Broken Corset

December 5, 2010

Isn’t There Anyone Who Knows What Christmas is All About?

Filed under: Agnosticism, Civil Rights, Family, gay marriage, holidays, Homosexuality, Marriage, motherhood, politics, Religion, Sexuality, values, women — saracallow @ 9:43 pm

My title is one of my favorite quotes, from one of my favorite Christmas specials.  Good ol’ Charlie Brown – and his dilapidated tree – “all it needed was a little love” Linus tells us…  and with that line, he seems to answer the question – what is Christmas all about? Love.  Christmas is about love.  For unto us a child was born – and he came to save the world – a sign of God’s love for us.  It might possibly be one of the most beautiful stories told.

I can easily swing from the Charlie Brown story into the Christmas Song by Dave Matthews… It tells the story of Jesus in a beautifully sad tone, reminding us of the people Jesus spent time with – people who were “less than golden hearted” – and of how the world in his presence and afterward was filled with love…  “love, love is all around”.

It probably wouldn’t be fair to call myself a Christian.  But at Christmastime, I can easily become captivated by the beauty of the tale and the message of love.  And I always love the music of the season… my favorites are the more haunting pieces like What Child is This? (Greensleeves melody).

And within the Christmas story, I can’t help but think of Mary.  How scary it would be to have an angel visit you, to bear the child of God…. to travel great distances, and give birth in a manger.  Amy Grant’s Breath of Heaven gets at it… And I think of how motherhood has changed my life, and yet Mary is barely discussed.  But Mary is close to my heart this season, as is the gift of motherhood- because while she’s not at the center of Christianity, for a bit at Christmas, she’s got a starring role.  And if you are a mom, you know that being a mom is a starring role – even if it’s also often unappreciated.

Now, I want to tell you a story about another mom, and it’s a scary story too…  and if you bear with me, I’ll eventually get to how it’s all related.

Lisa Howe is about to become a mother.  A successful soccer coach at Belmont University in Tennessee, she will add motherhood to her resume beginning in May.  As ANY mom knows…  it will change her life.  If everything goes well, she will be exhausted, emotionally strung out, and probably sick a lot more for a few years.  She will also come to work with spit up or crumbs in her hair and clothes, and probably feel a need now and then to tell a few annoying stories about the baby’s first word or first steps.  Annoying of course, only to the jaded of the world… miraculous and amazing to Lisa… and wonderfully sweet to those who care about her.

Anyway, no surprise… she decided to tell her soccer team about the great expectation – I mean, you seriously can’t hide being a mom… even if you could somehow hide the pregnancy.

And that is where she ran into problems. Because as it turns out, Lisa is not carrying this sweet little being… her partner is.  And because of that fact, Lisa was fired.  Okay, so Belmont says she wasn’t fired, nor did she resign….  but apparently it was communicated that she would be fired, so she chose instead to leave.

Belmont is a Catholic University… and if you don’t know where the Catholics stand on gay marriage… well, you haven’t been paying attention.  And so Lisa, her life being out of step with Catholic values was no longer welcome.  According to a few articles, if she hadn’t left before the baby was born, she would have had to leave afterward, because, like I said… you just can’t hide a baby.

But this is where I am so lost.  I mean….  don’t the Catholics know what Christmas is all about??  Am I am so uninformed that I am confused???  Because my understanding of things was that Jesus was born to all of us, that Jesus welcomed everyone , that he associated with people regardless of whether he agreed with them.  And I thought that when he died it was for everyone too.  Isn’t Christmas about love and acceptance?  I mean, I suppose the pope probably knows more than Charlie Brown and Dave Matthews…  but really?… it’s fucking super out of sync in my mind.  I’m trying to make a list of the values that Belmont University’s Catholic education must hold…  but given this story, I’m really at a loss.

Anyway…  ’tis the season I guess.

When I read a story like Lisa’s… I feel like Charlie Brown – is there no meaning to Christmas anymore?  But then I try and remember that each child is a gift to the world – and Lisa’s child too.  And every baby born changes the world in some fashion… And the more children born who are taught the values of acceptance and love, the more Charlie Brown’s spirit of Christmas will spread – and slowly, I truly believe, the hatred and fear will be smothered.

