Elections A-Go-Go! UPDATE.

Picture courtesy of goretro.blogspot.com

Sometimes The Business of Life is… being a political spectator (and occasional participant)

I’ve mentioned it before… but these mid-term elections are wacky.  And getting wackier by the day.

Dude what are those zany Dems up to?

Republicans put forth Contract with a New America 2.0?  Entirely unexpected and innovated.  Jeeeez.

Oh but it’s exciting! Dems rumored October surprise is coming up and I just can’t wait to find out what they’re planning. Come November 3rd they’re expected to be lame duck fabulous and I’ve come to find they’ve put 20 (twenty!) pieces of legislation up for vote post-election, like a nice parting gift .  Though I think after we’re going to wish we had the box of turtle-wax option.

To be perfectly honest I was really never one for politics. At Smith (yes, I went there) everyone was a government, econ or women studies major– I did mathematics. Then there were the family dinners, often led by my brother-in-law, where hot politics served up with a side of b-o-r-i-n-g. I thanked gawd when I turned 20-ish and could have wine.  Wine does make everything easier to tolerate…

But this election, well it has been something different. Every since the world went to hell-in-a-hand-basket two years ago, I’ve been fascinated with economics and politics, and where they intersect– which is pretty much everywhere.

Politics as pop-culture.  An aficionado of high-low media offerings, I seeing these elections as better than Theresa flippin’ that freakin’ table on Real Housewives of New Jersey- the bitch-fights, the betrayal, the intrigue!  We all knew politicians were media-whores and thespians, but this?  This is a whole new level of spectacular.  This is political trench warfare. Gloves off, Jeter-fakin’-being-hit style brawl.

So let’s recap some of what’s happened lately:

• Pelosi is kryptonite.  Totally being thrown under the bus by a fair portion of her own party… that’s running. Bitter pill fair lady, but here’s your bowl of hemlock and thanks for playing… (I think she’s wishing for the box of turtle wax as well.)
• Rahm is leaving.  So “Rahmbo” of the White House wants to be Mayor of Chicago? Perfect.
• Obama college tour. As he’s stumping for those that will have him, they’re having to go to campuses for election rallies.  Translation: The easy lay doesn’t make for victory.  When he gets it on with the “Reagan Democrats” I’ll start to notice… and to worry.
• Reagan Dems: They’re Back. And the soccer moms of the next two years. They will make you or break you.
• Tea Party. Call’em crazy, call’em pissed off, but you better call’em. Not the ugly cousin anymore, everyone knows– good or bad– they’re significant players in this election.
• Speaking of Reagan. He’s gone but as Oban-Wan pointed out, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.”  No longer a man, he’s now an ideal and deadlier than ever as the savior of the 70′s/80′s recession.  I’ll know the circle is complete when college students and urban marauders start wearing t-shirts with a stylized “Fonzerelli” Ronnie on the front. And mean it.
• Dems give up on Senate, House is pretty much the fight. I feel kind of sad.  They’re in triage trying to salvage what they can.  If you told them 21 months ago this is where they’d be, they’d think you crazy.  Then again, if you told me 21 months ago about Obamacare fiasco, the stimulus fun, the national debt-load et al.  I would have thought you slightly nuts too.

Ok. Am spent. It’s just too much going on, these politicos have exhausted me.

Which, come to think of it, might be part of their plan.

Detox Postponed- Due to Spectacular Blender Death

Blendtec, Blender Porn (picture via Amazon)

Sometimes the Business of Life includes…. Postponements

So my Clean Detox was supposed to start today.

Except my blender died.

Well more like murdered. By me.

The blender is a critical piece of equipment. I use it at least once everyday, and during a cleanse, it’s working twice a day. Without it, no smoothies. No smoothies means no cleanse can be done.

My poor blender died a spectacular death yesterday morning. It’s demise came in a cacophony: the howl of metal and plastic being torn apart, the sickening sound of gears grounding down and the eventual high-pitch death-whine. At that point I shut it off. Literally flipped the switch on my poor blender.

It was horrible.

A moment of silence.  And the next thought was “So what now? About the detox?” (I tend to move on quickly once I accept the situation as irreparable.)

The answer?

Later. Sometimes the Business of Life includes postponements. Disappointing? Yes. Totally horrible? No. A few days to wait to get a new blender won’t hurt. Last week actually was incredibly busy and I guess I just will take the time to get back on track. Perhaps it was God’s way of saying….

Take a break babe.

Getting Gearing Up! Clean Detox Starts Soon…

I am just about to start my second Clean Detox.

If you missed the last one I did, I basically set myself up as a guinea pig and blogged about it for 30+ days. It was an amazing experience and I was left with a clearer head, cleaner body and about 10lbs lighter — that I’ve still managed to keep of (and then some.)

So I’m about to embark on another sojourn into getting healthier, more relaxed and focused. But with things like a Clean, you just don’t leap into it. You dip your toe in and, when that’s fine, you go thigh-deep, and so on until your body is immersed.

In preparation, I’ve gone off caffeine a week ago, and been slowly eating “cleaner” by the day- smoothies in the morning, where this week is no wheat, dairy, and so on. It almost sounds like I’m back in the thick of it!

So slowly I’m getting back on the wagon.

Slowly…

Links to Items Featured on TheLiquidBetsy:

Growing Pains

Sometimes the business of life is… learning the art of parenting… on the fly.

My son informed me last night that School Sucks.

