01 August 2008
The Quadrennial Bicker
There's a reason that I only had one child. It wasn't that it just happened that way. I planned it. The reason was that I remembered growing up with my brother and the near-constant bickering between us. At the time, it was annoying, even though I was part of it. In retrospect, I realized how it must have driven my mother near the edge. I didn't want to deal with the same thing with my own kids, so I guaranteed that I wouldn't have to. An only child has no one to bicker with.

This morning as I was watching the "Today Show" on television, I was reminded of that decision. There were the two men who want to lead the most powerful country in the world, bickering like children. "He said such and such." "No I didn't. You're the one who said something bad." "No I didn't." Blah, blah, blah. Bicker, bicker, bicker. I turned off the television.

In every election since I've been old enough to vote, it's been the same sort of thing. Every time I start out favoring one candidate over the other, but by the time the election actually rolls around, I'm so sick of both of them that it's hard for me to cast a vote at all. I end up voting for the one who has annoyed me slightly less than the other. A couple of times I was so fed up that I just didn't vote.

I had hopes this time, naive as I am. McCain pledged to keep to the "high road" during the campaign and Obama said the same thing. From what I see, McCain started down the low road first, but now Obama has followed him down and I have no respect left for either one.

Oh, I'll vote for Obama. There's no question. But unless he manages to pull himself up out of the muck, I'll have to hold my nose to do it.

And I think both of them need to sit in the corner for a while and be sent to bed without their supper.

Posted by JPDeni at 12:03 PM 1 comments
Labels: general grousing, Politics



22 July 2008
A tricked out name tag
I was watching the noon news and saw, for the umpteenth time, a commercial for an insurance company which says they compare their prices to those of other insurance companies. They show an example of what someone saved, with more than two hundred dollars between the price from the advertiser's company and the nearest competitor. The woman on the ad says "That's a new pair of shoes." A new pair of *shoes*? Actual human beings pay more than two hundred bucks for a pair of friggin' shoes? I know, I know. I'm not your average fashion plate, but paying that kind of money for anything that you wear just to impress other people is, well, stupid. And, frankly, obscene.

Posted by JPDeni at 12:34 PM 1 comments
Labels: general grousing



18 July 2008
Sometimes people are really cool
I've been working on my genealogy site and trying to find some more information. Every once in a while, I just toss in a relative's or ancestor's name into a Google search to see what comes up. It's pretty surprising what you can find

A couple of weeks ago, I entered the name of a cousin of my father, whose maiden name was Areta Wolters. I was surprised to get a hit at all. A woman had posted a message back in 2003, saying that she had picked up a baby book in an antique store that had belonged to Areta. She was looking for relatives who would be able to "give it a good home."

I wrote to her and, after she verified that I really am one of Areta's relatives, offered to send it to me. She wouldn't take any money to reimburse her for either the original cost of the book or the shipping. She said that all she wanted was to get it to where it should be.

It came in the mail yesterday. It's just great to see all the names of people that I know so well and more pictures to identify. Mostly, though, it's nice to get reassurance that there really are cool people in the world who are willing to give of themselves while asking nothing in return.

Posted by JPDeni at 11:56 AM 2 comments
Labels: genealogy



16 July 2008
Come into the world alone?
A couple of days ago I was watching some movie and there was the line that we've all heard dozens of times: "You come into the world alone and you leave it alone." Really? Has anyone since Adam and Eve (if you believe that sort of thing) actually come into the world without someone else being in the general vicinity? Am I the only person who had a mother present at her birth? I kinda don't think so.

As for leaving it alone, there are a lot of people that do that, but not everybody by a long shot.

The silliest things bother me. :)

Posted by JPDeni at 12:52 PM 0 comments
Labels: Randomness



05 July 2008
It's all a matter of perspective
Yesterday being the fourth of July, there were some human interest-type stories on the Today Show dealing with the revolution. One of them reminded me of a little funny that happened the first time I went to London.

