2008: A Brief Retrospect
Well, 2008 is quickly drawing to a close. And as I gaze out on the slushy driveway—the remnants of a freaky snowstorm mixed with a day of rain—I decided to reflect on the year I’ve had. Gads! It’s been a mad year, hasn’t it? (Why am I channeling Dawn French’s “Catherine Spartacus Zeta-Douglas-Jones?” I don’t know. This sounds hilarious in my head!)
I did something this year that I have never done before. I followed the presidential campaign. I had to. I wanted to be sure that the presidency was taken out of Republican control. I initially supported Hillary Clinton but I warmed to Barack Obama because he was running the kind of campaign that I liked: respectable, high-road, spoke on the issues. When Hillary’s campaign got down and dirty, I made my first campaign contribution of the season to Obama’s campaign. And, the best part is that so did 32 million other people across this nation of ours. And we made history! History!
So, okay, maybe it was a little foolish to think that those wonderfully decorative “thank-you” notes from Obama’s campaign we received in the mail a couple of weeks ago might be inaugural invitations but a gal can dream, can’t she? I don’t know where you were the evening of November 4th… I was sitting in my family room, watching the numbers. When it was announced that Barack Obama had won, I started crying… tears of joy. It’s happened before. When Halle Berry won an Academy Award in a leading role, I cried, too. So did my sister. And my mom. So, I cried. If I had been out and about, I probably would’ve kissed a few (hundred) people. Joy is funny that way.
What’s amazing is the popularity of Barack Obama overseas. And I’m not just speaking about the clips on the news organizations. While waiting for a plane at Heathrow to take us to Manchester, I saw two fellows—Brits—in Obama 08 T-shirts. They can’t vote in our elections but they were offering support anyway.
Of course, the “big” news that crossed the Pond while my sister and I were traveling in England was the “who?” that John McCain picked for his running mate. When the London Times (notoriously conservative) announces that this is the beginning of the end for McCain’s campaign, we knew that something was up. Little did we know how bad it would get. But, it brought Tina Fey to the limelight with her dead-on impersonation so it’s not all bad. My only question is: What was John thinking? Seriously!
Now, I tend to be a bit of a snob when it comes to grammar. I do let most grammatical errors go. (There are a couple of pet peeves that just grate my nerves, though, e.g., saying “I could care less” when the phrase is “I couldn’t care less” because if you could care less, you would and using the word “seen” for “saw.” Arrrgghhh!) But this woman… when she spoke—wasn’t it obvious that she had really no clue what she was talking about? She tried to sound like a great speaker but she is not. One has to read books and, apart from “How to Field Dress a Moose,” I don’t think reading is high on this woman’s priorities. But, hopefully she will slip back into the quiet that is the Alaskan wilderness and we will not have to deal with her EVER AGAIN! (Seriously, GOPers, she is part of the problem, not the solution.)
I found my grammar skills challenged while traveling abroad. In the land that publishes the Oxford English Dictionary, my Californian colloquialisms frightened me into a silence that I am not known for. But it is England and I think I may have fallen in love. Well, I think I fell in love with Scotland. England is beautiful but Scotland is wild. You head out of the cities (we never did see Glasgow but Edinburgh is cool) and you step back in time. No, I didn’t see men with woad-painted faces running wild in kilts brandishing claymores across the glens but it isn’t hard to imagine. Scotland is free from high-rises and buildings put up in three weeks and large bulldozers tearing up the earth for a stretch of condominiums. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. See Scotland!
London is a hectic place and once you get used to the Tube, quite accessible. And I did see Wicked twice. Defy Gravity!
So, here’s how I’ve changed since this time last year. I have a passport—which I’ve actually used! Palin has a passport but she’s never used it!
I flew from Seattle to London, then from London to Manchester, then from Manchester to Edinburgh and finally from London to Seattle. That’s roughly about twenty-five hours of my life this year spent in an airplane. I hated every single second of it… but it is a means to travel. (By the way, I did it all without any pharmaceutical assistance. Heck, I didn’t even drink!) I want to see Scotland again. I want to get to Paris! I want to see Ireland and sing Irish songs in a pub! I want to see Spain and Greece! And that requires flying.
