Saturday, April 17, 2004
watch out, kiddies, this is a long 'un
so i have a lot to say.
first of all, what was UP with the president's press conference? i have several criticisms:
1) he could not answer the question about whether he had made any mistakes. this is bullshit. if you are president, you should have a conscience, perhaps be worrying constantly about the mistakes you have made. everyone makes mistakes. especially bush. and when you're the president, your mistakes affect millions of people. i'm not saying that we want a president who is constantly plagued by doubt about the decisions he/she has made, but we do want a president who can fess up when they have made a mistake. come ON. and his defense for not being able to answer that question was that the reporter had put him "under the spot" and he could not "think on his feet". i'm sorry...but first of all, it's ON the spot. or perhaps UNDER the SPOTLIGHT. and, hellloooo??? don't we want a president who can "think on his feet"???!!! isn't that a major part of being the president? making decisions? being able to be put "under the spot" and "think on yr feet" should be important in the job description of being the president. his answer to that question sucked. he blew it.
i think it's important to note that i was not necessarily watching the press conference, waiting for him to screw up. i listened to it as closely as i could, trying to discern the meanings behind the words and trite phrases he was using. i *did* agree with two things he said.
1) "the world is better without saddam hussein". well said. i would agree with that. saddam is a horrible man, much worse than even bush. i'm glad he's out of the picture now...i actually agreed with something the president said.
2) something about the iraqis not wanting to be occupied...then he said "i wouldn't wanna be occupied either". for a *moment* i saw a glimpse of humanity within him. perhaps he is able to feel empathy. maybe he's not as evil as i thought. but, then again, maybe he is. at any rate, that made me feel a little bit better about him.
so back to the criticisms.
i have this theory, that bush is one of those pullstring toys. like you pull the string on his back and he says things like "weapons of mass destruction" and "stay the course". he needs some new phrases. might i suggest a microchip, planted inside his head? that might help. i'd have to say though, during the speech part of the conference, his pronunciation was impressive. his gestures were totally rehearsed though. as a gesture researcher, that grates on me beyond belief. it's not even human. i understand memorizing a speech, but please, for the love of everything, do NOT memorize your gestures. it's weird. and makes you look like you're doing the robot. so yeah we're going to be in iraq forEVER, we're going to send people there. more people. and more money. and more death and destruction. have you made any mistakes, mr. president? yes you have.
another thing, i heard on NPR the other day that an american soldier (among several other people) has been "taken hostage" in iraq. the people who have him are demanding that we return one of their prisoners and they will give him back. sounds reasonable in war, er, i mean, "conflict". but, NO, "america's policy is not to negotiate with terrorists". so they're just going to let them kill him. that makes me absolutely sick. i'm going to vomit, seriously. so let's move on to another, more pleasant, topic: mike.
so the other day, my mom came to the realization that mike is closer in age to her than he is to me (9yrs vs. 11yrs).and then she asked what we could possibly have in common. i have never really thought about it that much before because i just *know* we do have a lot in common. but i've been giving it some thought, as it is a valid question that many of you may be wondering about. here goes.
things mike and i have in common:
-similar taste in music, movies, art, and tv. although we have our differences, we can respectfully disagree. i love that.
-we both love our bunny and fishies.
-we both live in the same city (finally!)
-we have extremely similar senses of humor. when i say something that i think is funny that other people would just not get or look at me strangely because of, mike laughs. because he understands the humorosity of the situation. likewise, he cracks me up alllll the time. when i later recount a humorous conversation that mike and i have had to someone else, they often don't get it. i like that he "gets" me. always.
-we have similar opinions about spirituality, people, and life. although mike is catholic and i am decidedly not, i'm surprised at how similar our beliefs about religion are.
-we are both slightly neurotic, in complementary ways. i can reassure him that he is not completely socially retarded, increasing his self-esteem. he can reassure me that i'm not totally useless and dull, increasing my self-esteem in return.
-we listen to each other. when i drone on and on about science or politics or something, he listens. and cares. and tries to understand. he helps me with my research and learning because he's actually interested in hearing about it. he tries to understand when i have an epiphany and run around the apartment with a graph in my hand, freaking out about how cool something is, he doesn't look at me like i'm insane. he's happy for me. mike is such a genuine person.
-we have similar political opinions. although i'm admittedly slightly more radical than he, i feel like he tries to understand things from my point of view. i have changed his opinions about some things, which makes me feel good. and vice versa. i totally changed his opinion about michael jackson. which is not necessarily political but it's important to me.
-on a similar note, we both have things that are important to us that other people may not understand. but we just understand each other. and care about what is important to the other person.
-one great thing about our age difference is that we know different stuff. mike is really smart. and he knows a lot of stuff that i don't know. i'm learning from him every day. and he's learning from me. our relationship involves a lot of information exchange. it may sound weird but it's actually really refreshing. mike has taught me a lot about music, for example, things i used to hear and think oh god more boring white guy music from the 70s, now i can sort of appreciate it. this man took me to see dickey betts. that's something i would never have done without him. and i liked it.
