Sunday, August 31, 2008

Pro Wrestling Pioneer Dies at 81


(Aug. 30) - Pro wrestling pioneer Walter "Killer" Kowalski died early Saturday from the effects of a massive heart attack. He was 81.




i am sad. from all accounts he was a good man but for me, it's a part of my childhood gone. wrestling was big in pittsburgh while i was growing up. bruno sammartino still lives here. i watched it with my grandfather all the time.
killer kowalski was wrestling back then. i adored my grandfather and saw him just about every day of my life til he passed on when my daughter was in kindergarten.


goodbye walter. say hi to my grandfather o.k?
i still like it:





lovely morning here.
i can here a train in the distance.

i love that sound.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

supposed to be a hot dry week.
the leaves have been turning colors on maples
and other types of leaves are scattered on the streets already.

i lay in bed just at dawn and listened to a turkey gobbling and zig zagging his way up the wooded slope behind the house.

fall is rushing this year.












From Spring Days To Winter (For Music)

by Oscar Wilde



In the glad springtime when leaves were green,
O merrily the throstle sings!
I sought, amid the tangled sheen,
Love whom mine eyes had never seen,
O the glad dove has golden wings!

Between the blossoms red and white,
O merrily the throstle sings!
My love first came into my sight,
O perfect vision of delight,
O the glad dove has golden wings!

The yellow apples glowed like fire,
O merrily the throstle sings!
O Love too great for lip or lyre,
Blown rose of love and of desire,
O the glad dove has golden wings!

But now with snow the tree is grey,
Ah, sadly now the throstle sings!
My love is dead: ah! well-a-day,
See at her silent feet I lay
A dove with broken wings!
Ah, Love! ah, Love! that thou wert slain -
Fond Dove, fond Dove return again!

Friday, August 29, 2008





i like her.





well it's friday babies.


let's paint the town red!









DENVER — John McCain tapped little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate, two senior campaign officials told The Associated Press on Friday.

A formal announcement was expected within a few hours at a campaign rally in swing-state Ohio.

Palin, 44, is a self-styled hockey mom and political reformer who has been governor of her state less than two years.

Palin's selection was a stunning surprise, as McCain passed over many other better known prospects, some of whom had been the subject of intense speculation for weeks or months.

At 44, she is a generation younger that Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, who is Barack Obama's running mate on the Democratic ticket.

She is three years Obama's junior, as well _ and McCain has made much in recent weeks of Obama's relative lack of experience in foreign policy and defense matters.

Palin flew overnight to an airport in Ohio near Dayton, and even as she awaited her formal introduction, close aides said they had believed she was at home in Alaska.

She is a former mayor of Wasilla who became governor of her state in 2006 after ousting a governor of her own party in a primary and then dispatching a former governor in the general election.









me:



gee he picked a woman.

not TOO pandering to women!

like i'd vote for him just because he picked a woman.


as a woman, i'm insulted.

tokenism!

she may be bright. she may be nice but she was picked because of her gender make no mistake about it.

trying to pick up angry clinton supporters.
some may think it's a chess game and a great move.
i say it's the fate of all of us that they are playing with.


especially given mccain's age and health.

my opinion.

The Peace Tree (A Poetic Justice production)

a great post. think about this and decide.





The Peace Tree (A Poetic Justice production)
i watched the convention. i listened to the speech!

i am in awe.
today's joke:





Thursday, August 28, 2008


i just have to say, this convention has had the BEST damn music of any convention so far!

and a HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my terrific son-in-law eric!!!!!!















In full:

Joe Biden speech





A full transcript of US Senator Joe Biden's speech, provided by the Democratic National Convention committee. The senator addressed the convention in Denver, where he was formally nominated as the party's vice presidential candidate.

Beau, I love you. I am so proud of you. Proud of the son you are. Proud of the father you've become. And I'm so proud of my son Hunter, my daughter Ashley, and my wife Jill, the only one who leaves me breathless and speechless at the same time.




Key excerpts: Joe Biden


It is an honor to share this stage tonight with President Clinton. And last night, it was moving to watch Hillary, one of the great leaders of our party, a woman who has made history and will continue to make history: my colleague and my friend, Senator Hillary Clinton.

