They Say It's Your Birthday

Today is Miss Mox's birthday.  She says she doesn't want anything, so I have no big plans, but the day will be wide open and we will do whatever she wants (not sure how that is different than most days...)

Obviously we're thinking a lot about another birthday.  Our baby will be born in April, when many other family members have theirs.  Plus that's close to Easter, and it'll be spring so things will be being born all over the natural world. 

Whatever we end up doing I hope she has a great day.  This will be an eventful year for her, for me, and for our new family member.

Early Primary Thoughts

Who would I vote for?  And who do I think the nominees will be?  I have no idea of the answer to the second question yet, and I barely have the first narrowed down a bit.

On the Democratic side, Biden is old, grieving, and just has no big positives for me.  Hillary is smart, and a good leader.  And hated by many, typically for things that aren't even true.  Sanders is popular, but tarred with the label socialist (which people reflexively avoid, without understanding it.)  How about Hillary/Bernie?  The combo doesn't hurt her, since those who hate her won't care who her VP is, and it might help her win over some others.  They both have decent ideas for the future, and seem to actually think, and understand reality. 

Which brings us to the Republicans.  I don't see much evidence of reality-based thinking among them.  I still think Trump is a plant, a caricature of crazy Republicans who is doing his best to hurt them.  Cruz is a cynical asshole.  The others break down into lunatics and potential winners.  Still, even Rubio and Bush, who are held up as the reasonable ones, have said ridiculous things and would be bad for the country. 

We need someone who understands the world we live in, and wants to make it and our country better.  The Supreme Court matters.  Climate change matters.  Foreign affairs matter.  Show me a Republican who would do the right thing in any of those areas, and we can talk.  See who's left in the clown car.  I'll wait.

Baby Makes Three. Well, Seven.

Miss Mox and I are going to be parents.  Look out world!  We had been trying, or not not trying, for awhile.  It was still a surprise.  We are happy, and shocked.  It will mean big changes, lots to do and lots to spend. 

We've talked about it for awhile, and just decided to see what happened.   And eventually, something happened... We still haven't told the dogs and cat.  We have names picked out, and pretty well finalized.  We tried to find ones with meaning for us and our families.  And that would fit on forms with our combined last name...

We're excited to be bringing a baby into the world, though a bit worried since there are so many problems- racism, violence, general ignorance, etc.  We will do our best to raise him or her well, with an open mind and caring heart.  I am sure this kid will be a smartass, and a reader.  And more than likely a bacon eater.

I couldn't have found a better partner in life, or one who would be a better parent.  We have very similar philosophies about childraising and education.  She thinks I will be the pushover and she will be the disciplinarian, and she is mostly right.

I will try to keep up on this blog, but well, things are going to change.  I probably won't be on here as much once the baby gets here, and I'm sure the topics will change a bit.  In the meantime, I will try not to say "holy crap, I'm going to be a dad!"  At least, not very often.



                                               New addition/edition on the bookshelf...

Nuts

There are some things I haven't written much about even though they are important, and important to me.  I write about my interests and passions, but I don't always have the time or energy to put together a good piece, whatever the subject.  Sometimes I can't find the right words, or others have already said things better than I can.  For some examples, take a look at what this guy says, or this lady writes- I almost always agree with them, and they are both better writers than I am.

There's something going on that is important, and that I think about pretty much every day- because it happens every single day.  We keep having mass shootings in the U.S., particularly school shootings.  Those are the worst.  Bad enough when someone shoots up their workplace, where everyone is an adult and you can at least relate to the grudges that can develop.  Doesn't excuse the awfulness, but it's still not as bad as kids, or teenagers, or college students getting killed.  And we don't do a damn thing about it.  Even bringing up the possibility of making it a little harder to get guns is, to some people, apparently treason.  And their answer, aside from getting upset at those who dare to suggest we try to make things better, is to put forward the idea that we actually need more guns to make things safer.

