Washington wedding and other tid-bits.
1. Flew out of Oakland and into Dulles via Jet Blue, the best in the business when it comes to cheaper airfares IMHO. "This is the 28th Airport I've visited in my life!", I told my wife while on the Washington DC subway. She looked at me and teasingly snickered, "Only 28 at your age?". I suppose theSupertechnician and thePerfectLine can count airports in the 60's for sure. Anywayz, Dulles is up there in terms ease of use, cleanliness, efficiency, and wow factor...right up there with Las Vegas, which is the best by far; at least in the US. SFO is at the bottom of the barrel. The International Terminal rocks but the Domestic terminal needs to be demolished.
2. Why I like Washington: When you wake up and open the Local portion of the paper here, it reads like the National portion of our papers at home. This place is soo politically alive and aware, the movers and shakers of government and industry live, work, and play here. And though it's my 10th visit to DC and Virginia, the National Mall never ceases to amaze and inspire me. Today I visited the Lincoln, the first time NOT in the bitter cold. Tourists from all over the world stare in wonder and I can't help but be moved every frickin time by the words inscribed therein. Also visited the Vietnam memorial. As I quietly walked through, it struck me; the power of this place. As most know, there on the black marble wall are names, and though you might not recognize anyone on that wall, ALL of our names are on it....I saw my last name, and theDiscourser's, and theCraftsman's, and thePerfectLine's, and even the GM's. I get it.
3. Alot of wedding related get-tether's. Hangin out with the in-laws. It's always fun, and the political landscape being the way it is, it's made for even more exciting conversation.
4. Palin: I can't believe where I am with her. My wife's aunt's house is always filled with a number of Newspapers and political publications from all over the country. I read in the New York Times about how she apologized to Obama about her RNC comments re. community organizers; that she never meant to hurt any one's feelings and mentioned that the quip was more a response to how the press had belittled her experience as small town mayor. In the Atlantic, I believe, she mentioned that her best friend is lesbian! and in her Couric interview, she mentioned that though personally Pro-Life, she was clear that she hoped that other woman "choose" life when confronted with a decision to keep or abort. Of course this certainly does not assuage all my concerns re. her reproductive rights policy stance, but I'm glad to hear that she believed in choice in, at least, certain cases. Lastly, something occurred to me while reading a Washington Post article re. Stockdale (Perot's VP Candidate) and how the press made a complete buffoon of him. I remember that debate very clearly and about how poorly he did. I also remember how this man was an American Hero, an imprisoned and tortured soldier, and staunch advocate for soo many veteran related causes...and the press made him out to be a demented has-been.
And here we are with Palin. She is being made an utter fool by not only the press and the anonymous masses in the blogshere ether, but by members within her own party. Yes, her vapidness is something that clearly has not been seen for quite some time in the political realm, and yes, her pride in her apparent ignorance, about how her folksiness is politically utilized, her insolence and mocking tone regarding folks who are soo much more significant (politically and historically) and intellectually superior (Sorry Prof., Kissenger is a frikin legend), and how I soo wanted the glass ceiling broken by a woman who is universally respected and undeniably competent (think Dr. Rice).
Now came her debate. I couldn't believe how much I wanted her NOT to make an utter idiot of herself...how I thought it would've been, not only an embarrassment to her, but to all Americans. The most important task set before her for the debate was to pull herself up from the mire of idiocy she had been squarely placed if not completely thrown into by the press and her fellow Americans....me included. And in at least this regard, she did succeed. It was hilarious watching FOX News; about how all the pundits appeared soo defiantly sure she would do fine before the Debate but then admitted afterwards that they were an absolute emotional wreck during. In any case, unless its someone I completely despise (think Pat Roberstson, Farrakhan, OJ Simpson, Al Davis), I can't find it in me to celebrate someones public humiliation...and it surprises me how Palin has wormed her way into my tin jaded heart...damn her and her small town charm!
As I've mentioned in comments in theProf.'s blog, like almost all previous VP Candidates, Palin has at best lifted herself from liability to irrelevance; at least with regard to garnering votes from the undecided.
5. Fantastic wedding in DuPont Circle. The reception afterwards was held at Carnegie Institute for Science. The weather was perfect and the company was awesome. More on T. Boone Picken's daughter, corporate lawyers, MD's, environmental and corporate lobbyists, University Professor's, Ivy League intellectual elites, and what McCain described as Georgetown conservative elites and their politics later.
That's it for now.....
2. Why I like Washington: When you wake up and open the Local portion of the paper here, it reads like the National portion of our papers at home. This place is soo politically alive and aware, the movers and shakers of government and industry live, work, and play here. And though it's my 10th visit to DC and Virginia, the National Mall never ceases to amaze and inspire me. Today I visited the Lincoln, the first time NOT in the bitter cold. Tourists from all over the world stare in wonder and I can't help but be moved every frickin time by the words inscribed therein. Also visited the Vietnam memorial. As I quietly walked through, it struck me; the power of this place. As most know, there on the black marble wall are names, and though you might not recognize anyone on that wall, ALL of our names are on it....I saw my last name, and theDiscourser's, and theCraftsman's, and thePerfectLine's, and even the GM's. I get it.
