a Bramble ramble

… weigh in …

The scale says 223.5 but that isn’t a good weight … see, I haven’t really been eating as I have been operating a little under the weather. The roast DID turn out quite nicely ..!

News and views …

Yesterday I spent time watching three of the four remaining contenders for president speak. Here is what I thought:

Hillary Clinton:

There is a cartoon strip in the Freep called ‘Candorville’ by Darrin Bell. In it, he portrayed Hillary as a morph who would appear in various ethnic gear, using ethnic patois in her efforts to cajole voters.

Though I am not as hard on her as that, she does have shiftiness to her. Her speech was a good one, but it had a forced quality to it, as if it was what she was supposed to say as opposed to what she herself really felt. Too bad, because at one time I was of the belief she could be an effective president. Now I am less than sure.

Barack Obama

He wasn’t my guy at first. John Edwards was, as I was his constituent and I thought he did an effective job. Also, he made a point of issues that concern me most. But this Barack guy … man!

That he has charisma is undeniable. You almost want to believe in him if for no other reason that he does seem to defy belief. A black politician who seems able to connect with everyone. Unspoiled by the special interests, he gets you to thinking that if he makes it to Pennsylvania Avenue, he will make a difference that will matter to the common man, and not just the rich.

I don’t agree with him about Iraq. That is really something I would hope someone talks to him about should he make it. But contrasting him with Hillary, as soon as it started showing bad in focus groups, she moved away from her original position …

John McCain

What the Bush campaign did to him eight years ago was unconscionable. But unfortunately for him, it also robbed him of his chance to be president.

I would have voted for him had he made it through the Republican primary. I like him and think he would have made a fine president. But the emphasis is on ‘made’, past tense. He seemed a little befuddled speaking, almost as if he was not comfortable with what he was doing.

I think he has sold out.

That he is the one candidate to emerge from the G.O.P. is telling. Save for his stance on Iraq, he hadn’t had too much in common, including the Bush Tax cuts. Now he is all for them … I could be remembering incorrectly, but it doesn’t matter as much as I am against them. They clearly place too much of a burden on what was once the middle class. And I think he let the cat out of the bag talking about being in Iraq for 100 years … that should have been on the ‘hush, hush’!

… more fitness stuff …

Resistance bands … I saw in another journal where the author talks about using them. I love those things! That and the stability ball is what I use for most of the exercises I do around the house. What I like about them is that you can really work them as many times as you want without worrying about whether or not you are ‘safe’ or not.

With the stability ball, and a couple of resistance bands, do you even NEED to go the gym? I say ‘no’ and here’s why: You can get accurate enough simulation of the major exercises to get you started on your way, without the fear that many people get when they first start going to a gym.

No need to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed if you are doing it at home. Besides, the convienience can’t be beat! Now, an effective workout usually goes 45 min to an hour. Less than that, and you are cheating yourself. But what you DO in that hour, is totally up to you.

I like to do aerobic stuff first then muscle building stuff. This is supposed to help burn calories. Now if you have specific strength goals or you think you are ready to ‘kick it up a notch’, then you may need to go to a gym I love the YMCA, because there is none of the pretensiousness that you find at other fitness centers, and that is a good thing!!

THE BIG FINISH

(warning … this may make some readers uncomfortable!)

I am reading Sports Illustrated, and there is a mention of Omaha Central boys basketball team … which of course is in NEBRASKA …

I would like to ask my Nebraska if she follows the boys hoops scene … but it seems that she has put me down … que sera.

A few years ago, when I was so very single, I don’t know why we didn’t connect. Who knows what would have happened. Still, I do think things went the way they were supposed to have gone.

When I made the most recent overhaul of my life, I said to myself that I would ride the next relationship until the skids fell off. The thinking behind that was the problem with my relationships wasn’t ‘them’ but it was ‘ME’.

It almost literally came down to a coin flip between Mookie, then the more know quantity, and trying to pick up stakes and go west … long story short, Nebraska has always been on my short list of places to live. But in all my preparation, the unforeseen has of course developed … and I feel sorta stuck.

I go about things like I normally do. Sure, I feel undervalued and not appreciated, but the things I am doing now isn’t for anyone other than me. Being ‘challenged’ as I am, it is important for me to make sure that I am still ‘here’ and that I can do the things that make me unique to myself.

So sure, talk to your crap sister in the middle of my Valetine’s dinner … the point for me was that I love Mark, and this is what Mark wanted … I have been known to have the wait staff at a restaurant sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me, as I sat eating alone!

That said, I won’t revisit the ‘should I stay or should I go’ question until after KT comes and goes. Lexxie travels with her Mom during Easter break, and they hang in Detroit mostly.

Something Barack Obama said the other day, quoting JFK … one should never negotiate out of fear, but never should fear to negotiate fits my approach. Never make important decisions outside of your best frame of mind.

