from point A to point B

"Um, how do you get to Spokane?"

Usually when you take the Greyhound, your driver knows where he is going and how to get there. This was not the case on the most recent Greyhound trip I made coming back to Moscow after Thanksgiving break. In this case, when it became painfully apparent that our driver was hopelessly lost, I found myself directing him back through Pasco and pointing out the correct exits to get on the highway heading to Spokane.

I wondered if maybe I should just drive.

Once in Spokane he again became lost. Passengers began fidgeting grumbling. Another passenger directed him through the streets to the station. Which he passed. On a one way street. So he drove in through the Exit, past the "Do Not Enter Signs," deaf to the yelps of the passengers.

We were 45 minutes late to the Spokane terminal, but thankfully all the other buses waited for us.

east meets west

Dressage and reining in the same arena. I ride dressage (duh) but had the opportunity once to ride a mare with some reining training - riding a western spin is a blast. You should try it some time. I've also ridden a few steps of piaffe and passage on a high level dressage horse - also a blast. The best of both worlds.

i feel morbid today

She looked over his shoulder For vines and olive trees, Marble well-governed cities And ships upon untamed seas, But there on the shining metal His hands had put instead An artificial wilderness And a sky like lead. A plain without a feature, bare and brown, No blade of grass, no sign of neighborhood, Nothing to eat and nowhere to sit down, Yet, congregated on its blankness, stood An unintelligible multitude, A million eyes, a million boots in line, Without expression, waiting for a sign. Out of the air a voice without a face Proved by statistics that some cause was just In tones as dry and level as the place: No one was cheered and nothing was discussed; Column by column in a cloud of dust They marched away enduring a belief Whose logic brought them, somewhere else, to grief. She looked over his shoulder For ritual pieties, White flower-garlanded heifers, Libation and sacrifice, But there on the shining metal Where the altar should have been, She saw by his flickering forge-light Quite another scene. Barbed wire enclosed an arbitrary spot Where bored officials lounged (one cracked a joke) And sentries sweated for the day was hot: A crowd of ordinary decent folk Watched from without and neither moved nor spoke As three pale figures were led forth and bound To three posts driven upright in the ground. The mass and majesty of this world, all That carries weight and always weighs the same Lay in the hands of others; they were small And could not hope for help and no help came: What their foes like to do was done, their shame Was all the worst could wish; they lost their pride And died as men before their bodies died. She looked over his shoulder For athletes at their games, Men and women in a dance Moving their sweet limbs Quick, quick, to music, But there on the shining shield His hands had set no dancing-floor But a weed-choked field. A ragged urchin, aimless and alone, Loitered about that vacancy; a bird Flew up to safety from his well-aimed stone: That girls are raped, that two boys knife a third, Were axioms to him, who'd never heard Of any world where promises were kept, Or one could weep because another wept. The thin-lipped armorer, Hephaestos, hobbled away, Thetis of the shining breasts Cried out in dismay At what the god had wrought To please her son, the strong Iron-hearted man-slaying Achilles Who would not live long. The Shield of Achilles W. H. Auden

i have come to the conclusion

that anything that touts itself as "ergonomically designed" should be thrown out. And fast. Before it hits the shelves or the consciences of gullible consumers.

Currently I'm attempting to type on such a keyboard and have so far made, at minimum, six typos for every eight letters typed. The keyboard is split in half, tilted and at an odd angle. Simply put, it is awkward.

Ergonomically designed pitchforks and snow shovels are even worse. I'm sure you've seen them - the normally straight handle, great for leverage purposes, is bent halfway up, thereby ruining any and all semblance of balance, decreasing leverage capacities, not to mention increasing the workload.

Pet peeve of mine.

every so often

I glance up from my books and realize just where I am. I'll see a teacher up front, classmates to either side, books everywhere and sit there for a moment wondering how on earth this happened. How did I get to be nearly two and a half years through my NSA career? I was walking through the halls this evening while History was in progress and felt a bit nostalgic. "Look at all the little sophomores," thought I, then grinned.

It's rather odd to think think that I'm nearly halfway through my third year of college and am starting to ponder post-NSA life. Perish the thought.

A highlight of this year has been voice - I'm still bitter that the Wilkins moved on to Seattle but now that I'm working with one of Bray's former teachers, I suppose I really can't complain. Now I know why he's so good. Pam is incredible and she knows my dressage to singing metaphors actually work and work well. *happiness*

The only sore point this the same as it as always been - the distinct lack of the equine.

obamania

I stumbled on this "song" yesterday while taking a break from working on my paper, then today saw the youtube video of it.

It's quite - er - spectacular. I chose to burst out laughing, but not everyone may have that reaction.



Despite the hero worship going on, in a strange way I'm oddly glad Obama won over Palin/McCain. I don't quite understand why(other than the fact that I was (am) very wary of Palin). Don't get me wrong, I think we're in for a really bizarre, perhaps very ugly, four years. Considering everything, I think Dr. Leithart has a better chance at explaining this than I am.

Obama may be just as dangerous as some of my friends say he is. He certainly will do all he can to re-secure abortion rights, advance gay rights, enact counter-productive legislation on health care. His goals are all the more worrisome given the executive powers he inherits from the Bush administration. I have no sympathy with his agenda.

But it’s not all gloomy:

When Obama calls his wife his “best friend” and the “love of his life,” I believe him. His personal life will not be an embarrassment to the United States as Clinton’s was. (This makes him politically more dangerous, of course.)

His election is a big step in putting both the reality and the myth of American racism behind us. I suspect many voted for him to be part of this historical moment, to participate at a distance of decades in the Civil Rights movement.

It’s hard to gainsay the overall arc of his story. He started as a nobody nowhere and yesterday got elected President. That could mean many things - it could mean the Presidency is available to anyone willing to spend half a billion dollars on a campaign; it could mean that ruthless Chicago pols get what they want; it could mean that the American people are easily duped. Call me naive, but I think part of the story is this: The fact that he was standing out that stage in front of what? a million people, shows that in fundamental ways America still works.

Obama can be smug, very smug. He’s been treated as a Messiah, and hasn’t done much to dispel the hype. Last night, though, delivering his victory speech, he was sober, reflective. No hint of smug. He appeared to feel the gravity of what’s coming. (NPR reporters, by contrast, oozed the annoying mix of giddy and smug that NPR has mastered.)

“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

That includes Obama too.

http://www.leithart.com/2008/11/05/silver-linings/#more-4575

it was a dreary day in moscow

It was a dreary day today. An odd conglomeration of snow and rain fell as Moscow flocked the polls.

I voted in Idaho.

I didn't vote for McCain and I didn't vote for Obama.

I wrote in Ron Paul and felt a weight lift off of my shoulders.