And I am honored to represent our first state - my state - Delaware.


Since I've never been called a man of few words, let me say this as simply as I can: Yes. Yes, I accept your nomination to run and serve alongside our next President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.


Let me make this pledge to you right here and now. For every American who is trying to do the right thing, for all those people in government who are honoring their pledge to uphold the law and respect our Constitution, no longer will the eight most dreaded words in the English language be: "The vice president's office is on the phone."


Barack Obama and I took very different journeys to this destination, but we share a common story. Mine began in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and then Wilmington, Delaware. With a dad who fell on hard economic times, but who always told me: "Champ, when you get knocked down, get up. Get up."


I wish that my dad was here tonight, but I am so grateful that my mom, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, is here. You know, she taught her children—all the children who flocked to our house—that you are defined by your sense of honor, and you are redeemed by your loyalty. She believes bravery lives in every heart and her expectation is that it will be summoned.


Failure at some point in everyone's life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable. As a child I stuttered, and she lovingly told me it was because I was so bright I couldn't get the thoughts out quickly enough. When I was not as well dressed as others, she told me how handsome she thought I was. When I got knocked down by guys bigger than me, she sent me back out and demanded that I bloody their nose so I could walk down that street the next day.


After the accident, she told me, "Joey, God sends no cross you cannot bear." And when I triumphed, she was quick to remind me it was because of others.


My mother's creed is the American creed: No one is better than you. You are everyone's equal, and everyone is equal to you.


My parents taught us to live our faith, and treasure our family. We learned the dignity of work, and we were told that anyone can make it if they try.


That was America's promise. For those of us who grew up in middle-class neighborhoods like Scranton and Wilmington, that was the American dream and we knew it.


But today that American dream feels as if it's slowly slipping away. I don't need to tell you that. You feel it every single day in your own lives.


I've never seen a time when Washington has watched so many people get knocked down without doing anything to help them get back up. Almost every night, I take the train home to Wilmington, sometimes very late. As I look out the window at the homes we pass, I can almost hear what they're talking about at the kitchen table after they put the kids to bed.


Like millions of Americans, they're asking questions as profound as they are ordinary. Questions they never thought they would have to ask:

Should mom move in with us now that dad is gone?
$50, $60, $70 dollars to fill up the car?
Winter's coming. How we gonna pay the heating bills?
Another year and no raise?
Did you hear the company may be cutting our health care?
Now, we owe more on the house than it's worth. How are we going to send the kids to college?
How are we gonna be able to retire?
That's the America that George Bush has left us, and that's the future John McCain will give us.

These are not isolated discussions among families down on their luck. These are common stories among middle-class people who worked hard and played by the rules on the promise that their tomorrows would be better than their yesterdays.


That promise is the bedrock of America. It defines who we are as a people. And now it's in jeopardy. I know it. You know it. But John McCain doesn't get it.


Barack Obama gets it. Like many of us, Barack worked his way up. His is a great American story.


You know, I believe the measure of a man isn't just the road he's traveled; it's the choices he's made along the way. Barack Obama could have done anything after he graduated from college. With all his talent and promise, he could have written his ticket to Wall Street. But that's not what he chose to do. He chose to go to Chicago. The South Side. There he met men and women who had lost their jobs. Their neighborhood was devastated when the local steel plant closed. Their dreams deferred. Their dignity shattered. Their self-esteem gone.


And he made their lives the work of his life. That's what you do when you've been raised by a single mom, who worked, went to school and raised two kids on her own. That's how you come to believe, to the very core of your being, that work is more than a paycheck. It's dignity. It's respect. It's about whether you can look your children in the eye and say: we're going to be ok.


Because Barack made that choice, 150,000 more children and parents have health care in Illinois. He fought to make that happen. And because Barack made that choice, working families in Illinois pay less taxes and more people have moved from welfare to the dignity of work. He got it done.


