(knock knock knock) Housekeeping...
I wanted to pass on some personal news; I will be relocating to the Deep South. The plan is sometime quite soon after the new year, barring any unexpected complications. This means, of course, I've be leaving the ultra-liberal urban Puget Sound area in time to be in Arkansas for the installation of our new Congress. Being a liberal, I see a practical side to this. Up here, I'm merely a small voice in a large choir. In central Arkansas, I'll be a progressive voice unable to be ignored. Which means when I get there, that should make eight of us liberals in all. And yes. I know the other seven.
Actually, Little Rock is not nearly as backwards as people assume -- and conversely, Seattle is not as forwards. Oddly enough, the Genus Busibody tends to spoil both places. Leads me to believe the human condition is similar everywhere. And disturbingly enough, portions of South King County remind me of the county line between Pulaski and Saline. Did distant relatives of folks in Shannon Hills migrate west and build Kent? Customs in dress suggest just that.
Snarkiness aside, I'm headed back home for many reasons; it's cheaper to live in Arkansas, I want to be nearer my aging, and my younger kinfolks, and dog gone it, I am a touch homesick. Besides, I can't get the Razorback game on the radio in Seattle, and there ought to be a law.
I'll have plenty to say throughout the holidays, but I'll put up a notice when I go 'radio silence' to travel back. I am strongly considering continuing the blog experience in a format other than blogspot. Is it just me, or is blogger just getting pushy about "updating to beta"? Whatever. I use this ghetto form because it's simple; unfortunately, technology has a way of becoming obsolete so quickly. You know, when I was a kid, we had to WALK to the video store.
In the spirit of the season, eat food that's bad for you, have that extra cocktail, and skip the mall. Remember to give cash ~~ one size fits all. Call your aunt, and smile at the kids, too. Christmas isn't about retail sales, it's about love.
And chocolate. Lots of chocolate.
Actually, Little Rock is not nearly as backwards as people assume -- and conversely, Seattle is not as forwards. Oddly enough, the Genus Busibody tends to spoil both places. Leads me to believe the human condition is similar everywhere. And disturbingly enough, portions of South King County remind me of the county line between Pulaski and Saline. Did distant relatives of folks in Shannon Hills migrate west and build Kent? Customs in dress suggest just that.
Snarkiness aside, I'm headed back home for many reasons; it's cheaper to live in Arkansas, I want to be nearer my aging, and my younger kinfolks, and dog gone it, I am a touch homesick. Besides, I can't get the Razorback game on the radio in Seattle, and there ought to be a law.
I'll have plenty to say throughout the holidays, but I'll put up a notice when I go 'radio silence' to travel back. I am strongly considering continuing the blog experience in a format other than blogspot. Is it just me, or is blogger just getting pushy about "updating to beta"? Whatever. I use this ghetto form because it's simple; unfortunately, technology has a way of becoming obsolete so quickly. You know, when I was a kid, we had to WALK to the video store.
In the spirit of the season, eat food that's bad for you, have that extra cocktail, and skip the mall. Remember to give cash ~~ one size fits all. Call your aunt, and smile at the kids, too. Christmas isn't about retail sales, it's about love.
And chocolate. Lots of chocolate.
posted by meldonna | 1:07 AM
23 Comments:
We'll send many good wishes your way as you pack...Keep us posted...and I will gie updates on your journey over at the Cafe...Home is not such a bad place to head....Many Merry's
I had to have a little merry, after surviving the Arkansas-Florida game; so I'm watching To Wong Foo. If that won't make you smile your giggle is broken...
Felix Navadas
mel, wherever you land will be fortunate to have your wit & wisdom & great good humor. homesickness is a powerful thing. you're a good daughter with a big heart.
my sympathies during The Packing Up. I hate having to consider each item's value vs the hassle of moving it. Be sure to save some good road music for the drive.
hey, a bonus of being one of only 8 KNOWN liberals: now you'll be referred to as "my liberal friend"! well, no one could be a better ambassadresse.
ps, those Shannon Hills relatives must be quite far flung. seems I see 'em everywhere I've been. ~~ D.K.
I know these WONDERFUL movers: The Jettison Brothers. They come to your house, and for each item they ask three questions: "Who gave it to you?" "What's it for?" "When did you last see or use it?" And if you can't answer all three questions, they jettison it out your window.
Lola, dahling!
Exactly my attitude; in fact, much of the sentimental but impractical stuff I'm "regifting". The rest is getting shitcanned. I'm finding the purging process to be mentally rewarding in and of itself. I mean, WHERE did all this USELESS SHIT COME FROM?!? I guess I'm not the first to realize possessions do not set one free.
