple of the more irritating paragraphs in the piece, and not take the time to put them in context.
* Democrats in general are targeting moderate Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants and even evangelicals, hoping to enlist enough voters for whom religious and moral issues are a priority to put together a winning coalition.
* Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has been questioned so much about his Mormon faith — 46 percent of those polled by Gallup in March had a negative opinion of the religion — that he has taken to emphasizing that he is running for a secular office. [Editor's note: Good for him!]
* Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Catholic who says he gave serious consideration as a young man to becoming a priest, is fending off critics who say he should be denied the sacrament of communion because he supports abortion rights.
* Religion has become such a common element of presidential politics that during the first televised debate among the 2008 Republican candidates, a reporter asked if any did not believe in evolution — three Republicans raised their hands: Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo. [Editor's note: These guys are just stupid, actually. Does science and the actual physical evidence of evolution mean nothing?]
I remember hearing that there was a big to-do about Kennedy's being Catholic, and the people of the country being concerned about how often the Pope would be consulted on American issues. What happened to those savvy voters and countrymen?
Now it's all, "I read the Bible about everything! ... I am a vessel of God! ... I pray before I make any decision! ... I can't wait to get into that office and hang a crucifix! ... I am all about preaching the word of a prophet who says that he talked to God, had no proof of anything, and wrote it down for a significant portion of the planet's population to blindly follow!"
This kind of thing just chaps me. These people don't even respect: a.) actual knowledge and science (such as the aforementioned evolutionary argument), b.) a person's right to choose how to conduct themselves (Catholics in regards to abortion, and this is on both sides of the party system), and/or c.) someone's decision to separate church and state (a hot-button issue for me, obviously). I hate that someone like that has been president, is president, and probably will be president.