Random Thoughts by Yours Truly

Driving a friend to the airport at 4:30am the other morning I realized how much smokers make me hate them.  I don't actually hate smokers for smoking.  Smokers make me hate them for littering - for tossing their stinking butts all over the place, out their car windows, in every crack of the sidewalk.  Smokers as a group are the biggest litterbugs of all time.  Smokers also make me hate them by smoking on a crowded sidewalk where those unlucky enough to be stuck walking behind them are forced to breathe in the nasty smoke and those even more unlucky to walk next to the big swinging arm brandishing a fire stick and get to dodge the ashes, the smoke and getting themselves or their belongings burned.  Seriously people, get a clue.  I do feel sorry that your relegated to the elements to exercise your freedom to choose, but you did it to yourselves by making non-smokers hate you!

Anyone ever seen Will Smith's The Pursuite of Happyness?  Talk about a great movie.  I'll admit that I was the first one after the movie ended to say how much I hated it, but just because it made me so uncomfortable the whole time.  It really was a great movie that's kept me thinking three weeks after having seen it.  Good stuff.  Go watch.

Continuing on the movie topic, anyone ever seen the original Planet of the Apes?  Another great movie.  Personally I wasn't to thrilled with the propaganda that it is arguably pandering, but it is great food for thought.  The movie starts with Charlton Heston on his space ship going thousands of light years away from earth.  In his last journal entry before going to sleep until they would arrive at their destination, he realizes that the earth has aged 700 years in the sixth months they've been gone and he wonders aloud if they had changed their hateful ways.  I won't tell you the end, even though you all probably know it, but what struck me is that "while we were still sinners" God sent his son Jesus Christ to die for us to save us from the punishment we FULLY deserve.  For some reason it reminded me of the shear magnitude of God's love for us.  Pretty cool I think.

Work, especially non-missionary type work.  Ever feel like you're not doing anything that matters eternally?  I've realized lately that if you feel that way, you probably aren't doing anything that matters eternally.  That might sound harsh, and it is, but let me explain.  Work is tough for everyone - there's not an office on earth that won't provide you with at least one person that you can't get along with, one person that annoys you and one other person that is so clueless you have to clean up their messes.  You might even get the boss that doesn't have a clue and the sexist older man that no number of sensitivity classes would cure.  What you will never be short of though, are people that need to see your example of God's love for them.  And boy, that is even harder than dealing with colleagues on just the normal issues.  For example!  Work's been rough for me lately.  There is a certain someone that likes to treat me like a secretary, only I'm not a secretary.  Over the past year it caused me to become rather defensive about the job that I do, trying to protect it from becoming the secretary position that this person would like it to be.  Being defensive is not good for any work situation.  Then, when this person and I finally had a sit down semi - blow out I discovered that this person thinks I have an ego problem.  Now that ticked me off.  I do not have an ego problem, I just want the job that I had a year ago and not be pushed down.  But you know what? God really grabbed me on this one.  My reason for being where I am has more to do with my relationships with those around me than the work I do every day.  I had completely lost sight of that.  God challenged me to focus on reflecting his love for that person and not on protecting my job.  Now that is a tall order that I'm still working on.  It's helped to remember that God, through his Word, told us a long time ago that only by losing our lives can we be sure of gaining true life through Him.  Only by giving up my efforts to protect my job will God be able to use me for the real purpose of my job, and only then will I find what I've been searching for - a destiny to do something for God that is of eternal value.  Getting up every morning knowing that I'll have to swallow my pride at least 10 times that day is not easy, but seeing the light in my colleague's eyes when I give the respect that I don't believe is earned makes it worth it.  I know he's just seen God's love.

Okay, so that last one was a long random thought.  Sorry about that.  I should get back to work now.  Have a great one!

The Great Gamble

McCain or not to McCain, at least that seems to be the question for most republicans.  It the question I'm faced with today.  A few hours from now I'll be heading to the polls to vote in the Presidential primary.  I've been watching the news lately (it's hard to miss in DC) and have to admit that I was seriously close to being drawn into the newest debate - whether we "true" conservatives should vote for McCain or Clinton.  As my least favorite conservative, Ann Coulter, recently said, "If Hillary is elected president, we'll have a four-year disaster, with Republicans ferociously opposing her, followed by Republicans zooming back into power, as we did in 1980 and 1994, and 2000."

Let's think this through (my personal mantra). 