And when he came to Washington, I watched him hit the ground running, leading the fight to pass the most sweeping ethics reform in a generation. He reached across party lines to pass a law that helps keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. And he moved Congress and the president to give our wounded veterans the care and dignity they deserve.


You can learn an awful lot about a man campaigning with him, debating him and seeing how he reacts under pressure. You learn about the strength of his mind, but even more importantly, you learn about the quality of his heart.


I watched how he touched people, how he inspired them, and I realized he has tapped into the oldest American belief of all: We don't have to accept a situation we cannot bear.


We have the power to change it. That's Barack Obama, and that's what he will do for this country. He'll change it.


John McCain is my friend. We've known each other for three decades. We've traveled the world together. It's a friendship that goes beyond politics. And the personal courage and heroism John demonstrated still amaze me.


But I profoundly disagree with the direction that John wants to take the country. For example,


John thinks that during the Bush years "we've made great progress economically." I think it's been abysmal.


And in the Senate, John sided with President Bush 95% of the time. Give me a break. When John McCain proposes $200bn in new tax breaks for corporate America, $1bn alone for just eight of the largest companies, but no relief for 100 million American families, that's not change; that's more of the same.

Even today, as oil companies post the biggest profits in history -a half trillion dollars in the last five years - he wants to give them another $4bn in tax breaks. But he voted time and again against incentives for renewable energy: solar, wind, biofuels. That's not change; that's more of the same.


Millions of jobs have left our shores, yet John continues to support tax breaks for corporations that send them there. That's not change; that's more of the same.


He voted 19 times against raising the minimum wage. For people who are struggling just to get to the next day, that's not change; that's more of the same.


And when he says he will continue to spend $10bn a month in Iraq when Iraq is sitting on a surplus of nearly $80bn , that's not change; that's more of the same.


The choice in this election is clear. These times require more than a good soldier; they require a wise leader, a leader who can deliver change—the change everybody knows we need.


Barack Obama will deliver that change. Barack Obama will reform our tax code. He'll cut taxes for 95% of the American people who draw a paycheck. That's the change we need.


Barack Obama will transform our economy by making alternative energy a genuine national priority, creating five million new jobs and finally freeing us from the grip of foreign oil. That's the change we need.


Barack Obama knows that any country that out teaches us today will out-compete us tomorrow. He'll invest in the next generation of teachers. He'll make college more affordable. That's the change we need.


Barack Obama will bring down health care costs by $2,500 for the typical family, and, at long last, deliver affordable, accessible health care for all Americans. That's the change we need.


Barack Obama will put more cops on the streets, put the "security" back in Social Security and never give up until we achieve equal pay for women. That's the change we need.


As we gather here tonight, our country is less secure and more isolated than at any time in recent history. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has dug us into a very deep hole with very few friends to help us climb out. For the last seven years, this administration has failed to face the biggest forces shaping this century: the emergence of Russia, China and India as great powers; the spread of lethal weapons; the shortage of secure supplies of energy, food and water; the challenge of climate change; and the resurgence of fundamentalism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the real central front against terrorism.


In recent days, we've once again seen the consequences of this neglect with Russia's challenge to the free and democratic country of Georgia. Barack Obama and I will end this neglect. We will hold Russia accountable for its actions, and we'll help the people of Georgia rebuild.


I've been on the ground in Georgia, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and I can tell you in no uncertain terms: this Administration's policy has been an abject failure. America cannot afford four more years of this.


Now, despite being complicit in this catastrophic foreign policy, John McCain says Barack Obama isn't ready to protect our national security. Now, let me ask you: whose judgment should we trust? Should we trust John McCain's judgment when he said only three years ago, "Afghanistan - we don't read about it anymore because it's succeeded"? Or should we trust Barack Obama, who more than a year ago called for sending two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan?


The fact is, al-Qaeda and the Taleban - the people who actually attacked us on 9/11 - have regrouped in those mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and are plotting new attacks. And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff echoed Barack's call for more troops.


John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.


Should we trust John McCain's judgment when he rejected talking with Iran and then asked: What is there to talk about? Or Barack Obama, who said we must talk and make it clear to Iran that its conduct must change.