I think these people watch too much TV.  I think they really believe that "if I was there I could have taken out the shooter!"  I think they are fucking morons.   More guns are not going to help.  People are stupid and crazy as is; look at other drivers, or the news.  Picture the lady who shot up the Home Depot parking lot, then picture thousands more like her, taking the law (and everyone's lives) in their hands.  There should not be guns in every classroom.  Think of the accidents, the arguments, the idiocy that would lead to.  Think about the "good guy" getting mistaken for a bad guy and getting shot by the police, or other "helpful" vigilantes. 

Look, most people in favor of gun control don't want to get rid of all guns.  I think we need maybe slightly fewer guns, slightly more regulation, and WAY more education.  If gun owners (and dare I say, drivers) were trained as well as pilots, there would be fewer accidents.  If gun ownership required the bare minimum of training we give drivers, much less pilots, a lot of these tragedies would be eliminated. 

But oh, "we can't regulate guns because of the 2nd Amendment!"  Bull.  Shit.  As I've written before, gun control does not mean confiscation.  Regulation does not mean infringing on the right to own a gun.  And the first clause in that amendment does matter, despite NRA attempts to ignore it.

Add to this mix of idiots presidential candidates who don't know what they're talking about.  Ben Carson says he would have stopped the Oregon shooting.  Big talk from a coward, who (if this even happened) said he was threatened with a gun at a restaurant- and promptly offered up someone else to be shot.  And "if the Jews had guns..."  Well, they did, in Warsaw, and died by the thousands.  Bravely, but pointlessly.  And the Poles and French had guns, and that stopped the Germans?

This utter lack of understanding of history, and of human nature, is what gets us into messes like this.  People need to study up a bit more, and drop the macho posturing.  We can't eliminate mass shootings.  We can reduce them.  If we want to.  I do not believe conservatives want to.

School Days

A couple of weeks ago Miss Mox and I went to my high school reunion.   I won't say how many years it has been since I graduated, but it has been 10 or so since I went back to visit.  The school has changed a lot.  In fact, the part where my actual classes were held is gone.  The rest of the place has been heavily modified.  The gym is still there, but the library has moved, and the commons area where we had morning meetings and just hung out or studied is now offices.  The track has been updated- no more gravel in your palms if you trip over a hurdle.

It's still a great school, and I'm glad I had the chance to both attend and to return.  I was the only person from my class there (it was homecoming weekend, so people from other classes came too.)  I got to see a few people I knew way back when, and a few of my teachers.  The next day we had lunch with an old friend of mine, and dinner with a friend of my brother's.  Miss Mox got to see some embarrassing pictures of me, which I will not share.  You can never really go back, but it's nice to look back once in awhile and see where you were, and how things have changed.

I learned there to always be learning, to be open to new experiences and people, to never set your beliefs in stone.  I learned to respect others, no matter how different they are.  I already knew the value of history, but I learned a lot more about it there, and how to learn about it.  I still keep in touch with a few of my fellow students, and a few teachers.  It was good to go back.  But I am always looking forward.  And I have a great companion for the future, no matter what it brings.

They Don't Write 'Em Like That Anymore

At work the other day we were talking about old rock songs, for some reason.  When things are slow, we talk about a lot of things.  One of the guys grew up near Cleveland and mentioned the Micheal Stanley Band, a local band that had some hits.  I didn't recognize the name, but boy did I recognize some of the songs.  I grew up farther west in Ohio but we heard lots of stuff from Cleveland and Detroit.  When you only have three local TV channels, picking up some from farther away is a big deal; same with radio.  We listened to whatever we could find.


This Town- maybe it's just an Ohio thing, but everywhere you went you would hear this song, modified to fit the town you were in.  "This town is my town- Toledo!" It has a very '80s sound, but I still hear it occasionally.  It made it into the top 40, barely.




He Can't Love You Like I Love You- another very minor hit, but one I instantly recognized.  Maybe they just played these things in Ohio or the Midwest, but to me, it is very evocative of teenage weekends.