The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    barefooted's picture

    It's A Get-Together

    By barefooted on Wed, 08/29/2018 - 9:33pm |

    Hi there, come on in.  Yeah, I know I’m late … but what’s a mother to do?  You got it!  I love quoting him even if he rarely shows up just because he’s so him.  I know, right?  How many people do you know that are actually quotable?  Too funny … what?  Of course, silly, get yourself in here and have a seat somewhere.  No, it doesn’t matter, really, pick a place and tell me what you want to drink and munch on ... just let me see what I have.  Beer, wine, water from the tap?  Chips and something vaguely resembling dip?  No, the fire didn’t hurt much, it wasn’t a thing, really, it was more of an irritant.   Music?  Someone over there’s in control of the music, so just yell out what you like and they’ll likely listen.  Or not.   Then yell louder or throw something at them.   Works for me.

    Get settled.  Time for me to do it, too … oh, I’m fine here with my pillow … yeah, it’s a tad hard but there’s just something about sitting on the floor that sits good.  Oh!  There’s the door, somebody get it … hi, you!

    Great choice of music.  You deserve your mantle of “Music Master”, though you’re being challenged … if you throw another pillow I swear … what was that?  Oh, he broke a glass.  Honestly, he’s so good at cleaning up behind himself that I don’t care anymore … and he keeps bringing plastic cups, although I’m starting to wonder if that’s a fair trade.  What’s that?  Sure, that’s an awesome song!  What?  So what if it is?  Who threw that?

    No, please, let’s not go there.  Yeah, I know, but can we just not?  Let’s just have another drink from the tap, or something else, and wallow in some good music.  Hey, I found some more less-than-smoky chips!  What?  Okay.  I guess so … but it tires me.  Luckily I have my pillow, and my arm on your leg. 

    Thank you!  You know me so well – next round’s on me, promise.  When did you get here?  Ha!  I always like to be surprised.  Shut up!  Yes, I do!  Okay, maybe I don’t usually but when it’s you I do.  Remember last year when you … there’s the door!

     

    Sometimes I wonder about get-togethers; not whether they’re good or worth having but whether they can still be had without conflict.  Generally, I think they can be, but I worry that even folks who like each other, even care about each other, can allow conflict to get in the way of their … well, love for each other.  Or not?  After all, there's always conflict.  Perhaps that's how we make these times about learning  ... using get-togethers as ways to be friends as well as responsible citizens who argue about ... everything.  Is that possible?  Oh, yes, it is.  All we have to do, collectively, is try.

    Will you please just stop?!  Honestly, I think I've asked you that at least five times ... awesome song!  Who?  I don't know her, are you sure?  Oh, her!  Well of course, but I don't know what you mean ... Will you just stop talking?  No, don't, I'm sorry.  I'm just an ass.

    It's a get-together.

     

    Comments

    Well what is a mother to do? hahahhahaha

    I thought about the old days.

    I visit this smoking hut; since I am told I must not smoke in my own abode?

    I have met these wondrous old folks.

    There are all these stories that must be told.

    Francis (a made up name of course) is about 75.

    And Francis has this wondrous daughter of 47.

    And Francis moved up here, in the middle of nowhere just to be with her daughter.

    And her grandchildren like to participate in sports.

    So Francis attends her grandsons football game.

    And you know what?

    Her grandson finds three TD's  and the team wins 21-20.

    And one might think.....

    Life is GRAND!

    That is all I got Missy.

    Thank you for being a friend!

    Ha

    I just used it.

    So I came up with something else. hahahah

     

    by Richard Day on Thu, 08/30/2018 - 10:46pm

    Hey, Dick!  Good to see ya, as always.  I might just have a little special something under the cabinet with your name on it ... then again, I might have found it myself awhile back and not noticed your name.  Oops!  Ah, there's that laugh I love!

    Life is GREAT on a regular basis, don't you think?  And I just adore when you remind us all of that with your stories of, well, life!  I meet folks from all walks and paths daily, and I swear my eyes are so much wider than they used to be ... and my vision of people much clearer.  When someone seems to be the least friendly, the most unable to do more than harrumph when I see them and suddenly they give even the slightest smile - just because I was damned if I was gonna stop smiling at them - it's like the sun comes out.  A fellow I've come to know who doesn't have much, and who is looked down upon by most passers-by (the superficial sort who can't see because they blink through life) made a point of crossing a busy street just to give me a shell he'd found.  His delight in my delight was simply delightful!  Life is indeed great, Dick.

