Friday Five

1. Of course all of the late night talk show hosts were going to have something to say about the outcome of the election.  They all did a wonderful job but my favorite was Seth Meyers. His was the most heartfelt and the most funny.  He managed to be optimistic while still getting his point across.  It's a fairly perfect 10 minutes of television!
         

2. Every year I look forward to the John Lewis Christmas ad, and every year I'm not disappointed.  However, this year I think they went above and beyond and may have created their cutest ad yet.  I just love Buster the Boxer!
         

3. Kids trying new and possibly weird foods will never not be funny.  And these kids are particularly funny.  I just love their reactions because I'm pretty sure I've made some of these faces before when I've tried new things!

4. I have absolutely no use for a Keurig coffee machine.  I don't like coffee and if I want tea, it's so much easier to just pop some water in the microwave and use a tea bag than going through all the pod drama that comes with a Keurig.  But a Keurig type machine that produces only cookies?  That I could use the heck out of!

5. And lastly in honor of Veteran's day, join Chesty in wishing the Marine Corps a happy 241st birthday.  And thank you to all veterans in all branches of the military for serving! Know that we'll appreciate your sacrifices always!
          

Love Trumps Hate

I, along with a lot of the country, have been pretty upset since Tuesday's election results. I've been in the mood where I just want to yell, it's not fair! at the top of my lungs.  I honestly don't understand how this happened.  I do get the electoral college, and I get how it works, but I don't understand how this system can fail so miserably.  Most of the country saw the error in Trump winning.  That's proven by the fact that Hillary won the popular vote.  But because we have a broken system, the people are forced to live with a candidate they didn't elect for the next 4 years.

And that's just wrong.

I can't begin to put into intelligent words just how unhappy the idea of a President Trump makes me.  I'm extremely liberal and I admit that freely.  But what scares me more than his Republican viewpoints is the hate - the hate he spouts on a daily basis.  

The not accepting anyone who's remotely different.  The ability to easily insult those with special needs, or those in minorities, then laugh off or even flatly deny the insults when asked about them.  The need to repeal amendments and laws that provide equal rights for those who have fought for them for far too long.  The desire to keep any and all non-Americans out of this country because they're all a threat to what America is.  The belief that he's so powerful that nothing can stick to him so he's able to do whatever he wants. 

Contrary to what people might think, there are reasons to be scared.  And these are it.  He and his supporters are not fostering an America of hope or compassion or kindness.  With this win, I fear that even more of his supporters will take the opportunity to persecute and condemn those who don't share their same opinions.  Based on what I've read over the last 2 days, it's already started. African-Americans have found their cars damaged or tagged. Mexican students - kids! - are being told their parents are going to be deported.  Muslim Americans are being told to go back to their homelands.  And that's only 48 hours in.  What will the next 4 years bring?

I was naive enough to believe we lived in a country that was making progress.  This is not progress.  This is regression and it needs to be fixed.  I still believe that there are good people in this world - people that are going to care for their fellow humans even more now because they realize kindness is needed more than ever.  These are the people I care about and these are the people I'm going to surround myself with.  And most importantly these are the people that are eventually going to move this country forward and fix it.  

Trivia Tuesday

~ The results of the election are just as terrifying even when surrounded by liquor and sitting in bar.  Also, election returns are probably not the best thing to watch during trivia - I think everyone paid more attention to the results than the game.

~ You know it's going to be a good night when the very first question is about your very favorite neighborhood in San Francisco - Haight Ashbury.  Also, you know your trivia dude is a good one when he chooses to play a song by the Grateful Dead during this question.

~ The Cleveland Browns is the only team in the NFL that is winless this season so far.  And I know this because the Browns are playing the Ravens this week - which means after Thursday, they probably won't be winless anymore.

~ "I don't want to miss a thing" is Aerosmith's only number one song which is just sad.  They have so many other fabulous songs.  Also, why does their only number one song have to accompany such a sad movie like Armageddon?  I love that song, but that movie is super depressing.

~ The world's oldest penguin lived to be 36 years old.  I'm so glad I'm not a penguin...

~ Tonight we were asked how long it took someone to drink a 16 oz bottle of ketchup with a straw.  I have so many questions about this?  Most of all, why on god's green earth would someone choose to do this willingly?  I get sick to my stomach just thinking about it. Yuck!  Apparently this masochist took 36.2 seconds to do it.  That's 36.2 seconds of his life he'll never get back.

