Like most other moms I know, I’ve been insanely busy this summer. I had this pipe dream back in May that, once school was out, things would quiet down;  as it turns out, the end of school had just the opposite effect. The kids have been doing t-ball, tumbling and swimming lessons.  We’ve had multiple birthday parties, cookouts, and family get-togethers. Next week is my daughter’s birthday, and a few days later we leave for a family vacation to Florida. We’ll get back on a Monday night. Wednesday morning, my son goes back to school. Oi!

Needless to say, I haven’t had nearly as much time to write as I imagined I would.  And now that reality’s finally set in, I don’t anticipate being able to blog again for a while. So here’s my summer blog entry, a summary of all the stuff that’s annoyed me, thrilled me, surprised me or otherwise settled into my brain for one reason or another.

·         The economy is lousy. And it’s disgusting how conservatives are either sticking their fingers in their ears and humming loudly whenever anyone says the economy sucks or they’re telling everyone who’s not wealthy to shut up and stop whining. Such a sympathetic, helpful bunch.

·         Jesse Jackson is undermining the party whose principles he has supposedly supported his entire life. I understand that he’s jealous; for the first time in its 225-year history, the U.S. is close to electing a black president, and it’s not Rev. Jackson. For heaven’s sake, we’re finally considering, seriously considering, a candidate who’s not an old white guy. People like Rev. Jackson should be ecstatic. Even if Obama’s not perfect (which he’s not), we should support him wholeheartedly, especially when the alternative is More-of-the-Same-with-Jon-McCain.

·         Indiana Jones 4 is not as bad as it could have been nor is it as good as it should have been.

·         Wall-E is amazing. My kids have seen it 3 times. Beautiful animation, a storyline that can be read on multiple levels, two main characters that are not human, but more humane than many people I know. Incredible.

·         The Dark Knight is too upsetting for me. I love Batman. In fact, he’s the only superhero I have ever had any affinity for. He’s not an alien or a genetic mutation or a victim of a science experiment gone wrong. He’s a good guy using his wealth and brains to eradicate evil in ways that regular law enforcement cannot. I love the idea. But Heath Ledger was a favorite of mine, and seeing him in the previews was really hard. I don’t think I can watch the movie. I don’t want to pay $8 and then have to leave.

·         Brendan Fraser is a busy man. First Journey to the Center of the Earth, now The Mummy 3. He’s still hot too. Did you know he’s from Central Indiana?

·         Pierce Brosnan is so sexy. He and Colin Firth in the same movie (Momma Mia) are gonna be too much for me! Just watching Jon Stewart interview Brosnan the other night gave me hot flashes!

·         Summer television is generally crummy. There are some bright spots, though, all on cable. Thank heaven for Bravo – Kathy Griffin’s My Life on the D-List is awesome. And Project Runway’s back! Hallelujah! Tim Gunn, we could be best friends! Of course, Daily Show on Comedy Central and Countdown on MSNBC are good standbys. I can’t even remember what network TV looks like! Oh, wait a minute, yes, I do – 14 versions of Law and Order and 12 versions of CSI. Yuck.

·         The Olympics is a loss. I know it hasn’t even started yet, but the coverage won’t be on my TV. And it’s not just the whole China-human-rights-disasters thing. The Olympics is always a whole lotta hype for no good reason. I love sports. Just not any of those sports.

·         Rick Greenspan is gone. Amen. As an Indiana University alum, I cannot imagine why our athletic director lasted as long as he did. Greenspan, Miles Brand, Bobby Knight and Kelvin Sampson owe our basketball program, our students, our alumni, our fans and our state some major apologies. Somehow, though, I don’t see those coming any time soon.

·         Indianapolis is not the city I used to know. My hometown is being wracked by a violent crime wave that really worries me. Some grassroots movements are trying to do something about it. I hope they get it under control soon. Right now, I’m glad I don’t live there anymore, and I’m concerned about all my friends and family who still do.

So in between all the swim lessons, cookouts and firefly hunts, these are the things I’ve been thinking about this summer. Enjoy the last few weeks of break. Later…

I keep seeing these Hillary Clinton supporters on TV who say they are so disillusioned and disappointed, they’re going to vote for John McCain. They even have their own website: http://hcsfjm.com/

“The media is sexist!” they cry. “Obama is sexist!” they scream. “We’re voting for McCain!” they announce.

