Dear Mom,
As you may or may not have heard, Paul the Psychic Octopus has died. No, really. He evidently predicted all the World Cup matches last year, including Spain's surprise final win over the Netherlands. German soccer clubs are reported to be 'devastated' by his death.
I am not making this up.
Nor am I making up the prevalent political climate, with the founder of the World Wrestling Foundation running - credibly - for Senate in Connecticut, another Senate candidate (this one in Utah) questioning whether 'separation of church and state' actually appears in the First Amendment to the Constitution, the baby daddy of Sarah Palin's grandchild musing for the press about whether he'll vote Democrat or Republican (he also considered running for Mayor of Palin's hometown, I guess on a Platform of 'why not the jerk?')...
But Anne and I are convinced that our states are currently the most insane. She got in a good one, when she referred me to the NY Gubernatorial debate. The Republican candidate took a quick bathroom break in the middle - just walked offstage. One candidate seems to be running on the simple platform of 'Rent is too high'. Which even Andrew Cuomo agreed is true. Then there's Kristin Davis (no relation to the very pretty actress who used to be in "Sex and the City," which you never watched anyway) Ms. Davis, running as an 'independent', is a former madam. She got most of the laughs, including when she answered a question about the MTA by pointing out that she only kept one set of books for her brothel, and her customers got on time service.
I still think Arizona wins. This may be the only state where even the Tea Party may not be radical enough, where raping the education and child services systems is accompanied by calls to destroy the Department of Education, where the Republican candidate for Treasurer was responsible for the widespread failure of a number of regional Coldstone Ice Cream franchises, and where the opposition to our sitting Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, likes to refer to her almost exclusively as 'Gabby' in a condescending tone. Where the current state head of Education, tom Horne, runs for Attorney General so that he can continue his focused, personal attacks on the Tucson Unified School district and anyone else who has the nerve to have an Ethnic Studies program. Where the Governor rants about 'beheadings in the desert' and, when told it's a myth, simply continues her endorsements of racist profilings and raids - and, when someone questions her health, has her spokesman say, "That's not relevant, she's fine, and by the way, Terry Goddard's gay!" Which... does it even matter that he's not?
Saw a bumper sticker the other day: "Don't Criticize Someone Till You've Walked a Mile In Their Shoes: That Way You're a Mile Away and Have Their Shoes". It seems right for the times.
My Victorian/Edwardian proposal cleared a major hurdle - the Curriculum Committee unanimously approved it, with special praise for its 'professionalism'. It felt good.
Through a loopy series of coincidences I was put back in touch with Peter Williams, who you may or may not remember from our New Bern days. He was a very sweet, intelligent, artistic young man who hung around the store, helped out when needed, and bought a wide range of books. Now he's married, teaching writing and film courses in Pittsburgh, and just as sweet and smart. It was a joy to catch up with him. I told him you had died and he was terribly sorry - remembered you well. When I mentioned that you had always liked him, he laughed and said, "Thanks... when it came to your mother, I was never sure if she did."
I told him we all felt that way sometimes!
Love,
b
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