-we can play music together, which is fun.i'm not even too embarrassed about my total lack of skill, even though he's really good.
okay i think that's good enough. there are a lot of reasons i love mike and even like him besides that. those were a few. enquiring minds wanted to know.
so i have a lot to say.
first of all, what was UP with the president's press conference? i have several criticisms:
1) he could not answer the question about whether he had made any mistakes. this is bullshit. if you are president, you should have a conscience, perhaps be worrying constantly about the mistakes you have made. everyone makes mistakes. especially bush. and when you're the president, your mistakes affect millions of people. i'm not saying that we want a president who is constantly plagued by doubt about the decisions he/she has made, but we do want a president who can fess up when they have made a mistake. come ON. and his defense for not being able to answer that question was that the reporter had put him "under the spot" and he could not "think on his feet". i'm sorry...but first of all, it's ON the spot. or perhaps UNDER the SPOTLIGHT. and, hellloooo??? don't we want a president who can "think on his feet"???!!! isn't that a major part of being the president? making decisions? being able to be put "under the spot" and "think on yr feet" should be important in the job description of being the president. his answer to that question sucked. he blew it.
i think it's important to note that i was not necessarily watching the press conference, waiting for him to screw up. i listened to it as closely as i could, trying to discern the meanings behind the words and trite phrases he was using. i *did* agree with two things he said.
1) "the world is better without saddam hussein". well said. i would agree with that. saddam is a horrible man, much worse than even bush. i'm glad he's out of the picture now...i actually agreed with something the president said.
2) something about the iraqis not wanting to be occupied...then he said "i wouldn't wanna be occupied either". for a *moment* i saw a glimpse of humanity within him. perhaps he is able to feel empathy. maybe he's not as evil as i thought. but, then again, maybe he is. at any rate, that made me feel a little bit better about him.
so back to the criticisms.
i have this theory, that bush is one of those pullstring toys. like you pull the string on his back and he says things like "weapons of mass destruction" and "stay the course". he needs some new phrases. might i suggest a microchip, planted inside his head? that might help. i'd have to say though, during the speech part of the conference, his pronunciation was impressive. his gestures were totally rehearsed though. as a gesture researcher, that grates on me beyond belief. it's not even human. i understand memorizing a speech, but please, for the love of everything, do NOT memorize your gestures. it's weird. and makes you look like you're doing the robot. so yeah we're going to be in iraq forEVER, we're going to send people there. more people. and more money. and more death and destruction. have you made any mistakes, mr. president? yes you have.
another thing, i heard on NPR the other day that an american soldier (among several other people) has been "taken hostage" in iraq. the people who have him are demanding that we return one of their prisoners and they will give him back. sounds reasonable in war, er, i mean, "conflict". but, NO, "america's policy is not to negotiate with terrorists". so they're just going to let them kill him. that makes me absolutely sick. i'm going to vomit, seriously. so let's move on to another, more pleasant, topic: mike.
so the other day, my mom came to the realization that mike is closer in age to her than he is to me (9yrs vs. 11yrs).and then she asked what we could possibly have in common. i have never really thought about it that much before because i just *know* we do have a lot in common. but i've been giving it some thought, as it is a valid question that many of you may be wondering about. here goes.
things mike and i have in common:
-similar taste in music, movies, art, and tv. although we have our differences, we can respectfully disagree. i love that.
-we both love our bunny and fishies.
-we both live in the same city (finally!)
-we have extremely similar senses of humor. when i say something that i think is funny that other people would just not get or look at me strangely because of, mike laughs. because he understands the humorosity of the situation. likewise, he cracks me up alllll the time. when i later recount a humorous conversation that mike and i have had to someone else, they often don't get it. i like that he "gets" me. always.
-we have similar opinions about spirituality, people, and life. although mike is catholic and i am decidedly not, i'm surprised at how similar our beliefs about religion are.
-we are both slightly neurotic, in complementary ways. i can reassure him that he is not completely socially retarded, increasing his self-esteem. he can reassure me that i'm not totally useless and dull, increasing my self-esteem in return.
-we listen to each other. when i drone on and on about science or politics or something, he listens. and cares. and tries to understand. he helps me with my research and learning because he's actually interested in hearing about it. he tries to understand when i have an epiphany and run around the apartment with a graph in my hand, freaking out about how cool something is, he doesn't look at me like i'm insane. he's happy for me. mike is such a genuine person.
-we have similar political opinions. although i'm admittedly slightly more radical than he, i feel like he tries to understand things from my point of view. i have changed his opinions about some things, which makes me feel good. and vice versa. i totally changed his opinion about michael jackson. which is not necessarily political but it's important to me.
-on a similar note, we both have things that are important to us that other people may not understand. but we just understand each other. and care about what is important to the other person.
-one great thing about our age difference is that we know different stuff. mike is really smart. and he knows a lot of stuff that i don't know. i'm learning from him every day. and he's learning from me. our relationship involves a lot of information exchange. it may sound weird but it's actually really refreshing. mike has taught me a lot about music, for example, things i used to hear and think oh god more boring white guy music from the 70s, now i can sort of appreciate it. this man took me to see dickey betts. that's something i would never have done without him. and i liked it.
-we can play music together, which is fun.i'm not even too embarrassed about my total lack of skill, even though he's really good.
okay i think that's good enough. there are a lot of reasons i love mike and even like him besides that. those were a few. enquiring minds wanted to know.