Are you kidding me?

Okay, first, let me say, I was all Hillary when this whole thing started. Seriously. I sent her campaign money. I got the bumper sticker. I wore the button. But when the primary got to my little ‘ol state of Indiana, things had changed. I was more than a little concerned about the idea of two families having ruled this nation for 20 years. And the whole gas tax thing was stupid. I voted for Obama. Believe me, I surprised myself.

So now, here we are. At last, the Democratic primaries are over, and we have a candidate. A darn good candidate. Sure, he’s not the most experienced candidate ever, and that was a source of concern for me. After reading a wonderfully enlightening article in Time magazine, however, I realized experience is highly overrated. Some of our nation’s least experienced candidates have made powerful presidents – most notably, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Our most experienced candidate? James Buchanan, who is considered by many historians to be the worst president ever.

Obama’s reason and eloquence appeal to me. The consistency of his voting record, particularly on the Iraq War, is also impressive. And his affection for and protection of his wife Michelle strike me as particularly admirable. Here’s a man who has bucked some very tough odds to become this country’s first African-American major party candidate for president. He’s smart, charming, exciting and interesting.

But these bitter Hillary supporters want to send a message so they’re going to vote for McCain.

The John McCain who married a swimsuit model who stood by him through thick and thin. The John McCain who, while he was a prisoner in Vietnam, never knew his first wife was in a horribly debilitating accident because she wouldn’t let anyone tell him because he had enough to deal with as a POW. The John McCain who, after this wife waited faithfully for him to return from war, was unhappy to find her disabled, overweight and shorter. The John McCain who cheated on his wife with an heiress. The John McCain who then divorced the former swimsuit model to marry the heiress almost twenty years his junior.

So they’re going to vote for this man to make a statement against sexism. Brilliant.

I agree that the media was disgusting in its treatment of Hillary. Punish the media. Go for it. Stop buying their papers. Stop watching their broadcasts. But for heaven’s sake, don’t punish yourselves and your fellow Americans by putting another stinking Republican in the White House. Talk about cutting off your own nose to spite your face.

Please, folks, re-consider and listen to what Hillary’s saying. Vote for some change. Don’t give in to your own bitterness and disappointment. I cried during both speeches last Tuesday night. It seemed so unfair that we had two such fantastic candidates, and one of them had to go. Hillary Clinton’s time is not over, though. I believe, and hope most ardently, that she’ll be back.

In the meantime, though, do we have to “make a statement” by submitting ourselves to another four years of Republican ridiculousness?

Since I totally panned the newest album by my all-time favorite band, I’ve been ravaged by feelings of guilt and disloyalty. So I’m taking this opportunity to make it up to them. (As if they care. Oh well.)

In what can only be described as a moment of insanity, my husband and I decided to buy tickets for Duran’s Chicago show. Not that there’s anything crazy about buying concert tickets, especially for one’s favorite band. It’s just that this particular concert was taking place on a Wednesday night, 200 miles from our home, and we had to be back by Thursday morning for work and school. We raced home from work yesterday, changed clothes and jumped into our car. We braved a 7-hour round trip, Chicago rush hour traffic, the Indiana toll road and $4.00/gallon gas to go see Simon, Nick, John and Roger yet again.

This was my 8^th time seeing them over the past 21 years. I’ve seen them in 5 different cities with 5 different line-ups now. They always put on a great show, but last night was truly the best one I’ve seen from my guys. Not only is Dom Brown (the guitarist who replaced original member Andy Taylor) a cleaner guitar player than Andy, he also is more fun to watch. And the remaining four original members seem worlds happier than I’ve ever seen them.

All the guys were smiling all night. Simon was cracking jokes in a way I’ve never seen. They were laughing at each other’s antics as well as each other’s mistakes and their own. When Simon tossed his tambourine up to the ceiling, then missed it when it came down, it hit his leg and snapped. It had to have hurt, but he didn’t miss a beat. He made a hilariously surprised and sheepish face, showed the broken tambourine to the crowd, pointed to his crotch, and told us (in Maxwell-Smart style), “Missed it by that much.” When Roger spun his drumsticks at the end of one song and failed to catch one of them, he and John burst out laughing and shaking their heads. It was obvious they were having fun, and it made me smile just that much more.