I will probably be doing some more flying in 2009. The first of which will be my birthday present as my sister is taking me to Hawai’i.
I also learned that when it comes to travel, PACK LIGHT! I’ve learned my lesson.
2008 also afforded me a chance to do something I’ve never been able to do before. My professional interaction with Roseann Freet continued and I was able to make some serious money working for her from home. I had thought (hoped?) (dreaded?) that this contractual agreement would turn into something permanent that would require a relocation to New York City but it hasn’t. Oh well. I got to work from home, which saved me gas money when the prices were ridiculously high, work on personal projects (and no… I’m still not anywhere near publishing… though I had hoped to be), and generally prepare myself for the UK trip, which was a dream come true.
What am I looking forward to in 2009? Hawai’i and reuniting with friends on a cruise in September. The Watchmen film. Star Trek. Angels & Demons. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Turning 40. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to that. Joygasm!
And now, to say goodbye to a few folks who died this past year.
Eartha Kitt died on Christmas Day. She was the only Catwoman who actually purred. “Santa Baby” can never be sung by anyone else again. Ever.
Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, the “first lady of Star Trek.” I can only hope that the upcoming Star Trek film will be dedicated to her memory. It should be. She spanned the entire Star Trek pantheon.
Nina Foch (thus leaving the beautiful Debra Paget as the only surviving major cast member of “The Ten Commandments). Odetta. Bettie Page. Jeff Healey. Richard Widmark—forever immortalized by the grapefruit Lucy Ricardo simply had to have. Sydney Pollack. Mel Ferrer. Cyd Charisse. George Carlin. Bernie Mac. Isaac Hayes. Paul Scofield. Suzanne Pleshette. Brad Renfro. Heath Ledger. Charlton Heston. Paul Newman. Tim Russert.
And, on a personal note, Tom Hofer, who died December 22nd after a long struggle with throat and mouth cancer. Tom, I danced at your wedding to Terri in 1986. You were a great guy who let me smoke a couple of cigarettes when no one else was looking. I’m sorry your journey is over. I know Emily and Jacob will miss you terribly. But I am glad you are no longer suffering. Catch you on the flip side, dude.
I did something this year that I have never done before. I followed the presidential campaign. I had to. I wanted to be sure that the presidency was taken out of Republican control. I initially supported Hillary Clinton but I warmed to Barack Obama because he was running the kind of campaign that I liked: respectable, high-road, spoke on the issues. When Hillary’s campaign got down and dirty, I made my first campaign contribution of the season to Obama’s campaign. And, the best part is that so did 32 million other people across this nation of ours. And we made history! History!
So, okay, maybe it was a little foolish to think that those wonderfully decorative “thank-you” notes from Obama’s campaign we received in the mail a couple of weeks ago might be inaugural invitations but a gal can dream, can’t she? I don’t know where you were the evening of November 4th… I was sitting in my family room, watching the numbers. When it was announced that Barack Obama had won, I started crying… tears of joy. It’s happened before. When Halle Berry won an Academy Award in a leading role, I cried, too. So did my sister. And my mom. So, I cried. If I had been out and about, I probably would’ve kissed a few (hundred) people. Joy is funny that way.
What’s amazing is the popularity of Barack Obama overseas. And I’m not just speaking about the clips on the news organizations. While waiting for a plane at Heathrow to take us to Manchester, I saw two fellows—Brits—in Obama 08 T-shirts. They can’t vote in our elections but they were offering support anyway.
Of course, the “big” news that crossed the Pond while my sister and I were traveling in England was the “who?” that John McCain picked for his running mate. When the London Times (notoriously conservative) announces that this is the beginning of the end for McCain’s campaign, we knew that something was up. Little did we know how bad it would get. But, it brought Tina Fey to the limelight with her dead-on impersonation so it’s not all bad. My only question is: What was John thinking? Seriously!