1)  The claim that we'll have a four-year disaster with Hillary (or even Obama)? True.  I agree completely.  We'll get Hillary-care, villages telling me how I am allowed to raise my future children (if I ever get to see them outside of universal day-care, universal pre-k, universal after-school, etc), and tv screens everywhere telling me how I should be doing things her way.  The troops will come home from Iraq (that part I like) but to what future cost of Iraqi and American lives? (that part I dislike enough to outweigh the former)  So I agree with Ann here; Hillary will bring us into at least a four-year disaster.

2) The claim that Republicans will zoom back to power?  False.  Has anyone ever heard of someone running on the platform of dissolving public entitlement programs that actually won?  If my memory serves me correctly, even discussion of saving Social Security can get you tossed out of an election because no one wants their benefits cut.  And Social Security is backed by the elderly...can you imagine the forces that would have to be contended with to undo universal healthcare?  Republicans may be able to get elected, but not by addressing any of the socialist universal programs that Hillary will have implemented.  The view that Republicans will be able to undo all the harm she inflicts is purely fictional.

And honestly, we can't even guess what next year will look like...are we seriously willing to bet the next four years of our lives in the hopes that the Democrats will self-destruct?  That will never happen.  Even if the Democratic party does self-destruct, they'll still leave the U.S. more socialistic than capitalistic.  Look at France, Germany, and most all places on earth.  Once you move towards socialism, there really is no turning back.  France is so wrapped up talking about how few hours they should have to work that no work is actually getting done.  Once the American people touch universal health care, they won't care about the loss of their liberty and no one will be able to convince them otherwise.  Republicans will have to resign themselves to working with what they were left with - unsustainable universal health care, social security and a debt that will outlast our grandchildren.

No one wants big brother (me included), but for some reason everyone seems to want a nanny state.  Sheesh.

And what about Supreme Court nominees?  Are we willing to bet that she won't be able to get liberal justices on there that will serve far beyond her four years (if we can limit it to just four).  Is that a price you're willing to pay?

That's why I'm calling the current Ann Coulter response to McCain's being the leading republican candidate a huge gamble, a gamble I'm not willing to take. 

So what about McCain?  I agree that he's not Reagan.  I agree that he's never been a true blue republican, but he's also not as bad as Hillary.  I'm not fooled by Bush that McCain is a true conservative, because not even Bush is anymore.  Quite honestly you could and probably should view this as an election between the lesser of evils, but at least be honest about what your gambling with.

Am I settling?  Am I resigning myself to encouraging the liberalizing of the republican party?

No, I'm not.  You know why?  Because the presidency is not the government.  That stupid fallacy is the cause for many of our societal ills.  I should know; I work in his bureaucracy and know that I work with all political persuasions.  The president can't even control his entire branch of the government, not even the founding fathers expected him to completely.  But the real point is that the people doing most of the damage (to the republican party specifically and to the American public generally) are our elected Congressmen and Senators who pass bills that encroach upon our liberties and spend money like it's water. 

All is not lost if McCain gains the Republican nomination, nor if he actually wins the election (hopefully the republican nominee beats the dems). 

The real loss will be noble intentioned but ill-advised conservatives who rally behind the Democrats in the vain attempt to show the U.S. the true destruction they are capable of.  The truly noble and honorable thing to do will to not give in the fight, but rather to stand and fight head on, face first, with our sword (Word of God) in one hand and the shield of truth in the other.  Fight the cry in the streets for the nanny state - start talking about why the government is not the answer and start setting the example by not relying on the state for everything.  Read books like Bastiat's The Law, Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics and the histories of other nations that have gone the socialist path our nation is currently considering. 

So this year - vote for the Republican, whomever he may be, but then go out and help elect Republican Senators for they will be the only hope we have against a democratically held House.  A Senate that can throw a wrench in democrat plans is our only hope for weathering the next four years - whether it's Hillary or McCain in the White House.

Not gone, just quiet

It's been a while, like got engaged, got married, 7 months later while.  A dear friend of mine told me that with my first six months of marriage behind me, I should now be crawling out of my hole soon.  I guess she was right.  I can't honestly say I'm back for good, but my fingers have been iching for some good ol' release on the keyboard, dealing with anything but work.

It's not that I've really been gone either.  I religiously read everyone's blog every single day.  The days that work is driving me crazy I often read those blogs multiple times.  Somehow it reminds me there is a world outside of my four little walls.

