WTF, United States?

I went to bed last night before any candidate for POTUS declared victory, but I knew the way the wind was blowing. I asked a coworker yesterday afternoon if he could imagine 4 more years of Donny T. Well, no more imagining that scenario now! It's about to happen! WTF, United States? WTF, Pennsylvania (one of my former home states) and WTF, Michigan (another one of my former home states, although I don't think the final votes have been tallied there yet). Donny T and the Funky Bunch (w/special guest Hillbilly JD) are returning to the White House? Say it ain't so. Oh, it be so! Ugh. And it looks like the Republicans are going to take over the House and the Senate? Ugh again. 

There are two good things that might come out of this presidential race: 

1. The Democrats have time to regroup and get a candidate out there who can actually win in 2028. (No offense to Harris, but she was fighting an uphill battle from the jump and Biden should never have tried to run for a second term.) 

2. The Republicans could fuck up so royally that the country will be more than ready to chuck them out and move on to someone else. (At least Donny can't run again unless he manages to somehow get the Supreme Court to make that happen. Hey, you never know.)

So, on this depressing post-election day, I will keep on keeping on. Disappointment happens in life and this is one of those times when things just didn't go my way, but I feel fine knowing I did what I could by voting. At least Illinois stayed blue (unfortunately, surrounded by a sea of red states; WTF, Wisconsin?). As I've said before, I was born during the Nixon administration and made it through that, so now I'm mentally preparing myself to make it through the return of Donny T. 

Democracy in Action!

I have done my civic duty and voted today. Thankfully, Illinois has early voting so I was able to get out and cast my vote before election day. And business was brisk at the polling location today, too! I wasn't the only one in Evanston voting early and that's good. People should get out and vote. Let your voice be heard! I've done what I can do to stop Donny T's second act. Ugh. Just thinking about that guy returning to power makes me physically ill. But I'm not going to make myself crazy worrying about the future or about things I can't control. I firmly believe in voting and having your voice heard through the ballot box and it amazes me when I hear American citizens saying they're not going to vote because they don't like the candidates or some nonsense like that. No one person is going to be all things to all people. No one politician is going to solve all of the country's problems. But you have to vote for the candidate(s) you feel will do the best to move this country forward and serve its citizens. And, in this upcoming presidential election, there wasn't even a question about which candidate I preferred. I don't even understand how, this late in the game, some people are still undecided. Give me a break. Whatever. Just go and vote.

  

Overused and Overexposed

Why do I keep seeing those Kelce brothers in one TV commercial after another? They're selling cereal, soup, whatever. Stop the madness! Would these guys even have these product deals if one of them wasn't dating Taylor Swift? Maybe, but probably not although I recall seeing Travis host SNL and I didn't know who he was then (but I thought he did a good job on the show especially for the American Girl skit). I know I'm not the demographic for these guys, but I feel like they're overexposed right now. Aren't there some other athletes in line for an endorsement deal?

I had to go into the office for my day job yesterday to find some paperwork and scan it for a coworker at another location and, while I was out for lunch, I was walking behind some young women talking. One of them just kept using the word "like" over and over. Later in the evening, I stopped by my local Whole Foods to pick up an Amazon order I had shipped here and I was, again, stuck walking behind some young women who were having a conversation and the same thing happened. One just kept talking and putting the word "like" into her sentences over and over. "I, like, did, like, the wrong thing and, like, everything, like, went wrong..." Those weren't either woman's exact words, but you get the gist. God, just listening to both of these young women made me want to walk into traffic. Their voices were grating to me because they just sounded so stupid. I'm sure neither woman was actually dumb, but the way they spoke made me feel like I was losing brain cells just being in the same vicinity as they were! I use "like" also (although not as much as the women I heard yesterday) and I hate that I do it. I try very hard to avoid using that filler word because that's what it is: a filler. It's unnecessary in probably 95% of sentences. Unless you're using "like" to talk about your admiration for a person, place, or thing (I really like Mike's new car) or "like" compare people, places, or things (Sally looks just like her brother), you probably don't need to use it in a sentence. And I don't think people write "like" when they're sending emails or texts. (John, I, like, need the August distribution numbers so, like, can you, like, send them me by, like, Friday?) or (Meet me, like, at 10 at, like Joe's house). So why do people feel the need to insert that useless word into daily conversation? It's, like, annoying. 

Do You Remember? The 28th of September?

I couldn't really think of a title for today's post, so I had to manipulate an Earth, Wind and Fire lyric. 

First and foremost (and very late), RIP to Sergio Mendes. Sadly, he passed away a few weeks ago. If you read my blog with any regularlity, you'll know I'm a huge fan of Brazilian music. I have a few Sergio Mendes CDs in my collection and listen to them often. We keep losing great musicians like Mendes and David Sanborn. It's a shame. At least their music will live on. 

Speaking of music, I'm toying with the idea of having chapters in the book I'm working on reflect different songs. I'd just use the titles of the songs as the chapters (because I can't duplicate the lyrics without paying for permission), I don't even know if what I'm writing now will shake out to a longer book-length work, but I keep hearing certain songs in my head that reflect what's going on in the story. Unfortunately, I do more thinking about writing than actual writing these days. The process is slow, but it's happening. I really hope to have something finished by the end of the year.