~ Thank goodness for MASH for teaching me Army rank.  It's the only reason I remember that Majors are higher in rank than Captains.  

~ Also, thank goodness for Twitter for suggesting I follow Neil Gaiman.  I only know for sure that he wrote Neverwhere and Stardust.  However, he talks a lot about Sandman on his Twitter which is fabulous since that was an answer this evening.  Yay for the nerds!

~ The tiger's name in Life of Pi is not Cake.  I feel that was a real missed opportunity. 

One More Day

18 months.  That's how long this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad election cycle has taken. That's 18 months too long for me.  Between the mud-slinging, and the anger, the threats and the hate, the empty promises and the lies, I just can't take any more of it. Tomorrow it finally comes to an end, which is simultaneously a good thing and a terrifying thing.

Even though, Trump is behind in the polls, I can't help but wonder "what if?"  I'd like to agree with the saner heads that truly believe he won't win.  But just a few months ago I watched saner heads in England say that Brexit would never pass, and yet the morning after the vote thousands of people who "just wanted a change" voted the unthinkable into existence. That's the scariest part to me. Second scariest is the argument I heard just a few days ago - since Trump is so divisive, many people are telling their families and friends that they're not voting for him, when in fact they are. What does that mean to the exit polls? Don't you think these same people may be lying to the pollsters as well?

So very, very scary!

For better or worse, Wednesday isn't going to be fabulous.  We're either stuck with someone who's been compared to Hitler or we've elected the more rational and saner, but still not perfect, choice.  None of the hope we had in 2008 is there.  None of the feeling of change. None of the excitement around a candidate that will do something amazing.  We just want the whole darn election thing to end.

And if it does end on the wrong side of history - as I fear it may - I have my escape plan all ready.  Most are headed to Canada or England if Trump wins.  Both are fabulous choices - most especially England.  Though I'd like to wait until they get this whole Brexit thing worked out, before making it my permanent home.  Until that time, I'm off to New Zealand to live in the Shire.  I'm claiming a hobbit hole as mine, and I'll live out my days cooking and crafting with the good and kind people of New Zealand.  

You see, kindness and goodness and openness, that's what I'm looking for. And if Trump wins, it might take me all the way to New Zealand to find it again. 

Living in the Future is Not Always Awesome

I haven't talked much about the presidential race lately, mostly because it's too depressing. It's like watching a terrible reality show play out night after night.  Between the rallies and the debates, the name-calling and back-biting is completely out of hand.  None of these candidates deserve to hold the title of President.  To think the same Oval office that held the likes of John Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt is going to see one of these candidates as its next resident is just unfathomable.

I like to say that I can't stand to live in an America where I would have to say the words President Trump.  It's my current reaction to every political story I hear - mostly because every single news outlet treats Trump as the only candidate. And while I also equally don't want any of the others to win either, the rest of the candidates don't hold a candle to the ridiculousness of Donald Trump.  They are equally bad in their own ways.  They're just not as pompous and in your face about their crazy.  And the fact that they all seem to take out their hate for each other daily on a national stage is just making this race so hard to watch.

Most opponents tend to not like each other.  It's par for the course. But in the past, they've at least showed the other side some respect.  But respect seems to have gone by the wayside in this race, along with dignity and intelligence.  So, that brings me to what I find so darn confounding, then in the current race for the presidency.  These candidates have spent the last 6 months dragging each other through the mud.  And when I say each other, it mostly refers to the other candidates slinging mud at Donald Trump while he slings it right back. Why focus on the issues you claim to hold, when you can just focus on how much the other guy sucks?

So, why then, once certain candidates have decided they don't stand a chance, do they decide to endorse the candidate they've been warning everyone about for the last 6 months? Exhibits A and B are Governor Chris Christie and Ben Carson, who have both decided to endorse Donald Trump.  Carson was one of Trump's biggest denouncers.  You could tell how much he loathed the man just by what he said, and yet now he's jumping on the bandwagon. What?! This is why he keeps getting votes.  It's like Trump is just handing out the kool aid and these people are drinking it right up.  

At some point I'm thinking Lorne Michaels is going to jump up and say "Just kidding! This was all an elaborate sketch for Saturday Night Live." And at that time Joe Biden and Mitt Romney will announce that they're actually running for president, and America will become civilized again.  Right?  I mean, a girl can dream, can't she?