What I must admit though, is that I'm a changed woman.

lol...don't worry, it's still Jamie here.  It's hard to even say anything's changed because I'm still my dorky, goofy self, if not worse.  What has happened is that there must have been some sort of spell cast on my wedding ring.  Strange things have happened to me since that fateful day...things like finding myself cleaning when no one is around.  Why am I not camped out in front of the tv like I used to be?  Or finding myself, shhh...don't tell, cooking.  It's almost too much to admit but I no longer live off frozen pizzas and mac and cheese (my figure has noticed that one).  I got married and immediately turned into susie homemaker.  Sheesh!  At first I chalked it up to the nesting phase I'm always hearing about from my newlywed friends.  But It Never Went Away.  Yep, seven months and I'm still going strong.  At least I can only think of one absolutely terrible cooking incident...did anyone else know that brown rice isn't the same as white rice, well, more than just color and nutritional value, it actually takes longer to cook?  My poor husband can attest to how brown rice tastes a lot like little pebbles no matter how much sauce you put on it when not cooked long enough.  Oh well...I have mastered the muffin pan, the pasta, the chicken and even sort of the veggies (due to the miracle of frozen packs you simply toss in the microwave).  I even made an absolutely wonderful salad the other night with strawberries, gala apple slices, almonds, feta cheese and half a lime (with a little olive oil for dressing).  Absolutely yum! 

Wow...see, that ranting on food is exactly what I've been talking about.  I find myself seeking out the food magazines in line at the grocery store. I LOVE reading Domino, a super spify interior design/homemaking magazine for people my age. 

Yeah, I had no idea those categories even existed a year ago.  What a difference a year can make!

Um, no.

"This is what a feminist looks like"

Wow.  Those words emblazoned on the front of a shirt can stop many a person in their tracks.  Fear.  Intimidation.  This person is definitely proclaiming their views to the world.

But what exactly are those views?

In my opinion, they're misplaced and flat wrong.

Okay, so this needs some explanation.  This past weekend I happened to be watching a show about extravagant weddings (yes, my own impending wedding day has me completely interested in these shows).  Anyway, after that show ended another one started that intrigued me.  It was a reality show where they took three people with horrid manners and within 48 hours of intense treatment tried to beat them into more submissive and pleasant people.  I think the show is just another way of exploiting people (though they are fully aware of it themselves) instead of actually helping them, but what caught my attention was the 22 year old girl wearing the shirt, "This is what a feminist looks like."

During one particularly uncomfortable display, one lady was trying to show the girls how to sit properly, and, well, more feminine.  Whoa.  You would think someone had insulted the feminist's mother.  She couldn't believe that someone was suggesting that sitting like a lady had any place in today's enlightened culture.  The instructor was even herself almost clueless as to why this was needed, though she at least did hold her guns and say it was actually empowering for the girl.  Obviously the feminist didn't believe her.

So why did this exchange catch my ear and cause my mind to spin for several hours, even to the point of my writing about it a few days later?

Because I realized that the girl was the exact opposite of what a feminist should look like.

Feminists, in my personal interpretation, are striving to overcome ages of what they see as male domination and female suppression.  They are trying to show that they are just as competent, if not more so, than their male counterparts.  In short, they want respect.

My question is, why are they all trying to be more like men???

To me, it would make more sense to try to empower women to be strong women, not men.  Does that make sense?

This poor feminist was described by her boyfriend as one that dressed rather masculine.  Her friends saw her as rough and intimidating.  She was under the impression that the world needed to see that she was not some weak female that could be overlooked.  So she simply bulldozed everyone in her path.  And absolutely failed in getting the respect she so earnestly sought.

Men don't get respect because they're men.  They get respect because they are confident in who they are.  Trying to get respect by looking and acting like a man when you are actually a woman is like Robin Williams dressing up like a granny to see his kids - you end up looking like an idiot and a judge orders you away from your kids due to mental health concerns. (That's a Mrs. Doubtfire reference if you didn't catch it...hehe)

A feminist should look fully woman - strong and confident in her femininity.  At least that's what I think.

(Side note - there are feminists that see things the way I do and strive to be confident women, but they also often make the mistake of using their feminity as a weapon - alluring men into losing their minds so they can get ahead.  That's wrong too, but at least they're not completely contradicting their own loudly proclaimed beliefs.)

Nah. Really?

What?  You're trying to tell me I'm getting married in 15 days?  Nah.  That can't be right.

Wait.  Um, that is right!

Two weeks from tomorrow actually.  OH MY GOSH! 

hehe...so time has definately flown by and my wedding is sneaking up on me.  Hm, well sneaking might be the wrong word.  I'm completely aware of it and looking forward to it with all my being.  It just hasn't quite registered that I'm ever actually going to reach that day.

Does that make any sense?  It's kind of like feeling as if you'll never graduate school.  You've been waiting so long you really don't believe there is an end in sight.  That's totally where I'm currently at.  Disbelief.

Hopefully things kick in soon, like within the next 15 days!