Unless, of course, it's a ginormous ($$~hockable~$$) rock. Diamonds are still a Girl's Best Friend.
Cheers!
Deke, the decision process on what to keep is really elemental: will it fit in a shipping box? If so, will it cost more to mail it than buy a new one? An example? Other than my aunt's silverware I inherited, the kitchen stuff can be replaced with a twenty-dollar shopping spree at the Salvation Army. Makes life a lot simpler...
And you're absolutely right; those Shannon Hills folks seem to be everywhere there's a three-strand barbed-wire fence running along the roadside or cars on blocks in the front yard. Prolific little hicks, aren't they?
They throw a mean barbeque, though...
Regifting???? OMG...that is such an evil term...cause no wants to be regifted on...I love that Jettison moving company- priceless.
I am so glad that you are coming east...maybe we should send you Road Tunes....
and you know it will be good for the South to have you back- your wit and your wisdom....and your good heart....
Enigma, dahling, it always depends on what the "regift" is. I'll take a good Pyrex bowl with a lid any day, no matter who owned it before.
As long as they fill it with fifties and ship it to West Little Rock...
I wouldn't worry about the road tunes; my CD player died a few months back so I will be going on scenery, a couple of good books, and conversation. What an odd idea, actually talking to people. I've met some interesting folks on the road.
Good luck with your move. I know what it's like to move back and forth from the blue to the red states...but I shouldn't stereotype...anyway, been there, done that....
Love your blog..Hope you continue...
Beth a/k/a no a/ka/ viking...What can I say? I like to change it up.
Hey, vik! thanks for chiming in, and good to see you here. Never fear, I enjoy blogging too much to give it up, even if I might have to go into a temporary hiatus during the move.
I hope you'll forgive me if I continue to be a long distance Seahawks fan from Arkansas. I've liked the 'Hawks for a long time, many years before I ever dreamed I'd one day live in Seattle. Then again, I've always liked the Vikings, too ~~ me and my Dad were cheering for Minnesota when I was 10. And we both still loathe the Raiders.
The red state/blue state thing is interesting, isn't it? I've found the saving grace is that there's good people everywhere, and while I know I'll roll my eyes from time to time back home, there's going to be a laugh around the corner soon, as always. It's just another chapter in this life.
Mel... Good luck. Sorry I wasn't able to be more help. You got the right idea about geting rid of the crap. We juast got through moving and brought three loads to Sal Army. Shoelda brought three or four more, maybe we will before the week is out.
I'm with you in spirit. All will go well. It will be easier to visit you in Arkansas than Puget Sound anyway.
We love you Mel!
Hey, Spado! Glad to hear you folks got moved, and can start settling into the new place. Been thinking about you and the missus, and hoping things are going well.
It's funny, but a lot of my friends are more towards the middle of the country these days, including some from up here. Which is cool; I've never really adjusted to news being at 11:00 instead of ten, and still going to work at 8:00 am. More snooze time -- yay!
Best wishes to you guys in your new digs.
As they say Mel, while you're in transit, the silence will be deafening.
I've already arranged for Blogger to simply leave your blog here, put it on ice so to speak, until you get all resettled. This is one item you'll not have to worry about packing or losing. (grin)
Blogger assured me it will be in Arkansas when you arrive; when next you need it to fill with all the tales of your travels.
Bon journal!
Sounds good, Dada...and trust me, I'll have plenty to say here before I head south. Keeping the conversation going keeps me sane, friend.
Probably much more to say once I get there, too! I'm looking forward to that Next Chapter.
Mel....oh, ditto that! I'm sure everyone will be waiting to hear of your transition to another reality. (We all probably harbor, subliminally at least, similar dreams of 'fast-breaking' from part of our realities at minimum.)
I definitely think you're doing a wise thing, although it make not always be apparent...but I admire what you're undertaking and wish you well, as everyone else here does.
Mel,
I was raised in Memphis, and boy oh boy, would I hate to go back there, but the times I did consider it were the times I was homesick for old friends, my grandparents, the cheaper cost of living and I understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. I like the idea of another liberal infiltrating Arkansas, and there is tons to be said about people being people everywhere you go. Best of luck on the move.
We are hosting a big tent party for you and G. to help you with your moves. Stop on by and party down, this thing is gonna be big.
Mel,
I am throwing a Big Tent Party for you and G. because you are both moving. Oh, the horror. Stop on by, you are the guests of honor.
Hello Lady,
Don't know you, found you via Spadoman, but I thought you could use the following:
http://deuddersun.blogspot.com/2004/11/fuck-south.html
Read it, copy it, keep it close to your heart. You're gonna need it.
d.
Resident Scholar
American Patriot Institute
Hey, deud! Thanks for stopping by. I got a chance to read the post over at your blog; wow...and I'm a YOUNG lady, no less! Flattery will get you a long way...