So I guess, when it comes to Christmas… I’m all about the message of Charlie Brown and Dave Matthews – and I’m not sure they aren’t a bit ahead of the Catholic Church here, even if they are commercial creations…

Merry Christmas Lisa….  all of my best wishes and love on the coming birth of your child… I know love.  And, though it might not seem that way now, when that baby is born, you will realize it is all around.

September 24, 2010

Just Dance

Filed under: exercise, Family, motherhood, music, parenting, women — saracallow @ 9:33 am

I had a great moment today towards the tail end of my run.  Did you know that when Lady Gaga sings Just Dance and I am running, I actually become a super hot 17 year old amazing dancer…. people are watching me, and I’m sexy?  It’s true….  I found that out today as I ran.

In truth, I think I believe that fantasy even more than I actually believe I am approaching 35 and the mother of three young children.  How weird is that?  Because I can tell you, that fantasy of the super hot 17 year old confident dancer was never even remotely true.  Yet somehow, that feels almost closer to me than my reality.

The part I don’t understand in this fantasy/reality paradox is why I feel so distant from the reality I love so much.  I actually love where I am in life, even if I struggle  some with the balance between motherhood and “me-ness”….

But I know I’m not turning 35.  I know that I didn’t graduate from college 12 years ago.  I mean, I’m still planning my halloween costume for the biggest party of the year!!  Or at least, it seems like that could be a possibility.

Somehow, I think, as a child I had this clear conception of my parents as older… and that affects me to this day as I reach ages I associate with “age”.  I guess maybe my parents weren’t so old after all – maybe they were cruising around to the Lady Gaga of their time picturing themselves as hot and sexy on the dance floor…. hmmm… that is just not a good image – parents and sex appeal just don’t go together.

What is it about parenthood that requires the perception of age?  I’m thinking that it is wrapped up in security perhaps.  For so long, we think that as long as our parents are there, we are safe.  There could have been a major catastrophe, but I’m pretty sure that as long as my parents could hold my hand or give me a hug, I’d have felt peace inside.  Perhaps this can only come about if you see them as older.

What’s amazing about parenthood though, is realizing that you are that sense of peace for your children.  When I consider that, even briefly, I feel an emotion filled sense of wonder.  I am that….  that safety, that calm, that everything will always be okay.  I am magic.  That is my actual reality.  And that is amazing.

Yep… Lady Gaga is fun, and being 17 and super hot is pretty great too.  Definitely a pick me up when exercising.  But it’s not too hard to figure out what is better in the fantasy/reality paradox.  I’ll take motherhood any day, even if it means I’m getting old.  Though in my head, sometimes, I’ll still be dancing….

April 22, 2010

Where Did the Time Go?

Filed under: Family, Marriage, motherhood, women — saracallow @ 9:05 am

I know, I know, the title is a bit trite.  And you’re thinking, clearly, this is another one of those essays about children growing up too fast, and the ephemeral nature of childhood.

In fact, I realized I had something to say about the fleeting nature of time as I watched my daughter play with pattern blocks on the floor….  carefully constructing an ever more intricate flower out of trapezoids, triangles and the like.

But really, I wasn’t thinking about her rapidly passing childhood (though I could, and I’m sure many of you would sympathize – but I think we all get that)…  rather, as I watched her, while folding laundry, I wondered….  where has MY time gone???

I find, these days, that my time is spent rushing from this activity to that, squeezing in a quick sweep of the floor, or a basket of laundry in the spare minutes grabbed between the march of the clock.  My mind, even as I complete the more mundane tasks, is multi-tasking between what comes next in the day, what is for dinner, and some of the more looming worries I have about my children or our financial future.  Of course, going back to school hasn’t exactly helped this process.  I now carry around books in my car, things titled Imperial Leather; Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest and How Democratic is the American Constitution? so that I can spend the couple minutes I have waiting in the carpool line for one of the kids to get out of school making a little progress on my own academic assignments.  And yes, they’re interesting.  But…..