… weigh in …

The scale says 223.5 but that isn’t a good weight … see, I haven’t really been eating as I have been operating a little under the weather. The roast DID turn out quite nicely ..!

News and views …

Yesterday I spent time watching three of the four remaining contenders for president speak. Here is what I thought:

Hillary Clinton:

There is a cartoon strip in the Freep called ‘Candorville’ by Darrin Bell. In it, he portrayed Hillary as a morph who would appear in various ethnic gear, using ethnic patois in her efforts to cajole voters.

Though I am not as hard on her as that, she does have shiftiness to her. Her speech was a good one, but it had a forced quality to it, as if it was what she was supposed to say as opposed to what she herself really felt. Too bad, because at one time I was of the belief she could be an effective president. Now I am less than sure.

Barack Obama

He wasn’t my guy at first. John Edwards was, as I was his constituent and I thought he did an effective job. Also, he made a point of issues that concern me most. But this Barack guy … man!

That he has charisma is undeniable. You almost want to believe in him if for no other reason that he does seem to defy belief. A black politician who seems able to connect with everyone. Unspoiled by the special interests, he gets you to thinking that if he makes it to Pennsylvania Avenue, he will make a difference that will matter to the common man, and not just the rich.

I don’t agree with him about Iraq. That is really something I would hope someone talks to him about should he make it. But contrasting him with Hillary, as soon as it started showing bad in focus groups, she moved away from her original position …

John McCain

What the Bush campaign did to him eight years ago was unconscionable. But unfortunately for him, it also robbed him of his chance to be president.

I would have voted for him had he made it through the Republican primary. I like him and think he would have made a fine president. But the emphasis is on ‘made’, past tense. He seemed a little befuddled speaking, almost as if he was not comfortable with what he was doing.

I think he has sold out.

That he is the one candidate to emerge from the G.O.P. is telling. Save for his stance on Iraq, he hadn’t had too much in common, including the Bush Tax cuts. Now he is all for them … I could be remembering incorrectly, but it doesn’t matter as much as I am against them. They clearly place too much of a burden on what was once the middle class. And I think he let the cat out of the bag talking about being in Iraq for 100 years … that should have been on the ‘hush, hush’!

… more fitness stuff …

Resistance bands … I saw in another journal where the author talks about using them. I love those things! That and the stability ball is what I use for most of the exercises I do around the house. What I like about them is that you can really work them as many times as you want without worrying about whether or not you are ‘safe’ or not.

With the stability ball, and a couple of resistance bands, do you even NEED to go the gym? I say ‘no’ and here’s why: You can get accurate enough simulation of the major exercises to get you started on your way, without the fear that many people get when they first start going to a gym.

No need to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed if you are doing it at home. Besides, the convienience can’t be beat! Now, an effective workout usually goes 45 min to an hour. Less than that, and you are cheating yourself. But what you DO in that hour, is totally up to you.

I like to do aerobic stuff first then muscle building stuff. This is supposed to help burn calories. Now if you have specific strength goals or you think you are ready to ‘kick it up a notch’, then you may need to go to a gym I love the YMCA, because there is none of the pretensiousness that you find at other fitness centers, and that is a good thing!!

THE BIG FINISH

(warning … this may make some readers uncomfortable!)

I am reading Sports Illustrated, and there is a mention of Omaha Central boys basketball team … which of course is in NEBRASKA …

I would like to ask my Nebraska if she follows the boys hoops scene … but it seems that she has put me down … que sera.

A few years ago, when I was so very single, I don’t know why we didn’t connect. Who knows what would have happened. Still, I do think things went the way they were supposed to have gone.

When I made the most recent overhaul of my life, I said to myself that I would ride the next relationship until the skids fell off. The thinking behind that was the problem with my relationships wasn’t ‘them’ but it was ‘ME’.

It almost literally came down to a coin flip between Mookie, then the more know quantity, and trying to pick up stakes and go west … long story short, Nebraska has always been on my short list of places to live. But in all my preparation, the unforeseen has of course developed … and I feel sorta stuck.

I go about things like I normally do. Sure, I feel undervalued and not appreciated, but the things I am doing now isn’t for anyone other than me. Being ‘challenged’ as I am, it is important for me to make sure that I am still ‘here’ and that I can do the things that make me unique to myself.

So sure, talk to your crap sister in the middle of my Valetine’s dinner … the point for me was that I love Mark, and this is what Mark wanted … I have been known to have the wait staff at a restaurant sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me, as I sat eating alone!

That said, I won’t revisit the ‘should I stay or should I go’ question until after KT comes and goes. Lexxie travels with her Mom during Easter break, and they hang in Detroit mostly.

Something Barack Obama said the other day, quoting JFK … one should never negotiate out of fear, but never should fear to negotiate fits my approach. Never make important decisions outside of your best frame of mind.