The Grand American Canyon

(Image from sodahead.com)

It never ceases to amaze me how so many people in America can live in what has been called a “parallel universe”. A universe Fox News not only helps to create, but apparently believes in itself, as witnessed on election night, when its pundits were taken completely off guard by Obama’s victory.

All Heil to the Good Guys

In my last post, I addressed the idea of giving teachers guns in the classroom. But the NRA wants more than that. They want everyone to have a gun, because, as they say, “The only thing more dangerous than a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”. Or something like that.

The Horror, the Horror! Really, I’m Serious

Photo: paulcurtis.livejournal.com

Ah! Only seven days and one to go to Halloween, my ravenous readers, so I feel compelled to warn you. I move as though invisible through the streets and alleys and I observe the good citizens of my subdivision decorating their trees and lawns with whimsically carved calabashes and synthetic spiderwebs, comfortably convinced that ghouls are merely a myth, a myth upheld for no other reason that to have a costume party.

Ten American Things I’ll Never Get Used To

Photo: motivators.com

Although I’ve lived here for 18 years now, and although there are a lot of things I’ve gotten used to and in some cases even adopted, there are some things that, by now it’s safe to say, I’ll never get used to. Here are ten of them.

1. Bobby socks for men. Yep, men here (including T) often wear socks that barely show above the shoe, just like girl bobby socks in the fifties. The only difference is the absence of pompoms. I know they’re considered perfectly normal here, but to me they will always look ridiculous. Sorry, guys.

They Landed Where?!?

I recently discovered Ted Talks, when a really good and amusing Ted Talk video about book cover design was going around on Facebook. It has since become my new magazine of choice.

I especially like to select the videos that have been labeled “jaw-dropping”.

Sick Puppies

Rush Limbaugh, an extreme right-wing radio host here in America, is in the real news right now. At issue is the fact that Catholic institutions don’t want to give their employees health insurance that includes the contraceptive pill.

Those Were the Days!

Time for a blast from the past.

One of the Plinky prompts was to name my favorite TV shows as a kid. Well, I watched shows from three continents, so lots of you out there should recognize these.

I’m Disappointed in You, Anderson!

I know that compared to western Europeans Americans are generally less concerned with privacy, and celebrities–regardless of what they’re famous for– are fair game, but the whole Courtney Stodden affair seems a really good case for at least protecting children’s privacy somehow, if only to protect children from themselves if they don’t have parents who look out for their best interests.

Glenn and Me

If I were to call Glenn Beck’s radio talk show, this is how I imagine it would go:

Glenn:  And let me go to Barbara in Texas, one of my favorite states. How are you doing, Barbara in Texas?

Me:        Hi Glenn, thanks for having me on your show. I’m so excited!

Once Upon a Time

Having hit fifty a few months ago, I find myself increasingly looking to the past, at the people, places, books, music, and movies that helped shape me. It used to be, I’m sure, a time for musing, wondering what happened to those elementary school friends, trying to conjure up faces on favorite television series watched as a child in a different country, remembering only the feelings provoked by movies that impressed at age fifteen. The past moved further and further back, getting smaller as—inevitably–less of it was remembered.