3. Alot of wedding related get-tether's. Hangin out with the in-laws. It's always fun, and the political landscape being the way it is, it's made for even more exciting conversation.
4. Palin: I can't believe where I am with her. My wife's aunt's house is always filled with a number of Newspapers and political publications from all over the country. I read in the New York Times about how she apologized to Obama about her RNC comments re. community organizers; that she never meant to hurt any one's feelings and mentioned that the quip was more a response to how the press had belittled her experience as small town mayor. In the Atlantic, I believe, she mentioned that her best friend is lesbian! and in her Couric interview, she mentioned that though personally Pro-Life, she was clear that she hoped that other woman "choose" life when confronted with a decision to keep or abort. Of course this certainly does not assuage all my concerns re. her reproductive rights policy stance, but I'm glad to hear that she believed in choice in, at least, certain cases. Lastly, something occurred to me while reading a Washington Post article re. Stockdale (Perot's VP Candidate) and how the press made a complete buffoon of him. I remember that debate very clearly and about how poorly he did. I also remember how this man was an American Hero, an imprisoned and tortured soldier, and staunch advocate for soo many veteran related causes...and the press made him out to be a demented has-been.
And here we are with Palin. She is being made an utter fool by not only the press and the anonymous masses in the blogshere ether, but by members within her own party. Yes, her vapidness is something that clearly has not been seen for quite some time in the political realm, and yes, her pride in her apparent ignorance, about how her folksiness is politically utilized, her insolence and mocking tone regarding folks who are soo much more significant (politically and historically) and intellectually superior (Sorry Prof., Kissenger is a frikin legend), and how I soo wanted the glass ceiling broken by a woman who is universally respected and undeniably competent (think Dr. Rice).
Now came her debate. I couldn't believe how much I wanted her NOT to make an utter idiot of herself...how I thought it would've been, not only an embarrassment to her, but to all Americans. The most important task set before her for the debate was to pull herself up from the mire of idiocy she had been squarely placed if not completely thrown into by the press and her fellow Americans....me included. And in at least this regard, she did succeed. It was hilarious watching FOX News; about how all the pundits appeared soo defiantly sure she would do fine before the Debate but then admitted afterwards that they were an absolute emotional wreck during. In any case, unless its someone I completely despise (think Pat Roberstson, Farrakhan, OJ Simpson, Al Davis), I can't find it in me to celebrate someones public humiliation...and it surprises me how Palin has wormed her way into my tin jaded heart...damn her and her small town charm!
As I've mentioned in comments in theProf.'s blog, like almost all previous VP Candidates, Palin has at best lifted herself from liability to irrelevance; at least with regard to garnering votes from the undecided.
5. Fantastic wedding in DuPont Circle. The reception afterwards was held at Carnegie Institute for Science. The weather was perfect and the company was awesome. More on T. Boone Picken's daughter, corporate lawyers, MD's, environmental and corporate lobbyists, University Professor's, Ivy League intellectual elites, and what McCain described as Georgetown conservative elites and their politics later.
That's it for now.....
posted by supergoober at
4:31 PM
2 Comments:
Sounds like a good trip, all in all. I've only been on two different airlines - not at all cosmopolitan of me, I know, but whatever, I survive vicariously, and find that nothing ever quite lives up to the creations of my mind - I would like to be pleasantly shocked out of this narcissism, but it hasn't happened yet.
Was my last name anywhere on the wall? Maybe with a j in place of the y and a c in place of the t - that would be the conventional Polish spelling, and it is roughly as common in Poland as Smith is here.
As far as Palin's tone and vapidity (prefered over vapidness, I think), I would say while it probably is a fair reflection of who she is, I would not doubt that there are some political calculations going on, even with that. She was probably coached to be denegrating towards the "intellectual elite" - this is a good political motivator to drum up backlash against "out-of-touch" politicians.
I've always wondered at your sources of vitriolic attack on Palin - while I don't particularly care for her, much of your attack on her "record" of supposed book-banning, etc. seemed like political demogogary rather than researched opinions - where did you find this stuff, and did you just grab onto it because you wanted to dislike her as intensely as you did? I never quite got it, to be honest.
Anyway, I'm glad you're having a good time and that you have regained some of your sanity and composure re politics (plus your candidate is ahead in the polls right now). See you when you get back, you have to finish that game.
Actually ell Technician must be well into the 100s, he has been to so many countries its ridiciulous. As for me, I've never tried to count them, but if you are at 28, then I cant be that far ahead, I have only been to a handful of countries besides the US, and while I have traveled a lot, it was often to the same place. I have been to JFK maybe 10-15 times, LAX, SFO, OAK, SNA, CHI, JPK, LGA, Logan all so many times I cant remember anymore!
Also i guess Heathrow and Charles de "please dont fall on top of my head" Gaulle a bunch too.
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