I had a day completely on my own, which was great. I bought a pass to one of those open-on-the-top tour buses and rode around the city, getting off and on at various places that I wanted to visit. On one pass through the city, I passed by a row house with a little blue sign on it that said that Benedict Arnold had lived there. (Research tells me the address is 62 Gloucester Place, Marylebone.) There was a line on the sign that I was certain I had misread it, so I took another trip around the city to come up to it again. Sure enough. Included on the sign was a description of Benedict Arnold as "American Patriot." :-)

I wonder what the reasoning behind this is. To be sure, Benedict Arnold was a patriotic American revolutionary at the beginning of the war. As a general, he successfully lead his troops against the British at Saratoga and Quebec. Maybe they were just focusing on his early career.

Or maybe they are using the term "patriot" to refer to the fact that his patriotism changed to a different type later on, when he offered to hand over West Point to the British for £20,300 and a brigadier's commission. Had his co-conspirator not been found and hanged, the plot would have succeeded and it's likely the revolution would have failed. Arnold did continue to fight in the war, on the side of the British. This would make him a patriot to the British cause and an American by virtue of where he was born and lived.

For those who may not know, the term "Benedict Arnold" in the US is equavalent to the term "traitor." Calling someone a "Benedict Arnold" is exactly the same as calling them a "Quisling." Can you imagine how people would react if Quisling was referred to as a "Norwegian Patriot" somewhere in Germany?

I just think the sign is humorous. It is one of those instances where just a little research might have done some good, though. Maybe "American revolutionary" would have worked better.

BTW, the Today Show segment was about the great-great-great grandson of Benedict Arnold.

Posted by JPDeni at 9:50 AM 0 comments
02 December 2007



Moving day
I thought I'd start a new blog and maybe actually update it occasionally instead of the Wordpress one I created and ignored. Silly, I guess to start it now since I'll be going into the hospital in a few days, but maybe it'll give me something to think about doing when I get home again.

Posted by JPDeni at 6:34 PM 2 comments
26 July 2006



Not So Blue After All
There is an image that those of us who live on the "left coast" of the US are more liberal than the rest -- or at least the center -- of the country. Today the Washington State Supreme Court proved that the image is not necessarily the way things are.

In 1998 Washington state passed its own version of the "Defense of Marriage Act," the only point of which was to prevent gay and lesbian couples from making a legal commitment to each other. Nineteen couples brought suit against the state legislature, saying that they were being discriminated against by being forbidden the legal right to marry whomever they choose, a right which heterosexual couples enjoy. The decision of the court was made public today.
In the majority decision, Justice Barbara Madsen wrote that the state's marriage law was enacted to "promote procreation and to encourage stable families." That's all that marriage is for? Then why is it legal for me to be married to Jim? I'd had a tubal ligation before he and I got married, so no procreation was possible and the only family we have that can be stable is the two of us.

The most amazing quote I've read so far is the following:

    "The basic decision came down to the fact that the Supreme Court felt that by limiting marriage to opposite sex, they sustained the ability to procreate," said Gary Randall, president of the Faith & Freedom Network in Bellevue. "

Excuse me? If the court had ruled that same-sex couples could marry, how would that in any way impact the ability to procreate, either by any individual or by society as a whole? I do believe that ranks with the very top stupid statements of all time.

Another quote from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

    Attorneys for the state and King County -- as well as a group of state lawmakers and religious leaders opposing same-sex marriage -- argued that the question of who can marry should be left to the Legislature.
    They said lawmakers had a rational reason for limiting marriage to people of the opposite sex: Only those couples are biologically capable of having children, and keeping them together is generally best for those children. 


So then only couples who are biologically capable of having children should be allowed to marry. That is what they're saying. Forget requiring a Wasserman test before getting a marriage license. If this is the criterion for being allowed to get married, they should require a fertility test.

I really think that those who support the rights of everyone to get married to whomever they wish ought to propose such a bill in the state legislature, just to show how stupid the whole thing is.

Hmmmm. I think I may need to write to my state representatives.

Posted by JPDeni at 12:13 PM 0 comments
Labels: Politics 