Now, I tend to be a bit of a snob when it comes to grammar. I do let most grammatical errors go. (There are a couple of pet peeves that just grate my nerves, though, e.g., saying “I could care less” when the phrase is “I couldn’t care less” because if you could care less, you would and using the word “seen” for “saw.” Arrrgghhh!) But this woman… when she spoke—wasn’t it obvious that she had really no clue what she was talking about? She tried to sound like a great speaker but she is not. One has to read books and, apart from “How to Field Dress a Moose,” I don’t think reading is high on this woman’s priorities. But, hopefully she will slip back into the quiet that is the Alaskan wilderness and we will not have to deal with her EVER AGAIN! (Seriously, GOPers, she is part of the problem, not the solution.)
I found my grammar skills challenged while traveling abroad. In the land that publishes the Oxford English Dictionary, my Californian colloquialisms frightened me into a silence that I am not known for. But it is England and I think I may have fallen in love. Well, I think I fell in love with Scotland. England is beautiful but Scotland is wild. You head out of the cities (we never did see Glasgow but Edinburgh is cool) and you step back in time. No, I didn’t see men with woad-painted faces running wild in kilts brandishing claymores across the glens but it isn’t hard to imagine. Scotland is free from high-rises and buildings put up in three weeks and large bulldozers tearing up the earth for a stretch of condominiums. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. See Scotland!
London is a hectic place and once you get used to the Tube, quite accessible. And I did see Wicked twice. Defy Gravity!
So, here’s how I’ve changed since this time last year. I have a passport—which I’ve actually used! Palin has a passport but she’s never used it!
I flew from Seattle to London, then from London to Manchester, then from Manchester to Edinburgh and finally from London to Seattle. That’s roughly about twenty-five hours of my life this year spent in an airplane. I hated every single second of it… but it is a means to travel. (By the way, I did it all without any pharmaceutical assistance. Heck, I didn’t even drink!) I want to see Scotland again. I want to get to Paris! I want to see Ireland and sing Irish songs in a pub! I want to see Spain and Greece! And that requires flying.
I will probably be doing some more flying in 2009. The first of which will be my birthday present as my sister is taking me to Hawai’i.
I also learned that when it comes to travel, PACK LIGHT! I’ve learned my lesson.
2008 also afforded me a chance to do something I’ve never been able to do before. My professional interaction with Roseann Freet continued and I was able to make some serious money working for her from home. I had thought (hoped?) (dreaded?) that this contractual agreement would turn into something permanent that would require a relocation to New York City but it hasn’t. Oh well. I got to work from home, which saved me gas money when the prices were ridiculously high, work on personal projects (and no… I’m still not anywhere near publishing… though I had hoped to be), and generally prepare myself for the UK trip, which was a dream come true.
What am I looking forward to in 2009? Hawai’i and reuniting with friends on a cruise in September. The Watchmen film. Star Trek. Angels & Demons. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Turning 40. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to that. Joygasm!
And now, to say goodbye to a few folks who died this past year.
Eartha Kitt died on Christmas Day. She was the only Catwoman who actually purred. “Santa Baby” can never be sung by anyone else again. Ever.
Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, the “first lady of Star Trek.” I can only hope that the upcoming Star Trek film will be dedicated to her memory. It should be. She spanned the entire Star Trek pantheon.
Nina Foch (thus leaving the beautiful Debra Paget as the only surviving major cast member of “The Ten Commandments). Odetta. Bettie Page. Jeff Healey. Richard Widmark—forever immortalized by the grapefruit Lucy Ricardo simply had to have. Sydney Pollack. Mel Ferrer. Cyd Charisse. George Carlin. Bernie Mac. Isaac Hayes. Paul Scofield. Suzanne Pleshette. Brad Renfro. Heath Ledger. Charlton Heston. Paul Newman. Tim Russert.
And, on a personal note, Tom Hofer, who died December 22nd after a long struggle with throat and mouth cancer. Tom, I danced at your wedding to Terri in 1986. You were a great guy who let me smoke a couple of cigarettes when no one else was looking. I’m sorry your journey is over. I know Emily and Jacob will miss you terribly. But I am glad you are no longer suffering. Catch you on the flip side, dude.
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