Of course, the music was great. Even the few songs they did off the plastic-sounding new album were better when they rocked them out live. But the crowd went berserk for the older stuff – “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “The Reflex,” and “Girls on Film.”

And of course, they still look fantastic. John Taylor’s smile makes me melt. When he told the audience to put their hands in the air, I told my ever-indulgent husband that JT could ask me to jump off a cliff, and I would. (I’m very lucky that Sean’s not the jealous type!) And this tall, gorgeous, talented bass player was even wearing an Obama t-shirt during the encore! Could he be more perfect?!

So after 2 ½ hours, our ears ringing, our throats sore, and our feet aching, Sean and I began the long trek home. I drove so he could sleep. We pulled into our driveway at 3:30am. Sean had to be at work at 6. I had to get up at 7:30 to get the kids to school. So would I do it again? To see my guys happy and rockin’ a sold-out crowd? You bet.

Just maybe not on a Wednesday.

Are we allowed to call it a recession yet?

President Bush and his administration certainly don’t think so. Fox News isn’t calling it that yet. But I’m one of those people who believe that if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, you really ought to call it a duck!

Not being an economist, though, I defer to those with far more expertise, such as the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a century-old nonpartisan group employing sixteen winners of the Nobel Prize for economics. The NBER defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales” (NBER.org, 2003).

Okay, so GDP or gross domestic product is determined by: GDP = consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports − imports). I’ll be really honest here: I don’t understand much of that. I do know that our stock market is in a shambles right now, though. My husband’s 401(k) has been cut almost in half, and he finally yanked it out of stocks and put all of it into bonds. That sounds like an investment problem to me. I’m sure government spending’s still through the roof as it has been for the entire Bush administration, but it doesn’t appear to be enough to rock that formula. The Commerce Department reported yesterday that our trade deficit increased for the second straight month, and even the most optimistic analysts are starting to waiver a bit (Associated Press, 4/11/08).

Alright, so how about “real income?” Real income is defined as “income of an individual or group after taking into consideration the effects of inflation on purchasing power” (financial-dictionary/thefreedictionary.com). According to the Christian Science Monitor, “Inflation is a global phenomenon this year” (4/11/08). No kidding. My husband got a 3% raise last month; his company, United Health Group, had capped all raises at 3% even though they made a profit of about $6 billion last year. The 3% raise will cover our gas to get to and from work each month.

Employment? Good news there? Again, I’m not an economist. Government officials and the media play fast and loose with unemployment statistics; one person says they’re up, and another says they’re down. Here’s what I do know: ATA closed its doors last week. Frontier Airlines just filed for bankruptcy. General Motors is closing several of its plants; Chrysler is idling some its plants and forcing employees to take vacation time. Sprint is laying off 4,000 of its employees. Those are some big companies getting rid of a lot of jobs. It doesn’t sound good.

I’m not even going to touch industrial production since I have no idea what that means!

Retail sales, though, I understand, having worked in retail for over 10 years. According to the national retailers’ reports, sales were down .5% in March, reaching their lowest point in 13 years (The Record, 4/11/08). The holidays weren’t great for retailers either. From my many students and friends who currently work in retail, I can tell you most stores weren’t hitting their sales goals. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, holiday sales for shopping malls in 2007 were the weakest in 11 years.

I was surprised that housing sales weren’t included in the recession definition. To me, housing seems like a logical element to affect the country’s economic health. Everyone knows the housing market and mortgage industry are in a huge mess. The house next door is in foreclosure; my neighbors packed up and left in the middle of the night. My former boss had to transfer to Alabama, and she and her husband lost tens of thousands of dollars on their home.

But even without the housing data, the nation is OBVIOUSLY in a recession. Consumers already know it which is why consumer confidence is at a 26-year low (Reuters, 4/11/08). Why can’t we just call it what it is? I guess using the actual word would be an admission that the old Republican economic policies just don’t work. Surely I am not the only one who recognizes that after several years of Republican economics, our country always ends up in a recession?

