Election Day 2014

     

Tucson Weather Today

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Joe Queenan's advice to aspiring writers is, "Don't write until you're 25. Don't write for the high school yearbook. Don't write for the college literary magazine. Don't write that stuff -- you never had any experiences, you don't know anything, just shut up."
--From The Writer's Almanac

Today is Election Day. Can you guess how I know that. I'll tell you: Someone called me on the telephone and told me so, and they told me who I should vote for and who not to vote for, and why. And they (I think most were volunteering school kids) called me about a thousand times over the last couple of weeks. Something like that.

What's even worse, many of the calls were recorded earlier and played back to me. No chance for me to tell the caller what I thought of them. Even though I sometimes did so anyway.

If I hadn't already voted early by mail, I would probably have abstained from doing so, just out of sheer pissed-off-ishness.

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Did You Know . . .?

The first U.S. president to die in office was William Henry Harrison. He was only in office a month before he caught pneumonia and died.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1995 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was fatally shot after attending a peace rally held in Tel Aviv's Kings Square in Israel. Rabin later died in surgery at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. In 1992, Rabin had led the Labour Party to election victory and became Israel's prime minister. In 1993, he signed the historic Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles with Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and in 1994 concluded a formal peace agreement with the Palestinians. In October 1994, Rabin and Arafat shared the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres. One year later, Rabin was assassinated. Peres succeeded him as prime minister.

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WORD FOR TODAY

brevity
noun
1. concise and exact use of words in writing or speech: "the report is notable for its brevity"
2. shortness of time; "the brevity of human life"

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Matthew David McConaughey

(born November 4, 1969)

Matthew McConaughey is an American actor. He first gained notice for his breakout role in the coming of age comedy Dazed and Confused (1993), and went on to appear in films such as the slasher Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, the legal thriller A Time to Kill, Amistad, Contact, EDtv, and U-571. In the 2000s, he became best known for starring in romantic comedies, including The Wedding Planner, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Failure to Launch, Fool's Gold, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Since 2010 he has had roles in the films The Lincoln Lawyer, Bernie, Killer Joe, The Paperboy, Mud, Magic Mike, and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Loretta Jane Swit

(born November 4, 1937)

Loretta Swit is an American stage and television actress known for her character roles. Swit is best known for her portrayal of Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on M*A*S*H.

Laura Lane Welch Bush

(born November 4, 1946)

Laura Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady from 2001 to 2009.

Marjorie Armstrong "Markie" Post

(born November 4, 1950)

Markie Post is an American actress, best known for her roles as bail bondswoman Terri Michaels in The Fall Guy on ABC from 1982 to 1985, as public defender Christine Sullivan on the NBC sitcom Night Court from 1985 to 1992, and as Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire from 1992 to 1995.

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"Fine photography is literature..."
--Walker Evans

This Is Who I Am

   

Time Heals ALL Wounds?

There are Excessive Heat warnings out today here in Arizona with a forecast of late-afternoon temperatures reaching 112 degrees (in some areas) accompanied by dangerously high humidity.

I will be skipping a long walk today.

. . .

The primary elections are underway in Tucson today. John McCain and J.D. Hayworth are candidates in the race for United States Senator.

Hayworth was once a promoter of a Get Free Government Money scam on a TV infomercial, and when asked by a news reporter about defrauding the public, he said, "Caveat Emptor"

I doubt if that unscrupulous huckster will defeat John McCain, but then again, one is often advised to never underestimate the stupidity of the American voter.

. . .

Rush Limbaugh has temporarily flown his coop, off on some side venture, and one of his second-string guest hosts is again failing to entertain by spouting great gushing gouts of attempted copycat conservative drivel. So, no radio at this time is available to accompany my scribblings -- What, oh what am I to do?

. . .

I have heard that Rosetta Stone's total immersion system is quite effective in helping learn a new language. Having once been fairly fluent in Spanish, I am appalled at how much of this ability I have lost from many years of non-use of the language. I can still read written Spanish, laboriously and with the aid of a good Spanish/English dictionary but unfortunately I can no longer easily understand or speak it with any fluency at all. And I would like to re-learn the language.

Something to think about.

. . .

Again a request to become a Facebook Friend of a former classmate has invaded my computer. This request is from a man who will never again be a 'friend' of any kind to me. This I know, and this sure knowledge is due to a shameful act he performed, at my expense, back in the 1960s, one that I still shudder at with extreme loathing when I remember it. Of course, he does not know that I know of his horribly invasive transgression. He thinks I am in the dark as to his crime.

Some things are unforgivable.

As far as I'm concerned.

(time is passing)


Okay, I have calmed down now. But I have nothing more to say at the moment.