I voted early. I voted for the future.

If by a ‘Liberal' they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people: their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties... if that is what they mean by a Liberal then I’m proud to say I’m a 'Liberal.' -- John F. Kennedy

I like this quote so much I made a wordle out of it.

Laughing helps . . .

How do I explain what you are about to experience?

What kind of pre-schooler would like for his Mom to read Calvin and Hobbes as bedtime stories? The kind Jody and I conceived. When Travis was little, we spent hours and hours and hours imitating this particular strip of Calvin's faces and laughing ourselves to exhaustion. Recently, we were in need of some big laughs to relieve some stress over an outside issue.

I pulled out Calvin and Hobbes and my camera: Mom, you're just like a girl. You get a camera and now you say "Oooooo. Let's take a picture!"

Calvin helped us laugh off the stress. My digital camera means you can look and laugh, too.

This diversion was even more fun with a teenager than it was with a preschooler . . .



We laughed so much we cried . . .

Our sides hurt . . .



Our laughter shook the camera . . .

And of course, I laughed so hard I peed my pants (I've had a baby, that's what happens) . . .

Here's what I have to say to anyone who disses my boy:

I'm a mamma grizzly. You betcha! I guess that qualifies me to run for Senator or Governor or even President.

High Tech in Farmington public schools

His senior year, Travis finally received a free computer from Farmington Municipal Schools. Awesome! I'm thrilled that our public school system is finding its way into the 21st century. It's not his to keep, but it is his to use for the year.

Of course, there are tons of restrictions on the computer: It turns itself off after 10pm (must make sure our little ones get plenty of sleep), where it will go on the internet is severely limited (what if our boys saw a naked woman --- or worse, naked women doing "it" with each other! OK, I support this one. While I believe in freedom of speech, I don't think porn is a good idea for a 17-year-old.) The computer can't access email (huh?), and teachers will not allow students to use their school-supplied computers in class for such heresies as taking notes. Someone might play a game instead of listening. Why there are games on the computer, I'll never understand.

But here's what students can do on the computer:

It's from Photo Booth and Travis and I had a pee-my-pants laughing party Friday night in our Durango hotel room. We were there to get a good night's sleep before the SAT exam at Ft. Lewis College on Saturday morning. I would say he took the exam being well-fed, well-rested, and in a very good mood.

In case any school board member sees this, he brought the computer to work on his college applications and he worked on his essays while I drove to Durango.

And thanks tons for supplying us with entertainment!

OMG! Muslims are under my bed!

If a member of Dutch parliament says it, it must be true. Geert Wilders has been riding through the US screaming "The Muslims are coming. The Muslims are coming!" You know what will happen if Geert succeeds in picking his nose here. His head will cave in.

Someone I know recently sent me this speech that Wilders gave in New York in 2008. His message is "Be afraid, be very afraid."

It’s important to know who Geert Wilders is. Google him. There is a lot to read. He’s been fanning the flames of fear for a long time. I know that what we humans judge as fact is filtered the emotional lens of what we believe. What I see, you might not see.

It wasn’t that long ago, that some politicians --- Joseph McCarthy, Richard Nixon to name only two --- played upon fear of Communism in order to further their political careers. We have lost Communists as the devil du jour. Without the Communist Menace hiding under our beds, fear-mongers need a new bogeyman. It is Muslims for now.

Playing upon the fears of the populace, stoking those fears to a higher heat, is not a new tool for politicians. It has been around for centuries because it works so well. Geert Wilders is making it work for him now.

Muslims refer to their God as Allah. Allah simply means God in Arabic, as does Dios in Spanish, Dieu in French. God is also known as Jehovah and Yahweh. A different name in a different language does not make a different God. Muslims are very clear that the God they worship is the God of the Jews and the God of the Christians.

The word Islam means submission to God --- not submission to Muslims, not submission to conquerors, not submission to tyranny, not submission to slavery. Submission to God. Jesus referred to that same submission to God when he taught us to pray “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The Kingdom is submission to God’s will.

I could go through Wilders's entire speech and point out many problems, like his lack of understanding of how satellite television works (you don’t point your receiver dish to your country of origin, you point it at the satellite), but it would be a waste of time. However, I am extremely delighted to point out the irony of Wilders's concern that French schools are increasingly choosing not to mention Darwin for fear of offending Muslims. I would guess that many of Wilders's target audience in this country are the same people who oppose the teaching of evolution in our public schools.

If he’s in Washington, DC, on October 30, Geert Wilders might choose to attend the March to Keep Fear Alive --- not understanding that the March is satirizing people like him and the fear-feeding media.

I would choose to attend the Rally to Restore Sanity.

Lost on the space-time continuum

I can tell that I am going to get sucked into this black hole . . . no worse, I will be stuck in the event horizon and never make it to the other side of the universe.