Ms. Firefly's Illuminations

Wonderful blog

2009-06-16T23:23:00.000-07:00

I love this blog, written by an Iranian woman inside Iran:

http://www.zaneirani.blogspot.com/

Immortal Obama

2009-06-16T04:32:00.000-07:00

I'm not ashamed to admit it. I cried when Obama got elected. This is not surprising, considering I cry every time I watch "Immortal Beloved" and I have seen it about 23 times.

Election Night I cried. Sobbed from my gut. It was pure relief, it was (oh how I hate the sound of this) joy and hope. In spite of this, the person in me who has lived on this earth 40 years knows how this story goes. So as if to counter the emotion, I turned to John and I said, "Now we can set our watch and see how long it takes for all of us to be betrayed."

That is one of my favorite lines from Immortal Beloved, the story of the search for Beethoven's unnamed eternal love, who is also heir to his fortune. One of the women in Beethoven's life recounts for Beethoven's secretary the hellish years when Napoleon tore across Europe, raping and pillaging the European aristocracy. "Then he set up in a palace and married a Hapsburg princess. We were all of us, betrayed."

My Obama stopwatch went off last night. He is "considering" going back on a campaign promise and taxing people's employer-based health benefits as INCOME. This will cause great, great strain and strife in the Ms. Firefly household, and was reason #34532454556 that I did not vote for McCain. That was his big idea. The NY Times columnists foamed at the mouth like rabid dogs chewing alka-seltzer tabs. I added my voice to the chorus. I Facebooked my outrage, sent links to articles, I blogged, I bored people wherever I went with "Can you believe McCain thinks it's a good idea to tax...blah blah blah"

Ding. Off went the stopwatch when my Obama "considered" this.

Although, as David Brooks pointed out in today's Times, (http://tinyurl.com/mt9pys), this could all be part of a grand strategy of buttering up every faction and then strongarming them at the last minute. It would fall in line with how business has been carried out before by this administration.

We shall see. I certainly hope so, (audaciously). But the realist in me knows that in the end, all of us may be betrayed.

Iron Matin'

2009-06-13T05:31:00.000-07:00

Spouse is rocking out to Iron Maiden in our newest tradition, Saturday Morning Rockband Family Karaoke. Never have lyrical references to rape and abortion been so family friendly and fun.

Carina (3) is proficient at OK Go's "Here It Goes Again" and Rush's "Limelight". Dominic (1) pounds away (in perfect time) on a bongo. And Mommy and Daddy sing pretty much everything, with Daddy's preference for the vocal stylings of metal.

He Kills Me

2009-06-10T10:14:00.001-07:00

So I'm stuck at a red light behind a truck with a bumper sticker that says "Liberalism Kills". Sitting there in traffic with my "Obama '08" and animal rescue bumper stickers we must have looked like an episode of Crossfire, but with cars. So I did what any member of the educated east coast elite would have done. I raised my liberal middle finger and held it within sight of Mr. Conserva-truck's rearview mirror. And I held it there in silent protest. For the entire red light.

He just looked confused. I could see him going through a list in his mind of all the things he didn't do. Didn't cut me off. Didn't honk. Why is this woman birding me? Why won't she stop?

Because liberalism may not kill. But it sure can distract the hell out of you. Perhaps enough to cause a fender bender the next intersection.

The Friend with the Great Idea

2009-06-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

Write a blog, he said, not taking into account my stultifying laziness. My blog posts will therefore be short or, if I'm bored or hypercaffeinated, will be like most blog posts, overlong and largely pointless.