Now, after seven years of denial, even the Bush administration recognizes that we should talk to Iran, because that's the best way to advance our security.


Again, John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.


Should we trust John McCain's judgment when he says there can be no timelines to draw down our troops from Iraq - that we must stay indefinitely? Or should we listen to Barack Obama, who says shift responsibility to the Iraqis and set a time to bring our combat troops home?


Now, after six long years, the Bush administration and the Iraqi government are on the verge of setting a date to bring our troops home.


John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.


Again and again, on the most important national security issues of our time, John McCain was wrong, and Barack Obama was proven right.


Folks, remember when the world used to trust us? When they looked to us for leadership? With Barack Obama as our president, they'll look to us again, they'll trust us again, and we'll be able to lead again.


Jill and I are truly honored to join Barack and Michelle on this journey. When I look at their young children - and when I look at my grandchildren - I realize why I'm here. I'm here for their future.


And I am here for everyone I grew up with in Scranton and Wilmington. I am here for the cops and firefighters, the teachers and assembly line workers - the folks whose lives are the very measure of whether the American dream endures.


Our greatest presidents - from Abraham Lincoln to Franklin Roosevelt to John Kennedy - they all challenged us to embrace change. Now, it's our responsibility to meet that challenge.


Millions of Americans have been knocked down. And this is the time as Americans, together, we get back up. Our people are too good, our debt to our parents and grandparents too great, our obligation to our children is too sacred.


These are extraordinary times. This is an extraordinary election. The American people are ready. I'm ready. Barack Obama is ready. This is his time. This is our time. This is America's time.

May God bless America and protect our troops.





got this via frothy.
these 2 wonderful blogs are where i got the bookshelves idea.

The Pagan Sphinx: The Pagan Bookshelves

The Pagan Sphinx: The Pagan Bookshelves

PoliTits: One of These Links Shocked Me Awake This Morning.

PoliTits: One of These Links Shocked Me Awake This Morning.

i had a grand time last night. had c-span on. i was cheering!

max and bob thought i'd gone goofy. layla just went downstairs where it was quieter!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008









got this idea from the pagan sphinx.

take pictures of your books and post them.
on here and got c-span on.

here's my mom and niece at the ballgame.

pirates lost but they had a ball!







chill and wet and fallish outside

hot shower and fluffy robe and the convention , inside.







at c&l!












The Meehoo with an Exactlywatt

by Shel Silverstein




Knock knock!
Who's there?
Me!
Me who?

That's right!
What's right?
Meehoo!
That's what I want to know!

What's what you want to know?
Me, WHO?
Yes, exactly!
Exactly what?
Yes, I have an Exactlywatt on a chain!

Exactly what on a chain?
Yes!
Yes what?
No, Exactlywatt!

That's what I want to know!
I told you - Exactlywatt!
Exactly WHAT?
Yes!
Yes what?

Yes, it's with me!
What's with you?
Exactlywatt - that's what's with me.
Me who?
Yes!

GO AWAY!

Knock knock...







my little sweetie went with her baba last weekend to visit his family's farm in jersey. she had a ball.
last night:





Now, John McCain is my colleague and my friend. He has served our country with honor and courage. But we don’t need four more years . . . of the last eight years.

More economic stagnation …and less affordable health care.

More high gas prices …and less alternative energy.

More jobs getting shipped overseas …and fewer jobs created here.

More skyrocketing debt …home foreclosures …and mounting bills that are crushing our middle class families.

More war . . . less diplomacy.

More of a government where the privileged come first …and everyone else comes last.

John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn’t think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it’s okay when women don’t earn equal pay for equal work.

With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart.

Hillary did everything she came to do Tuesday night, and she did it with sincerity and style. She acknowledged her incredible, historic run and many supporters, while drawing a clear contrast between the policies of Obama/Clinton and those of Bush/McCain. She came to convincingly make the case to all her holdouts know that Obama is the only candidate in the race who will fight for their values. And she succeeded wildly. Bravo.

Full transcript below:

via HuffPo

Below is the text as prepared for Hillary Clinton’s’ speech at the 2008 Democratic Convention.

