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Monday, February 29, 2016

Random Thoughts, I haz them

While watching the morning news and watching the temperature plunge back down to 0F, my mind took a trip of it's own.

The Oscars. The biggest "we love ourselves and want to show each other just how much except for some of us" award show in America. Oops! We forgot about loving the black actors and actresses. We'll try harder next time. At least they include some white women. Chris Rock had fun and was pretty funny without being overtly angry and Lady Gaga sings well enough to change her name from Gaga to Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, which is her real name. What an idea!

Super Tuesday is tomorrow when regular people in about 11 states get to pick their choice for Republican, Democratic, or both, favorite candidates to run in the presidential election coming up in November when it will be getting cold again. My god this is a long, torturous process! Is all this "freedom" worth it? Watching the Republican leaders in the contest is like watching children arguing in the sandbox about who has the best sand and calling each other various names like clown, baby, lightweight, liar, idiot, a mess, looks like he's got a squirrel on his head, single biggest liar, pretends to be a Republican, short, sweaty, little boy, con-artist, make sure his pants weren’t wet, and the absolute worst, "liberal." Trump is still leading over Cruz and Rubio, but I wonder if it's because he isn't Cuban? Suffice it to say I won't be giving my support to any of them.

Today is Leap Day where those of us who are earthbound use the day to synchronize our concept of time with the rest of the universe. It is also considered to be Sadie Hawkins Day. It allegedly began  back in Ireland, but was given the moniker of Sadie Hawkins Day in the Li'l Abner comic strip back in 1937 and may have been another day altogether. Back when gender roles were more strict it was permissible for women, who had been waiting for the man of their dreams to ask them out on a date, to ask the man out or to get married whichever was appropriate. This, of course, has all kinds of sexist connotations that hearken back to what many Republicans refer to as "family values." Thinking back to my own Sadie Hawkins experiences, I recall getting asked to a dance or two in high school and college. I was okay with it and a little flattered, too. It was the beginning of my feeling that if women had more responsibility to run things some of the pressure would be taken off of men. To me it was a brilliant concept, but not to all men. It must be a  control thing. Gazing into my crystal ball I see this changing in a major way come November. While she may not be my first choice, Hillary Clinton is way better than anyone from the other side. I will sit back and enjoy the explosion of heads among some of the other old white men out there.



   

36 comments:

  1. if one of them republicans get in I'm going to start hitting up all those friends of mine that live outside of the USA and figure out a schedule ..maybe a week at each of them's place..I could cook, help with the cleaning, tell them about the good ole days and before I had time to start wearing on their nerves..move on...

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  2. My wife asked me to marry her. In the middle of the night. While I was sleeping. She poked me and said hey, we should get married. I rolled over and said huh? Yeah, that sounds good. Then rolled back over and went back to sleep.

    Sadie Hawkins would be so proud.

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  3. "if women had more responsibility to run things some of the pressure would be taken off of men. To me it was a brilliant concept, but not to all men." - HELL YEAH! men who are secure in themselves (like me spouse) would have no problems with this concept.

    "It must be a control thing." - yep.

    "I will sit back and enjoy the explosion of heads among some of the other old white men out there." - bwhahahahaha! they betta RECOGNIZE that the world is not white, but a mix of all colors and hues!

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  4. Unfortunately I am old enough to remember that gawdawful sexist concept of "Sadie Hawkins Day." I celebrate its demise.

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  5. We will be watching from this side of the world. With interest. When we (briefly) had a woman as our Prime Minister those older white men were truly offended. And offensive.

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  6. JACKIESUE, Cape Breton Island in Canada is offering us a place to go if we need to get out. I sincerely hope not that much of the electorate is THAT stupid.

    ABFTS, Sounds like she had you well trained before she made it permanent.

    anne marie, Things are better now, but we still have quite a way to go.

    Debra, It was a hillbilly concept to start with, but I really haven't heard of any Sadie Hawkins experiences in quite a long time. As a teenager it was pretty uncomfortable for everyone.