Speaking of the end of the year, I'm thinking of moving next year. I have to see how things shake out with my life, my job, my family, my finances, the election, and a host of other things, but I'm seriously considering a move back to my home state of Michigan. It's been nice to stay put in the same state for over 10 years and same residence for 6 years now, but I'm feeling the itch to move again for a variety of reasons. So, I'm saving my money, watching, and waiting to see how things go over the next few months. By January 2025, hopefully, I'll have a better idea of what I want to do (if anything) and when I want to do it.

Who Let the Dogs (and Cats) Out?

I sat down to watch last night's presidential debate with the assumption that I'd only watch about the first half hour or so to get a feeling of how things were going, but I ended up watching it all because it was so entertaining. I was texting friends and family with messages like, "Get him, Kamala!" with a fist emjoi included. Donny T. let the woo woo out on a national scale last night. (This message wasn't just for the sycophants who to his rallies; this was for everyone!) The whole dog and cat eating thing cracked me up. I had read a story about Haitian immigrants in Ohio being accused of stealing and eating their neighbors' pets in an article in the NY Times, so I knew what Donny was talking about, but to hear that nonsense come out of his mouth was hilarious. I'm sure there were people watching last night's debate who knew nothing about that whole Haitian/Ohio/dog/cat thing had no idea what Donny was referring to. The guy was practically yelling and frothing at the mouth about this! Who does that? Donny does, of course. It's a shame for our country that this dude not only did one term as POTUS, but that he's in close race for a second! Jesus, take the wheel.

After the first POTUS debate where Biden shit the bed and finally excused himself from the arena, I was glad to see Kamala come on strong for this one. Forget all that "when they go low, we go high" stuff. Sometimes, you have to get dirty to take out the garbage. Not that Kamala was low-down, but she let Donny know what time it was and that she wasn't going to sit back and allow him to go unchallenged with his bullshit. 

If you haven't made up your mind by now about who to vote for, something is wrong with you. I'm sorry, but it is. Make a decision already! We can't vote soon enough. Let's get it on and over with. 

(No) Labor Day

Happy (No) Labor Day (at least for me and hopefully for you too)! I spent most of my Labor Day weekend in my home state of Michigan visiting family. It was an interesting visit. Some of my family members in the mitten state aren't doing so well and it was tough to hear that so many of them are having a lot of problems right now. I wish them the best and hope they're able to overcome the issues going on in their lives. I drove back to Illinois feeling relieved to be heading back to my own home. I've got problems too, but they seem miniscule compared to the problems some of my family members are having. 

I've been seriously considering moving back to Michigan for a variety of reasons. My day job hasn't gone back to the office since Covid started four years ago and I wonder if we'll ever go back now, so I'm not tied to working out of the office (at least I don't think I am). I could work anywhere as long as I have a WiFi connection. But the thought of moving again makes my head hurt. I like my current place and I'd have to sell it. And then what? Become a renter again? I dread the thought of renting again but I don't want to buy another place and have to carry two mortgages while I'm trying to sell my current place. Renting would make much more sense if I moved at least for a while. I've been looking at real estate in Michigan online and there are some affordable places out there, but I just don't know that I'm ready to make a move out of state again right now. I've been in Illinois for over 10 years now since leaving New York back in 2013 and I haven't lived in Michigan in over 20 years now. 

I wish I had been able to see more during my brief visit to Michigan this weekend, but most of my time was spent seeing various family members. I hadn't visited since Labor Day weekend last year, so it was good to see my family again, problems and all. Maybe if I get back there next year for Labor Day I'll be able to get to the jazz festival or to Belle Isle. I took pictures from Belle Isle in 2016 when I went to visit and there's one below.

007 Exhibit (and Other Stuff)

A few weeks ago, I went to Chicago's Griffin Museum of Science and Industry to see an exhibit of gadgets and cars from various James Bond movies. The exhibit, while small, had some great stuff included. I have some pictures below. I also highly recommend checking out the museum if you're in or around Chicago. I went there with my sister's girl scout troop when I was a kid, but I had not been back since moving to the Chicago area. I checked out the rest of the museum after seeing the Bond exhibit and really enjoyed it. It's a beautiful museum. Parking is ridiculous though: $22 regardless of the time you spend at the museum is insane! That was almost the price of admission for the Bond exhibit! 

In other news, the Democratic National Convention is going on in Chicago this week. Is the political tide really turning now? God, I hope so. I'm really looking forward to the time when Donny T's entire political career will just be a bad memory. Remember that guy? Ugh. I'm trying to forget him! What's Kamala's slogan? We can't go back? No, we can't and God help us all if we do.

I'm currently reading Stephen King's book of short stories now called You Like It Darker. I haven't read a Stephen King book in some time and I have to say, I'm enjoying this short story combination. To paraphrase a line from one of my favorite movies, The Big Lebowski, that dude can write! King is very good at writing about regular people faced with irregular circumstances and that's something a lot of writers can't do or can't do well. I commend him for writing so well for so long. He really is a national treasure and reading his recent work has inspired me to get on the stick and get my own writing going again. After a lot of starts and stops, I think I'm on track to get a short story done in the next few months. Thanks, Stephen!