And we're back in three...two...

Not a lot of activity on this blog of late. Actually, glancing back, I haven't been doing much in the way of original posting all year long. I have become, as Den Beste so archly observed, a "linker".

Oh well. Maybe next year will be better. Samhain is less than two months away; we'll see if the coming year is more prosperous and less hectic than this.

I'm not really apologizing.

Despite the dearth of posting 'round here, I haven't surrendered the fight. It's just that I ask myself what is the point? I haven't convinced anyone else to change sides. Trying to do so just results in flying spittle and wildly hurled accusations of this-and-that. No one else will ever convince me to take their position. If anything, all the reading and research and discussing I've done over the last couple of years has just refined the fact that I am a right-leaning libertarian. (Go visit the Political Compass if you have no idea what I'm talking about.) I love this country so much that I shall work to preserve it, starting within my own community.

And I'm voting for Bush.

Because I think John Kerry is a fuckwad who is in no way fit for office.

And I believe that democratic ideals are memes that should infect the world, and that we've done a Good Thing in Iraq and in Afghanistan. I also believe that this is all just the Beginning, and that we have to continue moving forward to defang or destroy theocratic authoritarian regimes that breed terrorist mindsets from learned fatalism. It's a measure of how we've hurt al Qaeda in particular, and terrorist groups in general, that they're creaming their jeans in the hope that they can hit us again.

Besides that, I'm sick of politics. Either you have vision and can see that the War on Terror is waged to save our lives, or you can get all pinched and constipated and start spittle screaming about Bushco/Halliburton/Lies + Died/Idiot Cowboy Imperialist Motherfucker Who Must Somehow Die.

I hate that bullshit, and I'm sick of arguing with people who think that Bush is the worst thing that could ever happen to us. He isn't. Period. The End. The worst thing that could happen to us is the loss of Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. We the American People stand more of a chance of losing individual liberty if communist-sympathizer Kerry and his EUroweenie fellating buddies get into office.

Before anyone screams about the Patriot Act: during past wars, certain civil rights were stripped in order to protect the people. Civil War? Abe Lincoln? Habeus corpus? Anyone? Bueller? Ok, what happened as soon as the Civil War was over? The rights were returned? That's right. Here. Have a milk bone. World War II: domestic POW and incarceration camps. What happened after the war was over? The people were released and recompense paid? Very good. Here, have another. Good boy.

9/11? Gitmo? Wow. Peole held there get to pray to their particular deity, they eat good food, they bathe daily, they have secure quarters, and they get to exercise, read, etc. Wow. What's been happening out there? Select people have been freed, and the others are being reviewed case-by-case? Holy shit. All we're doing is keeping them from trying to kill their guards? How...brutal of us.

That's my opinion. So again: I'm voting for Bush.

Moving right along, because I'm sick of presenting the arguments why, after careful consideration, I'm supporting the man (if you have questions then Read. The. Fucking. Blog. It starts here. Follow the archives up to the point where I moved to Munuviana, and then read everything here. Follow the links and trackbacks. That's a great deal of the evidence that supports my position. Then, THEN I might debate with you. But if you can't be bothered to look at my sources, then screw you.)

Am I angry today? Not really. I'm just sick of the idiocy, and I'm eager to go vote in the Primaries.

Yes, it's been a crazy year. Life. Work. Finances. Politics. It's hard to juggle it all and do it well. Considering that Family is more important to me than cyberspace, and also considering that I need my job to support my family, this blog is waaay down low on my list of priorities.

In other words, I like my husband and daughter best. It's OK. You'll get over it. Ask your closest companion for a hug. There. That's better, isn't it?

Speaking of the Li'l Miss, she's been in an extraordinarily good mood lately. Happy Baby with a vengeance, she's speaking in phrases: "I 'kay," "Daddy do," "Nana, mine," "Mama, book," "Sassy kitty cat m'ow."

She still doesn't say "love you", but she does blow kisses and she throws herself into our arms for huge squirmy, giggly hugs. She loves the babysitter's cat, Sassy. ("Sassy! Kitty cat! M'ow!") After seeing how gentle she is with the furpal, and with Karen's encouragement in my ears, I've begun a gentle campaign to reintroduce a cat to our household. But, due to spousal wisdom and insight, it's already backfired. My husband holds the very reasonable position that if there's to be a cat for The Bean, then she needs to be capable of caring for it: feeding, watering, catbox cleaning, et al.

It means that the house will probably be fur-free for the next couple of years, at least.

I was dressing her for bed last night in the pink pajamas that make her look like a fairy princess. She extended one foot so I could put the sock on, and I did what I always do: I kissed each perfect, pink toe. She giggled, "Mama," and it hit me. She's already growing up. I paused and studied her face. She becomes more of a blend of me and her father with every passing day. In four more months, she'll be two.

When we snuggle in the big rocking recliner at night, it isn't for rocking and lullabies anymore. It's for rocking and reading. She picks out four books. I read them to her, and we examine the pictures. She names the things she has the words for. I give her the names of other things. Her vocabulary grows daily.

The babysitter tells me that every morning, a little after breakfast, my child wanders toward the child-sized recliners in the living room. There she sits, curled up, reading to herself. She often stays there for a good thirty or forty minutes, just paging through, pointing and naming things.

We want to encourage that. So...when we're a little ahead of the money game, I want to get her this. It'll match the living room furniture! She can sit on it for years to come.

Her father has spoken of the day when he can take her to a coffee shop, and sip coffee while she enjoys milk and a pastry. I'm looking forward to the day when we can quietly share an hour or so, each quietly absorbed in a good book.

In the meantime, we have other milestones to reach. I had an email exchange with the manufacturer of her crib, yesterday. It seems that all I have to do in order to convert the crib to a toddler bed is remove the drop rails, and if I so desire, replace them with a toddler's bedrails. The manufacturer said it doesn't matter which brand of bedrail, just make sure it fits snugly against the mattress. (Of course!)

We also have to get her completely weaned from bottles. She only has one a day, and that at bedtime while we snuggle and read. She won't like it, but the bottle is going away this weekend, and she'll have one of her sippy cups instead.

Her father has begun teaching her a few (socially acceptable) phrases for bodily functions. The groundwork for potty training is being laid. A potty chair will be the next piece of gear to come into the house, probably within the next three weeks. I'll keep you all posted on that adventure.

And finally... the hiring manager for the job I mentioned is taking resumes for two more days. After that, we'll see if I make the first cull. After that, we'll see if I can remember how to interview worth a damn. After that, we'll see what he decides, and if I get offered the job, well... I'll let you know if I still cast a reflection in the mirror after having accepted a promotion in Big Technology.

Until later, then.

posted by Linda on August 10, 2004 06:10 PM