Ben Nelson

Ben Nelson's right. In this week's NY Times article, "A Democrat Apart, he says "I think the party is challenged with getting ahead of the curve and defining itself, because its opposition has defined it." At a recent county Democratic Committee meeting, a newcomer asked what the committee does. There was a titter from the audience, not because the question was funny, but because people in the audience were nervous that they didn't have a answer. Irene Steiner, the chair, didn't hesitate with a good answer. The committee exists to identify and encourage candidates for public office.

Nelson goes on to say the party's been "defined as though Democrats want to ban the Bible, burn the flag, promote same-sex marriage, rewrite the Pledge of Allegiance, take away everybody's guns..." and that the new party leadership should "reverse that image." I admit I don't want to ban the Bible -- or any other book. And I don't want to burn the flag, tho' I find myself wondering why I think cars sporting flag decals are driven by people I should be careful around. I'd be happy if "God" was dropped from the Pledge of Allegiance, 'tho it's not a very high priority for me. And guns... Well, yeah, maybe...

This morning I was reading through some blogs I've bookmarked in the recent past. The Free Range Librarian linked to a Times article about Sideways. I'm glad to find something from people who don't think the movie was so great. They both refer to the alcoholic character. That didn't stand out for me when I saw it, but it certainly adds to the failure of the story. I've seen good movies made from bad stories. But Sideways failed in nearly every way. Bad directing, mostly bad acting... The only things I remember without negative thoughts are the sets and costumes.

The whole blog world is getting interesting. So much of it is about getting recognized, getting the most links, getting hits from Google. But getting links and getting hits doesn't seem to have much corelation to content (except other links) or quality of writing or design.

Months go by

I started this blog to learn how to do it and to encourage myself to write on a regular basis. Some success on both scores. I learned something about blogger and coped with the frustration of things I couldn't do easily. So, I started writing fairly regularly and switched to a word document rather than the blog.

But when I look around a the great things people are doing with blogs, I dream about using mine more -- or better. One of the greatest frustrations in browsing blogs is finding the ones that end abruptly or update rarely. Of course, I've already figured out that pretty much no one will find this blog unless I tell them about it. I'd like to make the blog interesting enough to be worth telling someone about it. I want to be able to use pictures, put favorite links in the sidebar and more.

Trouble is -- so much to do, so little time. I think I should be able to read, draw, paint, take photos, play the piano, garden etc,etc all more or less at once. And still eat, bath and keep a clear path through the house. Oh, and stay current with local and national politics and continue encouraging Maggy and help Bill with his house. Seems like other people do lots of these things -- and sometimes more. Why can't I? I'm not willing to give up any of these things. Does that doom me to doing all of them poorly? I know I get distracted easily, but I don't think my time management is all that bad.

So I've just finished reading Atonement which was fabulous. Dovetailed nicely with The Kite Runners. Main chracters in both recount having done something bad and spending the rest of their lives thinking about it. Both main characters are writers. Both use exquisite language and great ideas.

I've done a few sketches - some nice but nothing spectacular. Painted several color studies and the beginning of a landscape. Okay. I'm learning. Taken some good photos. Printed and framed 2 for the gift exchange at Roz's and they were quite a hit. Printed some greeting cards using one of Bill's paintings and some of my photos. Pretty nice.

Haven't played the piano in a while. I've been to quite a few political meetings and found some worthwhile stuff online. I'm keeping up okay with Maggy and Bill. I'm working on a pretty good garden plan. In fact, browsing for garden blogs is what made me wish my blog was better.

Okay. Time to review priorities and goals. And above all, time to go get groceries 'cause JW's coming for dinner.