They are definitely not what you’d choose if you were curling up with a good book, cup of tea and a blanket by the window on a rainy day.  They are definitely not the same zen experience I’m looking for when I take up knitting -  some day, apparently far in the future.  These books don’t fulfill my desire to put some music on after my shower in the morning as I take the time to blow dry my hair….

Yes, that’s right.  I can’t even seem to find the time to blow dry my hair.  Never mind that it’s been winter and going out with a wet head seems a little ridiculous.

Where did the time go – my time, for me??  I don’t think it disappeared the minute that I became a mother.  I’m pretty sure it’s not solely related to my Iphone which I justify as saving at least some percentage of the time it sucks…  It’s been chipped away, bit by bit, by motherhood, children and their activities, modern technological draws, and even my own aspirations – which fill it with interesting – but not necessarily soul building – reads.

I realized, as I looked at a large bruise on my arm the other day, no doubt acquired in a hasty moment, quickly forgotten, where I didn’t grant myself the time for more than a quick exclamation of pain, that I’m afraid.

I’m afraid, that one day, when I finally have time, I will get up and look in the mirror.  My hair will be graying and the wrinkles at the corner of my eyes no longer faint.  I will listen to the quiet house, or the rain on the window, as I stand at the mirror and realize that the house is clean and I’m reasonably on top of the laundry.  I’m afraid, that I will not only lament the fact that my children have grown so fast and their childhood was fleeting.  I’m afraid that I will wonder what happened to me in the rush of raising them.

This is something that I struggle with as a mom.  I want to live in the present, and enjoy every passing moment of my children… and I hear that desire from other parents, and I think most of us understand we could do a better job of living for today and appreciating each moment as our children grow.  But I don’t think we always recognize our willingness to let the time for ourselves go… or the sometimes deeper fear of what we may have lost personally as each day rushes past.

So I’m putting my fear out there for you to see.  I’m afraid, not deeply and desperately afraid, but that nagging worry back of the mind, afraid…  what is happening to me? And someday, will I be a broken remainder of myself – having given various little pieces away to these years I spend at home….  ?

June 21, 2009

Tonight, I’m looking for a tower, where I can hide away the ones I love the most.

Filed under: Family, motherhood, parenting, Uncategorized, women — saracallow @ 11:37 am

I watched her from behind…  my 7 year old, as she stood next to our blow up back yard pool and told her daddy exactly how important it was that we have ice cream after dinner.  Her body language conveyed she was not to be moved, despite the chill in the air and the goosebumps on her naked body.  She had been readying for a bath, when Daddy teased her that maybe tonight wasn’t ice cream night after all.  I’m sure she was aware he was teasing, but on the off chance he wasn’t, she followed him right back outside.   As she made her point the stark whiteness of her rear end was nearly as strong a contrast to her tanned skin as her pointed delivery was to her father’s laughter.  It was a beautiful moment.  My daughter’s innocence and conviction coupled together in a single argument for ice cream.

Earlier today, I found out my fifteen year old niece received straight A’s for her second semester of highschool.  She gleefully posted her accomplishment on Facebook, and had quickly received feedback from several friends.  “Congratulations!  ha ha ha,” one such friend replied.  “ha ha ha?”  What happened to just, “Congratulations!”  Why do all my niece’s friends end their posts with “ha ha ha” as if nothing they have to say should ever be taken seriously?  Why do they trivialize their own thoughts? 

Once, these 15 year olds were perfect and innocent too.  But the world grabbed hold, and massaged, sanded, and chipped away at the edges of their persons, until now, at 15 – their 7 year old selves are hard to recognize – so smooth and homogeneous are all their exteriors.

Of course, the tower didn’t work for Rumpelstiltskin, and I have no illusions that I could ever keep my child separate from society….  nor would I really want to.  Life is for living – and there are so many experiences she needs to have to grow into the amazing adult I feel she is destined to be.  And even right now, in the midst of my melancholy, I can admit that most of the 15 year olds out there will grow a little more, and learn to stand a little taller, leaving behind the “ha ha’s” and hopefully figuring out what they believe in – taking back some of sharper edges society once stole.