—–


I am honored to be here tonight. A proud mother. A proud Democrat. A proud American. And a proud supporter of Barack Obama.

My friends, it is time to take back the country we love.

Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines.

This is a fight for the future. And it’s a fight we must win.

I haven’t spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women’s rights at home and around the world . . . to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people.

And you haven’t worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership.

No way. No how. No McCain.

Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our President.

Tonight we need to remember what a Presidential election is really about. When the polls have closed, and the ads are finally off the air, it comes down to you — the American people, your lives, and your children’s futures.

For me, it’s been a privilege to meet you in your homes, your workplaces, and your communities. Your stories reminded me everyday that America’s greatness is bound up in the lives of the American people — your hard work, your devotion to duty, your love for your children, and your determination to keep going, often in the face of enormous obstacles.

You taught me so much, you made me laugh, and . . . you even made me cry. You allowed me to become part of your lives. And you became part of mine.

I will always remember the single mom who had adopted two kids with autism, didn’t have health insurance and discovered she had cancer. But she greeted me with her bald head painted with my name on it and asked me to fight for health care.

I will always remember the young man in a Marine Corps t-shirt who waited months for medical care and said to me: “Take care of my buddies; a lot of them are still over there….and then will you please help take care of me?”

I will always remember the boy who told me his mom worked for the minimum wage and that her employer had cut her hours. He said he just didn’t know what his family was going to do.

I will always be grateful to everyone from all fifty states, Puerto Rico and the territories, who joined our campaign on behalf of all those people left out and left behind by the Bush Administrtation.

To my supporters, my champions — my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits - from the bottom of my heart: Thank you.

You never gave in. You never gave up. And together we made history.

Along the way, America lost two great Democratic champions who would have been here with us tonight. One of our finest young leaders, Arkansas Democratic Party Chair, Bill Gwatney, who believed with all his heart that America and the South could be and should be Democratic from top to bottom.

And Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a dear friend to many of us, a loving mother and courageous leader who never gave up her quest to make America fairer and smarter, stronger and better. Steadfast in her beliefs, a fighter of uncommon grace, she was an inspiration to me and to us all.

Our heart goes out to Stephanie’s son, Mervyn, Jr, and Bill’s wife, Rebecca, who traveled to Denver to join us at our convention.

Bill and Stephanie knew that after eight years of George Bush, people are hurting at home, and our standing has eroded around the world. We have a lot of work ahead.

Jobs lost, houses gone, falling wages, rising prices. The Supreme Court in a right-wing headlock and our government in partisan gridlock. The biggest deficit in our nation’s history. Money borrowed from the Chinese to buy oil from the Saudis.

Putin and Georgia, Iraq and Iran.

I ran for President to renew the promise of America. To rebuild the middle class and sustain the American Dream, to provide the opportunity to work hard and have that work rewarded, to save for college, a home and retirement, to afford the gas and groceries and still have a little left over each month.

To promote a clean energy economy that will create millions of green collar jobs.

To create a health care system that is universal, high quality, and affordable so that parents no longer have to choose between care for themselves or their children or be stuck in dead end jobs simply to keep their insurance.

To create a world class education system and make college affordable again.

To fight for an America defined by deep and meaningful equality - from civil rights to labor rights, from women’s rights to gay rights, from ending discrimination to promoting unionization to providing help for the most important job there is: caring for our families. To help every child live up to his or her God-given potential.

To make America once again a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws.

To bring fiscal sanity back to Washington and make our government an instrument of the public good, not of private plunder.

To restore America’s standing in the world, to end the war in Iraq, bring our troops home and honor their service by caring for our veterans.

And to join with our allies to confront our shared challenges, from poverty and genocide to terrorism and global warming.

Most of all, I ran to stand up for all those who have been invisible to their government for eight long years.

Those are the reasons I ran for President. Those are the reasons I support Barack Obama. And those are the reasons you should too.

I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

We need leaders once again who can tap into that special blend of American confidence and optimism that has enabled generations before us to meet our toughest challenges. Leaders who can help us show ourselves and the world that with our ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit, there are no limits to what is possible in America.

