Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Despotism, Godless Terrorism and Love

There are some books that should be banned. From me. I’m reading Overthrow – America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. You know this can't be good for me. It’s all I can do to not get out of bed each night and bang my head against the wall. oh. my. god. the stupid is frightening. And I’m only as far as Nixon and Chile. And did you know that just one man was responsible for the events in Iran, Guatemala, Vietnam and Chile? One completely insane man. But it’s easy to get a lot done when you are the Secretary of State and your brother runs the CIA!

The worst part of this is that it is ruining NPR for me. I can no longer listen blithely as I drive to and fro. Not any more. Now my brain screams “Liars!” “Don’t believe the hype” etc. to every story out of Washington. It’s kind of annoying. Yes brain, I know, now please use your inside-my-head voice.

I only picked up this book because the one I wanted on the history of the CIA won’t be published until next month. By the time I finish that book I should be certifiable. This is the kind of stuff that will push me right over the edge. Soon I’ll be roaming the streets babbling to myself. Hmm, I’ll need to relocate to Santa Cruz – they embrace the weird and might not even notice me. And I’ve got a place to stay there. Hey, I might be willing to stand on a corner bad mouthing the government by day but I’m not going to give up a comfy bed at night – I ain’t that crazy.


On a more happy healthy hale and hardy* note – yesterday was my wedding anniversary. Chris and I have been married 2 (insert “wonderful” or the synonym of your choice here) years. Now others might get all lovey dovey and tell you how wonderful their husband is and how much they love him and can’t imagine life without him blah blah blah. But not me. I don’t do sappy. As true as it all is, putting it into eloquent words with violins playing softly in the background is just… icky. Chris knows how I feel about him. And I know how he feels about me when he makes me go to sleep at a reasonable hour every night completely against my will. So, no cards, no flowers, no trips to Hallmark – maker of fine holidays everywhere. You know, if Hallmark had better lobbyists, they could get Sweetest Day declared a national holiday and sell more cards on the west coast.

See? No good can come from reading.

Now I’ve got to go and practice snapping my fingers.



* this is the standard answer you’ll get from my dad when asked how he is. As Chris says – I didn’t have a chance.

1 comment:

Julie said...

Two years?? Kee-rist almighty, how time does fly. Congratulations.
On another note, there is another book that screams you. It's called "The World Without Us," about what the world would look like very soon if humans all up and died. Check out the Powell Books newsletter interview: http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780312347291?utm_source=powellsbooks.news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pbnews_20070808&utm_content=The%20World%20without%20Us
Well, that didn't wrap. But you can figure it out.