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  7. Elephant's Child, I am an old white man, too, but it doesn't mean I have to be an asshole. We're supposed to be an adaptable species after all.

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  8. Sadly the old white oxygen thieves at the top here believe that everyone needs to adapt to them.

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  9. I used to be vaguely interested in the Oscars, enough to look the next day what picture had won and who won best actor and actress.

    It's almost 9 p.m., and I still don't know who won last night. Maybe I should look...possibly I might even recognize the name.

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  10. Your random thoughts are better than the ones I haz.

    And you couldn't find a more beautiful place to emigrate to than Cape Breton Island! But as you said, let's hope it doesn't come down to needing to do so. There was an interesting piece in the NY Times recently that you or your readers might be interested in (the downside of not being a blogger is that I can't pass on these nuggets in my own space so occasionally I am guilty of hijacking other peoples' blogs. Should I apologize now or later? I'll do both - sorry! ... thank you ... and sorry again):
    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/26/opinion/the-governing-cancer-of-our-time.html?_r=0

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  11. jenny_o: I LOVE THAT ARTICLE. It is, unfortunately, becoming increasingly true here too. How long will it take us to realise that compromise and negotiation are strengths not failures....

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  12. Compromise? Negotiation?

    At least one of our candidates doesn't know what either one of those words mean. And when they DO find out what those verbs involve, will think they are both unnecessary...

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  13. HRC is a Republican. Bernie is a Democrat. The ballot in Nov should be between them.
    I think the last time I watched the Oscars, Bob Hope was MC-ing.

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  14. Every time I read another article about your interminable election, I give thanks yet again that I'm Canadian. Hang in there... it has to end soon...

    By the way, love your comment "I am an old white man, too, but it doesn't mean I have to be an asshole." I wish more guys thought the way you do.

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  15. I think I prefer Lady Gaga when she was more creative and off the wall. Now she looks like Tammy Wynette and although she has a good voice it's not quite good enough.

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  16. Elephant's Child, I love "oxygen thieves"! Right up there with "bottom feeders".

    Pixel Peeper, Hey, I actually recognized a couple of names, but it's hard to put with the faces sometimes.

    jenny_o, Excellent article! I'll bet there are more than a few of us willing to host a guest post from you if you ever have a mind to do so. C'mon, you know you want to.

    Sioux, When did they determine that those were bad things? I know it wasn't so long ago.

    Blog Fodder, You are right and I wish those were the only choices. I could live with either. Bob Hope, now there's a piece of history.

    Diane, Thanks for the sympathy. You know, most of my best friends are old white men. Maybe we aren't too old yet and can still push for the changes we have wanted since becoming adults all those years (weeks?) ago.

    LL Cool Joe, Like KD Lang when she wore wedding dresses early on and jumped around like a "rangy tang".

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  17. EC and Jono, I'm glad you liked the article. It seems to be a broader view of the current problems than a lot of commentary currently. Thank you both for being encouraging. Jono, I really don't have anything to say, I just like to pass on good stuff that OTHERS say :)

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  18. Well, it's 3 days later. The primaries are done, the Republicans are panicking over Trump, Christie has lost his mind, and tonight there's another GOP debate! Featuring Megan Kelly! Meaning more accusations of lying, stupidity, pants wetting, and menstruation. In other words, our democracy at work. (Feeling frustrated!!)

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  19. jenny_o, :)

    Donna, It's the next day and "little" Rubio and Trump were talking about the size of Trump's hands and penis. Cruz rants with a piece of something on his lip, but Donald and Megan played nice. What next?

    John Gray, Don't feel bad. We don't understand it either.

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  20. So, the 29th was Sadie Hawkins Day? Huh. So THAT explains all the women pestering me.
    No...no...that's a lie.
    Women NEVER pester me.
    This makes me sad.

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  21. Oh, incidentally, just read your "About Me." Saw "Icelandophile." Where? I lived in Keflavik from June 2003 until January 2005.
    Incidentally, also made a day trip to Andoya, where I had whale steak.
    Mmmmmmmmmm...............whale.