Many of my conservative friends and family members refuse to believe we’re in a recession. They are, generally, well off and lucky enough not to have been directly affected yet. They haven’t lost their jobs, their homes, or much of their disposable income. I’m happy for them; really, I am. But just because you’re not hungry doesn’t mean everyone around you isn’t starving to death. The Marie Antoinette act is getting old, folks.

Sunday was Easter, and as usual, it was a problematic holiday for me on several levels. First, there’s the fact that I’m Christian, and my husband is agnostic. He doesn’t object to our celebrating Easter, but he’s not all that keen on it either. He helps us color eggs, and he cleaned the whole house while I was at church so it would be nice for all our relatives who came in for dinner. But he’s not exactly enthusiastic about the whole thing.

Then there’s the stupid moving date issue. I’ve studied the process by which the date is set, and it still doesn’t make sense to me. This year, Easter was actually set before Passover! Jesus was in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover when He was arrested and crucified. How can we celebrate Easter almost a month before Passover starts?! Different Christian sects celebrate it on different days which is weird too, and by the way, it was snowing when we got ready to do our Easter egg hunt. Very festive and hopeful and spring-y. We hunted eggs inside.

Then there’s the problem of Christians being inspired at Easter to say very un-Christian things. I guess preachers realize that many people in their congregation on Easter Sunday won’t be back until Christmas, so they take the opportunity to rain down eight months’ worth of fire and brimstone on them. This year, my parents invited me and my son to attend their church for Easter service. I figured my six-year-old would have more fun there with his grandparents and aunt than going to our little Episcopal church with just me, so we went. The flowers were beautiful, everyone was friendly and the music was great. But when the pastor began speaking, I remembered why I had left this particular church. The minister spent a full 10 minutes explaining how anyone who wasn’t in church celebrating Easter that morning was going to Hell. He went into great detail about Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhist and atheists spending eternity with the devil because in John 14:6, Jesus is quoted as saying, “No man goes unto the Father but through me.”

I have multiple issues with this whole idea. First, Jesus was a loving, tolerant, inclusive spirit. He said that God loved the world so much, He sent His only Son to save it. I’m sorry, but if God loves us so much, why would He set us up to go to Hell? I know a lot of wonderful Jews, Muslims, and Hindus. Why should they be damned just because they never heard of Christ or because they were misled by well-meaning parents, family and friends whose faith is just as strong as mine? And what about people like my husband who was physically abused in the name of God or those who were molested by pedophile Catholic priests? Many of them have had to reject the Christianity of their abusers just to maintain their own sanity. If my husband and non-Christian friends are going to Hell while I have to spend eternity in Heaven with a bunch of perverted priests and my husband’s abusively zealous stepmother, I think I’ll decline.

My second issue with this exclusive statement is that John wrote his gospel about 60 years after Christ’s death. John probably never knew Jesus personally, and he certainly did not have access to a video or audio recording of Jesus’ words. Many Bible scholars have questioned the authenticity of John’s history. As a student of literature, I have to go with them. John wasn’t at the Last Supper. Most of the people who were there were dead by the time John wrote his gospel. John is the only one of the gospel writers who records the conversation at the Last Supper. Isn’t it possible he got the quote wrong? Especially since it contradicts much of the teaching Jesus did prior?

Finally, I just can’t believe that a compassionate God would send only one messenger with His word. If He loves us as much as Jesus said He does, why would He send just one Savior and hope that word got around? Even today, with our global publishing companies, worldwide telecommunications networks and the Internet, millions of people never hear of Christ’s teaching. It’s not their fault. And think of the millions of people who lived before now. Jesus was one man living in and preaching in a tiny part of the world, reaching a tiny percentage of its population. So anyone didn’t get the memo goes to Hell? What a crock! I can’t believe in a God who loves people less than I do, and a God who would condemn good, but ignorant or damaged or deceived people cannot love His children as Jesus said He did. So do I reject God and Jesus or just John, a fallible human being who wrote decades after Christ’s death? Hmm…

Anyway, Easter’s over, and I have to say that the end of Easter is far better than the end of Christmas. When Christmas ends, it’s such a letdown, and all you have to look forward to is weeks and weeks of cold, dull, dark winter. When Easter ends, spring’s right around the corner. Plus Lent is over, and I can eat French fries again!