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Bladdy Blah Blah
May. 24th, 2003 01:00 amI'm trying to write more in my Live Journal, even if it's utter tripe.
Today was a long and largely uneventful day at work. I drove the publisher out to Folsom to pick up his car and then worked a full day at the bookstore. At the end of my shift I was overcome by an unusual (but not unwelcome) surge of energy and optimism. I thought about opening my own bookshop in Laguna or Redondo Beach, I considered planning a trip to Napa with various friends and sometime enemies and got some fantastic pictures for one of my dreaded overdue papers.
Instead of using that momentum to work on said paper or to plan the aforementioned trip, I went out for deep dish pizza and drinks with D. Got schnokered on a Manhattan and two Whiskey and Cokes.
Our dinner conversation turned toward the topic of Bush's tax cut and its inevitability. Both of us are firmly under the impression that the majority of this country is getting screwed royally. I see the economic and political decisions being made now and wonder how much of my life and my childrens' lives will be spent paying for and repairing the damage wrought by the actions of a powerful few. It makes me angry and yet I feel so powerless and, as a result, a bit complacent. It's going around these days...democracy was revealed to be a sham in the elections (even if you believe in the antiquated and inherently undemocratic Electoral College) and instead of taking torches to the Capitol, the populace produced a few scathing editorials. What has gone wrong? What have we become? D blamed it on a declining morality, I suspect it has more to do with the erosion of community. I haven't looked at the voting records, but I suspect that there's been a sharp decline in civic participation starting somewhere in the 1950s on...corresponding with the advent of television and the suburbs. Individually isolated and individually powerless to effect change. The 60s do pose a problem for my theory, but I still think it's worth considering.
Anyways...after that we went for a walk around my neighborhood, gave our pizza leftovers to a homeless guy, and I tried (unsuccessfully) to drag D into the "One Man Band" wagon. Came home, had a bath, and decided that water (LOTS OF WATER) should become my new best friend.
It was in the high 90s here today. Summer here is miserable---every summer I wonder how I survived the misery that is the California Central Valley and every spring I wonder how I'll survive the summer that follows. It's been a dread that I've wrestled with for almost 8 years now...except this year. I'm done with school forever and ever come this Wednesday...I don't have to stay here. It's weird to think that there's an escape, some agency in the decision. Why do I stay?
Today was a long and largely uneventful day at work. I drove the publisher out to Folsom to pick up his car and then worked a full day at the bookstore. At the end of my shift I was overcome by an unusual (but not unwelcome) surge of energy and optimism. I thought about opening my own bookshop in Laguna or Redondo Beach, I considered planning a trip to Napa with various friends and sometime enemies and got some fantastic pictures for one of my dreaded overdue papers.
Instead of using that momentum to work on said paper or to plan the aforementioned trip, I went out for deep dish pizza and drinks with D. Got schnokered on a Manhattan and two Whiskey and Cokes.
Our dinner conversation turned toward the topic of Bush's tax cut and its inevitability. Both of us are firmly under the impression that the majority of this country is getting screwed royally. I see the economic and political decisions being made now and wonder how much of my life and my childrens' lives will be spent paying for and repairing the damage wrought by the actions of a powerful few. It makes me angry and yet I feel so powerless and, as a result, a bit complacent. It's going around these days...democracy was revealed to be a sham in the elections (even if you believe in the antiquated and inherently undemocratic Electoral College) and instead of taking torches to the Capitol, the populace produced a few scathing editorials. What has gone wrong? What have we become? D blamed it on a declining morality, I suspect it has more to do with the erosion of community. I haven't looked at the voting records, but I suspect that there's been a sharp decline in civic participation starting somewhere in the 1950s on...corresponding with the advent of television and the suburbs. Individually isolated and individually powerless to effect change. The 60s do pose a problem for my theory, but I still think it's worth considering.
Anyways...after that we went for a walk around my neighborhood, gave our pizza leftovers to a homeless guy, and I tried (unsuccessfully) to drag D into the "One Man Band" wagon. Came home, had a bath, and decided that water (LOTS OF WATER) should become my new best friend.
It was in the high 90s here today. Summer here is miserable---every summer I wonder how I survived the misery that is the California Central Valley and every spring I wonder how I'll survive the summer that follows. It's been a dread that I've wrestled with for almost 8 years now...except this year. I'm done with school forever and ever come this Wednesday...I don't have to stay here. It's weird to think that there's an escape, some agency in the decision. Why do I stay?