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  22. Al, Your life will be simpler if they are not pestering you. Maybe a little lonely, but definitely simpler. My grandfather was from north of Akureyri, but I do have some cousins in Reykjavik. I was there last in 2007 and fell in love with it. Going again in a year or so with my brother. Did you ever eat hakarl? I haven't tried it yet. Maybe after a little Brennevin I would have the courage. Very cool that you got to live there. I assume it was when the U.S. still had a base there.

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  23. You assume correctly. Iceland is a beautiful country. We were only 45 minutes from Reykjavik. We went to Akureyri in July, 2004. Boy, oh, boy, talk about in the middle of nowhere! We even took a ferry boat to Grimsey. Even though the Arctic Circle ran through it, it was a relatively balmy day. We didn't walk around in shorts and tank tops, but we didn't shiver, either. Loved it.
    I never ate hakari. Ate a mess of mutton and fish, though.

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  24. Love all that talk about Iceland, it is at the top of my list of places I really really want to visit. Unfortunately it's also at the top of the list of places I'll probably never get to.
    As for the Oscars, I had only seen one of the films (Room) and had no idea who most of those glamourous creatures were.
    And any 'Murricans who want to escape the pollies and come to Canada.... get your applications in NOW!

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  25. Did you see what we did today? Did you see what we did? We won Michigan! But we need $100 more dollars. Woohoo! We won Michigan. =)

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  26. Al, I would love to get to Grimsey. Maybe on the next trip.

    Shammickite, You could stop there on the way to the U.K. You can stay for 3 days without it adding to your airfare (IcelandAir). I'm so glad that Canada is willing to take Mehrkin refugees, if it comes to that.

    Robyn, Yes! It is amazing! Also, really glad Bernie and Hillary are keeping it civil. It emphasizes the major shortcomings of the "others".

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  27. It has been amazing to read about, I haz to say.

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  28. Hi Jono, I’m late commenting (been away from blogging rather a lot recently) but I felt the urge to comment now.

    Thoughts, I has them too. Mainly that I wish the whole messy world would be run by women. Not just to take pressure off men but to bring a bit of sanity back.

    I hope that the weather has improved for you by now. It’s about the only thing that has. The circus blindly marches on.

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  29. Riot Kitty, Thanks! I hope you are getting through everything okay.

    Friko, Glad you could stop by. As far as I'm concerned women can run the whole thing. They cannot possibly do any worse than we men have done. Spring is indeed springing.

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  30. You know how I feel about Trump. Almost scarier than the Donald, though, are some of his supporters. Truly a frightening time in this country.

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  31. As a young woman in the 70s, I remember Sadie Hawkins day well. There was a dance at the high school, and the girls were to ask the guys. It didn't work too well for me. When you're almost the tallest person (male or female) in your class and the guys are intimidated by that.....wait-men are still intimidated by women-tall or short, even after high school, aren't they?

    Wish someone had told me that back in high school.

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  32. Dawn, I expect to see "Skinheads for Trump" signs at some of their rallies.

    chlost, Some of us are intrigued by tall women. I knew this 6'3" redhead back in the mid 70's, but she had her choice of all the tall M.D. residents. I didn't have a prayer.

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  33. Oh politics. What a mess. Don't know if you've been following UK politics but it's all falling apart - though in a different way from the US. Our main opposition fell apart a few months ago and suddenly the government had imploded too after the prime minister announced a referendum about whether we should stay in the European union, a crucial issue which could affect our whole future. Pretty damn scary for us. America's political madness affects the whole world of course.

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  34. Omg, haven't thought of Sadie Hawkins for decades!

    Thanks for the time-travel experience :D

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  35. Jenny, I know the EU question is a big one. My Norwegian cousins have had the same dilemma, but keep voting down membership. It is always a close vote.

    Iceland Eyes, Maria, Scary, awkward moments in puberty are always memory making.

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