...but maybe just so far. Perhaps the South does have more than its fair share of knotheads, but methinks perhaps, parody or no, you may be tossing the baby out with the bathwater here.
I've lived in the South, the Southwest, and the far Pacific Northwest. I've never had a chance to travel as an adult to New England, but I was actually born a few miles south of DC, in Maryland, right after Daddy got out of the service in the early sixties. We moved home to Arkansas when I was still a toddler, so I have few memories of the eastern seaboard; just, oddly enough, a lifelong love of a fresh seabreeze.
I've known people from all over, of course, and I got to offer this opinion: Ain't no part of this country got a shortage of knotheads. On top of the fact that there is no such thing as a blue or red state. Coast to coast, we run various shades of purple. The Seattle area leans liberal to a fault -- until somebody screws with Boeing; then, of course, everybody jumps on the corporate bandwagon. Go east of the Cascades, and farm folks are every bit as backwards as a barndance in Bugtussle, Mississippi. You can't get much more liberal than the city of Austin, Texas and it's the capitol of the frickin' Lone Star State, ferchrissakes. In my mom's day, there was a big stink about integration in the fifties in Little Rock, but we settled down decades before Boston came un-fucking-glued about the issue. And I notice "blue" NYC can't seem to get their cops to quit shooting brown folks, any more than the "blue" City of Angels can get theirs to quit beating the dogsnot out of other brown folks.
My point being it doesn't matter what geographical part of the US you're in or from, there is rot everywhere. As well as good. The real America is just like any family; we all have a few inlaws we'd rather avoid at Thanksgiving, but life ain't perfect. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I'm for appealing to the better instincts in all of us than picking a fight over mistakes made on both sides. I'm willing to bet they know in Vermont you get more flies with honey than vinegar, even if that is an old saying I learned when I was a kid down south.
Nobody ever explained what one would want with a bunch of flies, but that's besides the point (she says, smiling). The point is that hating don't get anybody anywhere, and the less of it, the better. Which is why this lady says if you want to fuck something, fuck the dumb shit. It's everywhere.
Good answer, meldonna. You have my apologies. Honestly, I wasn't looking for a scrap, that was originally posted on Nov 11, 2004, 5 days after many of us believe Bush stole his second Presidential Election, and yes, it is bitter. Don't know if you saw the post I have with all the Republi-con Conventioneers running around NYC with little Purple Heart band-aids on their smirking faces, thinking they were dissing Kerry, while in truth they were dissing every Veteran who ever earned a Purple Heart as well as the Medal itself. I can't tell you how many of them flipped me off or shouted obscenities at me as I sat at traffic lights because I had an Impeach Bush bumper sticker on my truck. Guess they chose to ignore the United States Marine Corps bumper sticker right above it.
For years we on the Left have had to put up with insults and worse from those on the Right. I have been called a traitor by Chickenhawks who never wore the uniform themselves and never will. Nor will their children in this current Bush fiasco in Iraq. I firmly supported going into Afghanistan to get Bin Fergotten and so did most of us on the Left, but when Bush manufactured his can't wait "strategy" to invade Iraq, he lost us. And even tho he was wrong to go in there, some of us still supported him until it became obvious that he had no clue about winning "hearts & minds".
So you see, there is no love lost here for the Right, who, now that they have had their asses kicked and may well lose the White House in '08, are suddenly talking about "working together", being "bi-partisan" and letting bygones be bygones and "moving forward". Fuck 'em! They have done so much damage to our country and our Constitution that it will take years to undo it all. Not to mention the damage they have inflicted on the American working family, (but I will go into that at a later date at my place).
At any rate, the post was not meant to be a personal attack against you and I apologize if it was taken that way.
d.
Deud, I'm most happy you and I share views...My own apologies if I sounded a bit prickly myself, but us Southerners, especially my generation and older, can get a little "het up" on the subject; my mom, in particular, has always hated how Southerners get portrayed as hicks constantly in the media. So I do come by it honest!
What really chaps my ass is Bush pretending to be a Texas rancher ~~ Willie Nelson says that's an insult to Texans in particular, and good cowboys everywhere. I was in living Texas when he was elected governor, then president (well, sorta elected), and I knew there were bad times ahead.
I can't think of a single facet of American life Shrub hasn't damaged, and the big fuckups are HUGE. The number one, of course, is the war. I blogged late last night about the only way out at this point, and that's to kick the bums out toot sweet. I'm tired of paying for the Boy King's public housing.
Thanks again for your gracious response, deud.
You're a good person meldonna, with a tuff row to hoe.
Stay true to yerself. I'll see you in DC.
d.
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