 But tonight, as I head to bed, I think how sad it will be to say goodbye to the days when we are the only influence that matters.  When our love is enough to conquer all the demons.  When ice cream is worth fighting for, even when naked.  Tonight, I don’t want to let my 7 year old go.  It hurts to imagine it.  And there is no “ha ha ha” after that…  only a few tears.

June 3, 2009

I’m not alone.

Filed under: Family, Internet, motherhood, parenting, Uncategorized, women — saracallow @ 9:44 pm

“It’s nice to know, I’m not alone,” says the Facebook status update of an old friend.  This, in response to a series of comments on her earlier status update regarding the constant mess of children and clean-up by those who care for them.

Not an earth shattering revelation, I know.  But a telling comment on social networking sites like Facebook.  I love Facebook.  And while I haven’t joined all those twittering out there, I understand why they love to tweet.  It’s about connection, reaffirmation, and community.  In the modern society of technology, working moms, and over-scheduled kids, it isn’t often that we stop and share the drudgery of life with each other.

Women especially suffer in this modern world.  Work environments are often still dominated by men – if not always in sheer numbers, usually in cultural practices.  Mothers working in the home spend more time shuttling children between activities than chatting with the neighbor.  Grandmothers are often out of town, state or country.  Our support system has eroded… and yet women still do most of the work of childraising, cooking and cleaning that keep a household moving.  But who is there to share the pitiful moments…  to tell you that their kids scream too… or their house is messy most of the time as well?  No one.  Instead, you have glossy magazines and carefully crafted shows that make working, having children, maintaining a beautiful home and providing delicious dinners (without gaining a pound!) seem simple.  Why can’t you keep up for goodness sake??

That’s how you feel…  until you put something out there on Facebook or Twitter… and the comments come rolling in.  Suddenly, from all across the country, your friends and family are telling you it’s the same in their house.  And you’re not alone.  What did women do without this tool?  It’s group therapy, support, and reaffirmation all rolled into one.  It’s the menstrual hut of tribal societies…  minus the blood and forced seclusion. 

Don’t hide your failings, your terrible moments.  Stop pretending to live in a  glossy magazine spread.  Tweet the worst that you have – or slap it up there on your Facebook status.  Social networking will do more to realign the expectations mass media has skewed and the isolation the modern world imposes than anything before.  I’m not alone and neither are you.

April 1, 2009

Mucking About in the Pond

Filed under: careers, Family, General Remarks, motherhood, parenting, women — saracallow @ 8:18 pm

I submitted my application to continue my graduate studies two nights ago.  My application scooted in just under the deadline, and I’m still waiting on the arrival of my transcripts.  As I’ve considered starting back to school part time, and the major commitment and sacrifice such an endeavor requires, I have constantly vacillated back and forth over whether it’s the right decision or not.

I find that when I’m at home with the kids, focused on life here, I enjoy it very much.  I like to cook, help in the classroom, hear the April fool’s jokes, hug, help with homework, and watch soccer practice.  (If I could offload the laundry, I’d be happier).  But the truth is, I’m content here in the home, I feel lucky to be here.

When I was in school, one year ago, working part time on a Master’s degree, I  loved the challenge of reading new material, discussing it in class, and even writing the term papers most students dread.  I began to dream about going on for a PhD, doing important research, and headlining conferences!  :)   (Oh, what a small ego I apparently have!)

Today, I read my son a story called Eliza and the Dragonfly.  Eliza is a young girl who cannot wait to grow up, and as she looks a the young dragonfly nymph, still swimming in the pond, she worries that he will not know when it is his time to take flight.  Her aunt responds by saying, “Eliza, a dragonfly nymph doesn’t worry about when it will grow up and become a dragonfly.  It doesn’t wish it could fly or be more beautiful than it already is.  It just mucks about in the pond, being itself.  Then it wakes up one morning with wings.” 