    Thanks for stopping by.


    by barefooted on Fri, 08/31/2018 - 7:47pm

    back during the Iraq war blogosphere days I kinda disliked David Corn, he had this kind of arrogant righteous lefty bore thing going on, but now that he's all greyed, I see him on TV and he's gotten very relaxed and sometimes he's even funny. And while I don't follow him on Twitter I often see his tweets because they are often so good that other reporters retweet them, like this one I just got on my feed laugh


    by artappraiser on Fri, 08/31/2018 - 1:19am

    Nice of you to drop by, arta, I know you're busy.  I'm guessing tap water?  I do have one of those filtered water dispensers ... unfortunately I can't remember when I changed the filter last ... or if I have any new ones anywhere.  Anyway, want some likely-less-than-filtered tap water?

    I've been really cool about warming up to David Corn.  I suppose, like you, I like him better than I used to, but not because he's become a laid back grey dude.  I actually think I've changed more than he has - and it's likely due to our current president.  I still don't like "lefties" who are really just know-it-alls who actually don't, in fact, understand much of what I personally think.  Katrina vanden Heuvel (of The Nation fame) is a perfect example.  She makes me crazy.  Trump has caused many people who used to be commentators with a certain amount of sense to go too far over the side for my tastes - though she's always made me crazy.  Corn, on the other hand, comes across recently as almost thoughtful, and it may be because of serious research and time spent co-writing a deep-dive book - as opposed to an opinion writer who morphed into the head of Mother Jones.


    by barefooted on Fri, 08/31/2018 - 8:31pm

    you pegged it exactly, I'm with ya on the righteous Katrina types. It's actually mostly how they say what they are saying rather than what they are saying. This little interchange sort of clarified it for me, actually, a lot of it for me is: no apparent sense of humor, ever. Corn's showing it now, makes all the difference.

    edit to add: tap water, never, except for taking pills and brushing teeth. Seltzer and/or coffee, both 24/7. laugh


    by artappraiser on Fri, 08/31/2018 - 8:50pm

    OMG COFFEE! (sorry, I was still channeling Dick and my love for caffeine hopped onboard)  Ahem.  Yes, coffee is why I get up in the morning and basically my reason for living.  Now, of course, a good glass of cheapish wine ... or several ... serves its purpose, but take away my coffee at your own risk.  Hmm.  Maybe that's why I never offer it.  Seltzer I don't have - but I'll get some just for you.

    A sense of humor is a must today, especially today considering everything is so damned humorless.  The late night sort of humor?  Not what I mean or care about.  They're playing to their clients as everyone on TV does - I don't have a problem with that as long as I don't bother with it. (but I love Food Network and HGTV!  Talk amongst yourselves.)  No, again, I agree with you that people who are taken seriously as political analysts need to just loosen up a bit now and then even as they make their points.  People love to laugh, so they'll pay attention to what makes them do it, but when it comes to the serious stuff they also want serious analysis.  I like Rachel Maddow for just that reason ... I don't think you do.  That's an awesome argument!  wink

     


    by barefooted on Fri, 08/31/2018 - 9:14pm

    on Maddow I just don't like the show format she uses of one person lecturing people on the news for an hour with few guests, it's the Limbaugh model and I find it overbearing. As a talking head, I like her just fine, she has a sense of humor and find her personality pleasing. If it's going to be a personality based pundit/analyst show I prefer the Chris Matthews model where the lead is basically trying to do the same thing she does, help people figure out the news of the day, but his p.o.v. is combined with soliciting input from others.


    by artappraiser on Sat, 09/01/2018 - 10:36am

    Another case of my change of taste as much as anything, because I used to enjoy his show - now I could probably enjoy the format if he wasn't the host.  He grates on me.  His program was part of my go-to lineup of shows through the 2016 election cycle (at least on MSNBC), and I found myself more and more annoyed by his not allowing others to fully give the input he was supposedly soliciting.  Despite the format, his opinion seems to remain far more important to him than anyone else's.  I'll note a slight change in tone and attitude after Trump's "win", however - which I attribute to him perhaps second guessing himself a tiny, tiny bit.  He has never been a Hillary fan, but he was fair enough, so I don't overly fault him for his commentary on her campaign ... but I grew frustrated by his attempts to paint Trump as a "builder"; as someone who could guide infrastructure like no ordinary politician could.  He cited the friggin' ice rink over and over, for example. 

    He'd stay on course until a really anti-Trump guest was on, and then he's start his mini tirade ... maybe we need a builder, a doer, someone who doesn't act like an uptight politician who's been around too long to understand the real people, like the ones from Philadelphia ... someone who knows the heartland, the parts of the country that used to blah, blah, blah.  So, no, I can't tolerate listening to him trash Trump now even though it's a change I've noticed - in both of us.


    by barefooted on Sat, 09/01/2018 - 6:35pm