This won’t be easy. Progress never is. But it will be impossible if we don’t fight to put a Democrat in the White House.

We need to elect Barack Obama because we need a President who understands that America can’t compete in a global economy by padding the pockets of energy speculators, while ignoring the workers whose jobs have been shipped overseas. We need a President who understands that we can’t solve the problems of global warming by giving windfall profits to the oil companies while ignoring opportunities to invest in new technologies that will build a green economy.

We need a President who understands that the genius of America has always depended on the strength and vitality of the middle class.

Barack Obama began his career fighting for workers displaced by the global economy. He built his campaign on a fundamental belief that change in this country must start from the ground up, not the top down. He knows government must be about “We the people” not “We the favored few.”

And when Barack Obama is in the White House, he’ll revitalize our economy, defend the working people of America, and meet the global challenges of our time. Democrats know how to do this. As I recall, President Clinton and the Democrats did it before. And President Obama and the Democrats will do it again.

He’ll transform our energy agenda by creating millions of green jobs and building a new, clean energy future. He’ll make sure that middle class families get the tax relief they deserve. And I can’t wait to watch Barack Obama sign a health care plan into law that covers every single American.

Barack Obama will end the war in Iraq responsibly and bring our troops home - a first step to repairing our alliances around the world.

And he will have with him a terrific partner in Michelle Obama. Anyone who saw Michelle’s speech last night knows she will be a great First Lady for America.

Americans are also fortunate that Joe Biden will be at Barack Obama’s side. He is a strong leader and a good man. He understands both the economic stresses here at home and the strategic challenges abroad. He is pragmatic, tough, and wise. And, of course, Joe will be supported by his wonderful wife, Jill.

They will be a great team for our country.

Now, John McCain is my colleague and my friend.

He has served our country with honor and courage.

But we don’t need four more years . . . of the last eight years.

More economic stagnation …and less affordable health care.

More high gas prices …and less alternative energy.

More jobs getting shipped overseas …and fewer jobs created here.

More skyrocketing debt …home foreclosures …and mounting bills that are crushing our middle class families.

More war . . . less diplomacy.

More of a government where the privileged come first …and everyone else comes last.

John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn’t think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it’s okay when women don’t earn equal pay for equal work.

With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart.

America is still around after 232 years because we have risen to the challenge of every new time, changing to be faithful to our values of equal opportunity for all and the common good.

And I know what that can mean for every man, woman, and child in America. I’m a United States Senator because in 1848 a group of courageous women and a few brave men gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, many traveling for days and nights, to participate in the first convention on women’s rights in our history.

And so dawned a struggle for the right to vote that would last 72 years, handed down by mother to daughter to granddaughter - and a few sons and grandsons along the way.

These women and men looked into their daughters’ eyes, imagined a fairer and freer world, and found the strength to fight. To rally and picket. To endure ridicule and harassment. To brave violence and jail.

And after so many decades - 88 years ago on this very day - the 19th amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote would be forever enshrined in our Constitution.

My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my daughter got to vote for her mother for President.

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.

How do we give this country back to them?

By following the example of a brave New Yorker , a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they’re shouting after you, keep going.

Don’t ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Even in the darkest of moments, ordinary Americans have found the faith to keep going.

I’ve seen it in you. I’ve seen it in our teachers and firefighters, nurses and police officers, small business owners and union workers, the men and women of our military - you always keep going.

We are Americans. We’re not big on quitting.

But remember, before we can keep going, we have to get going by electing Barack Obama president.

We don’t have a moment to lose or a vote to spare.

Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance.

I want you to think about your children and grandchildren come election day. And think about the choices your parents and grandparents made that had such a big impact on your life and on the life of our nation.

We’ve got to ensure that the choice we make in this election honors the sacrifices of all who came before us, and will fill the lives of our children with possibility and hope.

That is our duty, to build that bright future, and to teach our children that in America there is no chasm too deep, no barrier too great - and no ceiling too high - for all who work hard, never back down, always keep going, have faith in God, in our country, and in each other.