The wisdom of children’s books.  This is not even close to the first time that I felt more inspired and touched by a children’s author than the gospel itself. 

Clearly, this explanation speaks to me today.  It probably speaks to me almost every day.  But today, as I muck about in the pond, and worry about what steps to take moving forward, I envy the dragonfly.  And initially, I think, “Yes, that is the answer.  Contentment where you are… no need to move forward, no worry for the future.”  And there IS wisdom in that concept. 

But it isn’t complete…  because we aren’t the dragonfly nymph, and our wings won’t sprout of their own accord.  So if we dream of taking flight some day, we may have to do some preparation.  The answer I believe, lies in finding contentment in the pond while we are there…  to prepare, and grow, and plan, but to appreciate mucking about in the pond. 

Today, I hosted three “playdates”, drove six children (not all my own) a variety of locations, folded 6 baskets of laundry, swept the floor 3 times, taught the dog to fetch, met with other moms to prepare a presentation at the elementary school tomorrow, made breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and did the dishes – and  had a fabulous time mucking about in the pond. 

But I won’t mind growing some either.  It’s not all bad to do some preparation…  when you’re planning to take flight – and it doesn’t have to take away from the joy of mucking about in the pond.  And my husband can do the laundry.

December 12, 2008

Who has time for Mommy Wars?

Filed under: Family, Marriage, motherhood, parenting, Uncategorized, women — saracallow @ 3:18 pm

Admittedly, I’m way behind on blog postings… and I’ve honestly had lots of inspiring little moments, all captured (as many things are in my hectic life)with green children’s marker on the back of a piece of junk mail which is buried (I hope) somewhere in my pile of important things I need to get to.  But I haven’t had any time to get to any of it.

In fact, they have stopped delivering a newspaper to my door.  Typically, this would cause me to call and report a delivery error – but I’m procrastinating because I have a fear that there is a bill for said newspapers also buried deep in my pile of important things to do, and it is not a mistake that one of my favorite indulgences is no longer in my driveway each morning.

Such is the life of a mom this time of year.  It’s a little sexist to exclude the dads… but generally speaking, I find it is us women who have volunteered to bake a couple dozen cookies for the teachers at school, cut out extra crafts for the holiday party, and bring in unused coats and food for the coat and food drive.  We are also planning to help our kids celebrate by baking extra at home, decorating the house, attending every little school performance and party, and digging up old Christmas DVDs and music.  And I haven’t even mentioned gift planning, shopping, and wrapping or addressing holiday cards. 

Wow.  And all this on top of our other responsibilities.  As I sat down at the computer and calculated how long it had been since I blogged, I thought about how all of us are in the holiday crunch this time of year.  Some of us add on the responsibilities to a very busy work day at the office, others of us, to a very busy work day at home. 

And I think about the Mommy Wars.  These “wars” are something I have never particularly understood or felt a part of.  Maybe it’s because my choice to stay at home wasn’t an easy one to make, or one that I  think I’ll stick with forever.  I know how hard those of us who work at home work, and how much personal sacrifice it entails.  And I could turn around and say the exact same thing about those moms I know who work “at work”.   

Our recent move to the Silicon Valley has been a little eye opening actually when it comes to the “mommy wars”.  Even in Los Angeles, most moms seemed to fit pretty neatly into one of the two armies at war…  but not here.  Here, a truce seems to have been called.  In the extremely progressive Bay Area, I hardly know any moms at home who don’t dabble in a professional environment too.  What a lucky position for these moms to be in.  Rather than look upon anyone working disparagingly (as the mommy war would encourage me to) – I look upon these women enviously.  Somehow, they have managed to straddle both worlds, part time in each, engaged at home on a daily basis with their children, and intellectually and professionally stimulated as well.  They aren’t the moms of our mother’s generation who worked full time and still felt the responsibility to do it all at home.  There are many of these women who have genuinely found a reasonable part time commitment to both – aided in large part by the greater flexibility and progressive stance offered by  many of the internet companies located here.  Of course, this is how I envision it.  They might describe it differently.

