A good-looking family

My youngest brother, his wife and 3 children. The one in the middle (and I won't name names here for privacy issues) just graduated from high school in this picture taken last May I imagine. She is now at college in Toledo. Ah, to have my family young again and to be paying those college tuitions once more. No thanks!.

From "there is no red America or blue America, but the United States of America" to Inaugeration 2009 and Happy Birthday David

Every 4 years on January 20th we have an inaugeration. But every year on this day, David has a birthday. This year he was 32. Good heavens! We celebrated on Sunday night by watching the football playoff games and getting takeout from our favorite Italian restaurant, Carrabba's.

This was an especially special inaugeration, needless to say. Not only has my candidate won - for the first time in YEARS, but also due to the significance of electing the first African American to the Presidency. WOW. Of course, during the time everyone was campaigning for him, the country was going to hell in a hand basket, so he has inherited the worst mess in my lifetime. So he has the dichotemy of possessing the nation's highest expectations in the economy's lowest point since the Great Depression.

As David Letterman, the late night talk show host, is always saying, the money is all gone, a bunch of old men have stolen all the money. Or, all the money - and I guess I'm talking house values and the stock market - was all a house of cards - or a house built out of straw - it wasn't real and it collapsed. All our earnings of the past 10 years are gone and who knows how long it will take to come back.

But, Bill and I voted for Ross Perot who talked some 12 or 16 years ago about the danger of the jobs going overseas and the growing deficit and no one paid any attention, but it made sense to us. So, when I hear people interviewed on TV talk about buying a Ford now instead of a Honda because it's an American car, I think, yeah, and do you know it might be made in Mexico whereas the Honda might be made in Ohio? So, just which purchase better helps the U.S.? It's not always so clear cut. Especially when the U.S. corporate executives are so often overpaid compared to their Japanese counterparts. And just what was Bush (and McCain) thinking when he told us the economy was A-OK just minutes before it wasn't? And what happened to Reagan trickle down? And an editorial I read by George Will that said there were more people moved out of the lower class into the middle class or something like that. Hmmm. This whole thing is sooo confushing. Well when I figure it out, I'll get back to you.

But, as usual I digress. Today David is attending the Vanderbilt vs. Univ. of Tenn. basketball game as a birthday present with his brother Grant. And Barack Obama is attending 10 inaugeral balls in our nation's capitol and then heading back to his new home, the White House. Tomorrow the task of digging out from the mess we're in begins. They'll be plenty of Republicans to argue with - all of the ones from Tennessee to be sure. Tomorrow I just have to go to the dentist for a crown and a filling. Ouch!

Buying Byers . . . the story of an Ebay addiction

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A recent personal situation caused me such psychic pain and sadness that I turned to Ebay and collecting Byers Choice figures to keep from thinking about everything that was bothering me. Was this dysfunctional or healthy (considering I couldn't take off for our home in the Hampton's). It's sort of like the recent government Wall Street bailout. When people say, "well, that didn't work" the government's response is "well, you don't know how much worse off we would be if we hadn't done it." So, while I still have been sad, I think it distracted me to an extent. Who knows? If I hadn't spent a couple of weeks doing this, I might be in the looney bin by now. See, coulda been worse.

I will take the fifth on the number I bought, but I decided to stop before Bill got really perturbed. As it was, he was just annoyed. But, I've never been "tough" and when life gets "tough" I generally don't do well. So, what are those healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms we learned about in college Pysch I? Eating too much. Drinking too much. Crying. Being irritable. Depressed. Wanting to commit homicide. And just how much would therapy have cost? Probably more than I spent on the Byers and I would have only been told what I already know: there isn't anything you can do about the curve balls life throws you, except one day at a time, one step at a time, one deep breath at a time. Whatever you can manage. So, I save on therapy and have the Byers figures to boot.

I do sort of get addicted to things on my computer. Like Napstering during its day, digital photography, this blog, a page on Facebook, some games, shopping, and Ebay from time to time. Not to mention just plain surfing, finding interesting tidbits here and there , looking up information for people (still the librarian in me). However, THAT being said, additionally, I am stimulating the MADE IN THE U.S.A. economy because the Byers Choice figures are actually hand-made in Pennsylvania. Isn't that amazing? So it's an American arts and craft product and some one must support it! Even if they don't need it and said they'd never buy any more tchotchkes (yiddish for knick knacks).

Anyway, they've been arriving every few days or so, thereby double stimulating the economy by making sure the U.S. postal service has lots of work too. So, how do you cope when the going gets rough? And/or how are you stimulating this down-in-the-mouth economy?