Thank you so much. God bless America and Godspeed to you all.





(YES!)

hoping the rain holds off even tho we need it.
my mom is going to see her first pirates game in more years than i can remember AND it will be her 1st visit to the new ballpark! she will be 90 in december.

had no rain for DAYS and TODAY of all days it's supposed to rain.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

been busy, cleaning and cooking and reading and such.

i'm excited about the convention tonight. can't wait to hear the speeches tonight!

i listened to lynn cullen today on the radio.
i will miss that so very much.
class all the way!





this was just so moving. no matter what you're thoughts on the kennedy's or sen kennedy, this was awe inspiring as a family and as a political moment:








got this at spork who got it from c&l.

too great. it will greet republican convention goer's
on the way to the site!

i loved the convention last night!

loved, loved it!

Monday, August 25, 2008


i would guess every one and each time would be different.


The Hangman at Home

by Carl Sandburg


WHAT does the hangman think about
When he goes home at night from work?
When he sits down with his wife and
Children for a cup of coffee and a
Plate of ham and eggs, do they ask
Him if it was a good day’s work
And everything went well or do they
Stay off some topics and talk about
The weather, base ball, politics
And the comic strips in the papers
And the movies? Do they look at his
Hands when he reaches for the coffee
Or the ham and eggs? If the little
Ones say, Daddy, play horse, here’s
A rope—does he answer like a joke:
I seen enough rope for today?
Or does his face light up like a
Bonfire of joy and does he say:
It’s a good and dandy world we live
In. And if a white face moon looks
In through a window where a baby girl
Sleeps and the moon gleams mix with
Baby ears and baby hair—the hangman—
How does he act then? It must be easy
For him. Anything is easy for a hangman,
I guess.


still waiting for the cable guy. so, in the meantime here's 2 pictures for me and boag
and sara. yes, a real plastic jesus and he looks brand new.
he's on the dashboard of a classic car(along with the obligatory fuzzy dice!)


i just had to snap a pic or two.
cable guy is coming today(i hope)
so i won't be back til he's finished.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

went to pudd'n's and gl's. came back just now, showered and i'm just waiting for my
hair to dry-then.

beddy bye!







sunday. beautiful day. tired, but it was a great yesterday.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

toy cruise at the owls:







a couple of bikes that were parked at the club. they were pretty.











the 1st picture is karen and donnie. i was so glad to see donnie. he's been ill and he is the man i wrote 1 of my poems about. he was very gracious about that.


it was hot but we had a good turnout and the kids got a lot of toys and cash to buy more and the west deer animal shelter made some money too.


the picture of the dog is a sweet older beagle and she can be adopted. she was abandoned and i spent a lot of time today with her. she is gentle and loving and deserves a good home





















Friday, August 22, 2008






i saw this group at the american legion in aspinwall when i was in jr high!
back, back, yes indeedy!

had the very, very important task of getting pet treats and a tuggy toy for max
along with 2 toys for the toy drive tomorrow.the food for humans that live here or might wander in, well that was secondary to the pet treats and tuggy toy!

Thursday, August 21, 2008















TOMORROW'S JOKE CAUSE I'M GOING TO BED AND CHANNEL SURF!





a knock knock joke ahead

(you've been warned)





KNOCK KNOCK

WHO'S THERE?

CARL

CARL WHO

CARL GET YOU THERE FASTER THAN WALKING!
i still am uncomfortable reading my stuff aloud and i dislike my voice, tho thru practicing, i am used to it now.
depending on the way this piece is read, inflection and such, it can take on different meanings. think about it when you hear the words.









don't forget, there's a car cruise at the owls in russelton
this saturday, 1 to 5.

stop by, say hi and drop off a new unwrapped toy for the west deer police toy drive.

december 25th isn't all that far off.


thanks.
ONE!













Summer Stars

by Carl Sandburg


BEND low again, night of summer stars.
So near you are, sky of summer stars,
So near, a long arm man can pick off stars,
Pick off what he wants in the sky bowl,
So near you are, summer stars,
So near, strumming, strumming,
So lazy and hum-strumming.