“There’s no play time,” he said as I told him the night itinerary of events (homework, dinner, chores, bath and bed), “I don’t want to be a teenager, they’re never out playing, it’s always work! I want summer back!”

Ahh the wise musings of a seven year old.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that yes it gets harder BUT at the same time you’re free to do more of what you want. I tried to tell him that he’s a bigger kid, with more responsibilities, and it takes time to get use to them. Just give it a month and… “it’ll be ain’t no big thang” as the French would say.

But then I thought why? I did say it would get easier, things are new but that’s it. Part of me says y children have to learn how to learn, and my job in raising them is to try and make it fun or, at the very least, their idea.

I’ve been toying with not telling them what to do and let them fail. Didn’t do your homework? You’ll have to explain that to the teacher.  Didn’t rinse the dishes, well you’ve lost out on your TV time because you now have to do them. Didn’t pack a lunch? Whoops no lunch (but you know that’s not going to happen… school will give them lunch and send me a terse note and my son would have just figured out a sure-fire way to get out of one chore.)  That’s all fine and good but going hard-core could reduce my kids into frustrated tears —  I also know I don’t want to break their spirit.

I’ve also thought of having a daily assignment board with magnets that helps them budget their time and complete their chores and to-dos. Complete the task and move the magnet to “DONE.” It’s self directed, and Mom doesn’t have to nag.

The goal here my friends is to raise my kids to be self-monitoring, responsible adults. Easier said than done from what I hear.

Parenting is an art form that this cowboy is just figuring out as I go along…

So your turn… what do you do? How do you get the kids to be self-monitoring?  Tips, suggestions are so very greatly appreciated.

Thoughts from the Dump.

Sometimes The Business of Life includes…. FUNDRAISING

So I’m writing this post from my local dump.

Yes the dump.

I have a few minutes to kill and I’m trying to get better about using my trusty sidekick iPhone in my day-to-day activities. It’s great for calls, scheduling apts, emails, to-do’s (OmniFocus), Tweetdeck posts (FB, Twitter, LiquidBetsy Fan page) but what about document writing, file sharing, and blog posts? So down the rabbit hole I go…

So why the dump?

Well first off the dump seems good a place as any, plus I’m here doing good works for the twins elementary school. I get grubby working a few hours in the recycling center and their school gets the cash.

Armed with old clothes and surgical gloves thick enough to fend off errant hypodermic needles (not that that’s a factor, but obviously one parent who works where it would be kindly donated a box) I’m emptying bins of cans and bottles while other parents are packing and redeeming.  It’s about the best ROI for a fundraiser, 6 hour shifts nets around $1300/week, when you back out planning, arranging, set-up/clean-up, decorating, soliciting for freebies that other fundraisers like golf tournaments, and dinners. Plus it’s nice to work with the other parents, you get to know them sans kids. Truth be told, I actually like doing it.

Minuses?

The occasional fruit-fly, some “surprise” bags (it’s like a little gift, really thanks) of god only knows mixed in, and the fact that you leave smelling like you woke up on the floor of a frat party the next morning.  Nothing a little shower can’t wash away.

So I had to finish this at home. I did about 2/3 on the iPhone during my break.

Will keep reporting from the frontline of technology and life.

Music for Kids: The 3 B’s (Beethoven, Beatles & Black Sabbath)

My husband is on a mission.

Music is the mission, the musical education of our children.

For the past weeks, he’s been working on creating play-lists for the kids full of the classics. “The 3 B’s” as he likes to say.

Beethoven, Beatles, and Black Sabbath. Baby.

Daddy loves music, all kinds. So does Mom but not to the extent of my husband. He listens and owns all kinds — from classical to New Wave, Heavy Metal to Grunge, and Techno to Pop. As I type this, he’s going through our Beatles catalogue and selecting what he thinks are the highlights for them to enjoy.

Oh I get to add a few of my own faves: Oingo Boingo, Tears for Fears, KC and the Sunshine Band, Old School Michael Jackson, Elton John and whatever else I can think of (Eddie Grant’s “Electric Avenue” to obscure?) Perhaps you all have a few selections to suggest?

Well it’s turning out to be a fun project for him and for me. Fun to watch him and them interact, they asking questions and he answering, often ending with all dancing up a storm.

I expect there’s some concerts in our future.

And for your viewing pleasure Mr. Eddie Grant:

Oh… it’s being so “broughten”!

Goodness this Fall’s mid-term elections are shaping up to be the veritable Oscars-Super Bowl-World Series- and-I’ll-throw-in-Daytona-500-for-good-measure of the political world.

Oh boy it’s gonna to be good.

Democrats clinging to “Bush did it!” for their very lives (and livelihoods), Republicans feeling all Ronnie and 1980-retro, Independents looking (and feeling) like the hottest girl at the party and the Tea Partiers totally ready to crash with a whole kegger of “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!”

Dirty politics, filibusters, recess appointees, dead “voters” people in droves being found, a rumored Obama “October Surprise,” OMG with a heavy dose of WTF, this is turning out to be “The Jersey Shore Does Spring Break!” of politics. Jeepers, all we need is a couple of Monica Lewinsky-types on jet skis and it’s a freakin’ movie, because I’m feelin’ the truth is going to be stranger than fiction my friends come this Fall.

Seriously who could make this shit up?

Well, knowing my love of trashy TV,  I am coming early to get a good seat.

And because I cribbed the “broughten” from the movie “Not Another Teen Movie,” I feel it had to show the clip with it. Pretty much sums up the ridiculousness of our current political landscape.