Nonetheless, I feel sorry for the rest of us, who have had to choose one over the other – and especially for some of us for whom the “choice” was one of necessity not options.  Being a mom isn’t easy – especially this time of year.  Making choices that somehow automatically assign you a role in some sort of war isn’t something most of us signed up for when we made our “choice”.   And who has time for such a debate anyway?  Not me.  There are too many things in  my pile waiting to get done!

This holiday season, when I’m behind on enough things already… I look upon each mom I see out there with a smile.  Being a mom is a sisterhood really, and whichever side of the war you’re on, you’re a part of it.  We’re all just trying to get it all done, and find some time to sit by the fire and celebrate the holidays with the ones we love.  It’s time for peace in the mommy wars… and there’s no better time to recognize it than this holiday season.

October 15, 2008

You Wouldn’t Play With Me, So Now I’ll Call You Names

Filed under: Civil Rights, financial crisis, politics, Presidency, Sarah Palin, subprime mortgage mess, War, women — saracallow @ 9:13 pm

Seriously, this debate was a total debacle for McCain in my mind.  If you were ANYONE but his core constituency, I can’t imagine you thought he was successful.

What was worse?

1.  McCain playing the wounded child in the first half hour.  Did he look like he was going to cry for the playground aid, or was that just me?

2.  McCain finishing up his testimony on behalf of Sarah Palin by telling us, “[h]er husband’s a pretty tough guy, by the way, too.”   There you go, clearly a guy who values his running mate’s contribution and sees her as an equal – not as the female half of a marriage. 

3.  The fact that McCain seems to think his (clearly well vetted) running mate has a child with autism when it is actually downs syndrome.

4.  When talking about Obama’s requirement for a health exception for the mother in any late term abortion ban, McCain put the world health in quotes.  (Presumably to signify a mother’s health is nearly ridiculous?)

5.  McCain’s assertion that his campaign would have refused to engage in negative attacks if only Obama had done town meetings.  Was this a “you wouldn’t play with me, so now I’ll call you names” moment?

6.  McCain honing in on Obama as a negative campainer…  especially the ads that attack his healthcare policy.  Hmmmm….  I think I’m okay with ads detailing actual policy differences…  Unlike those trying to tie Obama to terrorism – a claim that McCain clearly stands by despite it’s ridiculous basis.

It’s hard to say which moment was worse for McCain.  But I did laugh out loud a few times, and finished the experience with a sense of relaxation, peace and happiness.  Usually I’m riled up after these things, but tonight… it nearly seemed like comedy.  Slam Dunk if you ask my opinion.

October 6, 2008

“Just let the music set you free”

Filed under: exercise, Family, music, parenting, women — saracallow @ 9:50 pm

As I have persisted along in my early morning jogging routine, unfailing in my dedication, despite the cooler weather, changing light and my deep dislike of the early morning…  I stumbled upon a new trick, again related to music, which helped me finish the run. 

This past week, I read an essay entitled On Being a Grownup by an old friend from high school.  In addition to making me laugh, I found myself later reflecting on what being a grown-up means to me.  Working at exercise is something adults do.  As a kid, exercise was fun.  It was a gymnastics class with a trampoline, a soccer game in the backyard, building a snow fort, or raking leaves into fun shapes (yeah.. how manipulative were my parents!?)  It certainly wasn’t getting up before you were ready, hurrying out the door in the dark and cold, and forcing your muscles to complete three miles of agony – arriving back at home at a time you should still have been sleeping.  “Blah” is exactly the right expression.

But as I ran this morning, “Into the Groove” by Madonna began playing…  and with my introspective grownup glasses on, I reflected on the 80′s, and Madonna as I ran.

Madonna and the 80′s.  For me, this was a time of some serious dancing.  Maybe in my bedroom, or backyard (with my tape player and earphones), maybe in my cousin’s basement where we held pretend microphones and whirled around to the music.   Not long after Madonna broke onto the scene came the movie, Girls Just Want To Have Fun.  Complete with a great 80′s soundtrack, Sarah Jessica Parker took Dance TV by storm – and I later repeated her winning routine many times over in my bedroom.  Could there be anything better than Janey, defying her father’s wishes, to dance her way to stardom??  Wow, those were the days.  I was inherently cool and talented as I bee-bopped around with my huge hot pink earrings and big hair.  Oh, what a feeling. 

Suddenly, I found as I ran, and Madonna continued to play, I was back in the basement with my cousin.  I pretended each step on the pavement was another step in an amazing dance routine.  I wasn’t facing the agony of my muscles, I was whirling around, in time to the music, and the crowds were cheering.  I was the ultimate Dance TV winner.  Maybe I am just really good at deluding myself, but it worked and I was smiling.  Laughing, nearly.   

Being a grownup doesn’t have too many completely free moments.  I’m not sure I could dance as crazily around my house as an adult, as I did as a child.  Okay, maybe as crazily, but not as carefree.  I am tired, self-conscious, and constantly juggling the to-do list in the back of my head.  I might try to let that all go for awhile, but it would still be there lurking in the back – in a way it never was for me as a child. 

But as I ran, for that little bit, I was there – freed to relax and enjoy the memory because I was actively completing a part of the to-do list.  And after the song ended, something else came to me.  Exercise isn’t very fun for me.  But I exercise because I don’t want to miss anything.  I want to grow old to enjoy and appreciate the colors of fall even if I have to rake the leaves, to cheer on the sidelines of soccer games and shuttle kids to gymnastics, to watch my children grow and become adults with interesting opinions and ideas, to savor the quiet mornings of retirement with a slow sipped coffee, to read good books and talk to interesting people, and maybe, to get old enough to lose some of the self-consciousness and dance again with abandon…

The sacrifices of lost freedom, hard work, and even the exercise – are a small price to pay for the wonders of being a grownup.

Get up on your feet and step to the beat – being a grownup is like dancing on the ceiling.

October 4, 2008

Still not cheering…

Filed under: politics, Presidency, Sarah Palin, women — saracallow @ 9:13 am

As I continue to fume over the insult of Sarah Palin… I found myself wondering this morning… Where are Meg and Carly??? 

Living in the Silicon Valley, a short time ago, it seemed a daily occurrence to read about Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina campaigning on behalf of John McCain.  As I was contemplating how insulting the Sarah Palin choice is to intelligent women everywhere, on both sides of the aisle, I found myself thinking: What do Meg and Carly think of this?  And why haven’t they been in the paper for some time? 

So I turned on my computer and googled them… and you know what?  There wasn’t a lot to be found.  At least not since McCain named Sarah Palin VP.  Whitman, at some point commented that it was not sexist for the media to vet her – as she is being named to the second highest office.  Fiorina went on the record in September to say that McCain wasn’t qualified to run a major corporation – clearly a gaff.  Whitman also remarked that Palin’s debate performance was, “good enough.”  And that is it… all I could really dredge up in a couple of minutes searching.

Interesting, because it seems both have largely gone quiet – with the exception of some potentially terse and unsupportive remarks.  I wonder if the McCain camp has asked them to step out of the spotlight because the comparison between Palin and Whitman or Fiorina would only contribute to the growing dissatisfaction with Palin’s competence?  Or have Whitman and Fiorina distanced themselves from the spotlight of the campaign to avoid linking their own political futures to Palin’s?  Or perhaps… are Meg and Carly feeling much as I am - insulted by the choice – especially since they were speculated to be in the running for VP? 

Really, as the financial crisis dominates the headlines… I find myself thinking… I would always have voted for Obama.  There are way to many things that I disagree with on the Republican Party platform.  I’m a liberal – through and through.   But a McCain/Whitman or McCain/Fiorina ticket?  Well… I wouldn’t have been embarrased.  I would have felt glad that at least an industry titan was in on the economic discussions.  I would have been pleased to see a successful and competent woman walking the hallways of the White House – even if I disagreed with her.  I wouldn’t have been fuming this morning … 

Two days later… and still not cheering.

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