I'm Back... Now Where Did I Leave that Soapbox?

I’m back from my month-long inpatient rehab and though the detox was painful, I have learned there is still reason to live and ways to spend my time other than refreshing bbc.com. For instance, I can take up my soapbox issue: The misuse of “literally.” I know, I know, there are better causes to stand for, but this simply needs to be brought into the light and it distracts me from the world of politics. I heard three absolutely egregious abuses of the defenseless word that must be called out:

“It literally reeks of desperation.” – The writer (a professional writer) did not go on to describe any kind of actual odor. He just compared the concept of a Grammys Nomination Concert to something about Fantasy Football. Do they bottle “Desperation?” I bet it actually smells mysteriously seductive.

Commercial: “If you don’t buy your windows from (insert company name here), you’re literally throwing your money out the window.” – No I’m not, you just happen to use an English idiom to create a clever pun. Perhaps I am figuratively throwing said money, but no cash or coins will actual be expelled from my window.

Sports commentator: “They are literally shooting themselves in the foot right now.” I don’t remember which team was Coug’ing it at the time, but I do know Plaxico Burress was not involved.

The sad thing is, I think our VP-elect is one of the worst abusers of this word… And then there's this. D’oh!

… I might need to check back into Politicaholics Anonymous rehab.

Do They Have a 12-Step Group for This???

Hi, my name is Becky and I'm addicted to political and election news. It's official. I have an addiction. To something more than coffee, that is.

I should have seen the warning signs:

• Watching Rachel Maddow on TiVo before sunrise.
• Getting home from the INN feeling too tired to brush my teeth, but good enough to see what Jon Stewart had to say.
• ...And Colbert too.
• My newfound ability to name a dozen different polling agencies.
  
• Confusing Sarah Palin and Tina Fey.
• Waking up to realize Sean Hannity and Keith Olbermann were in my dream.
• Considering Anderson Cooper and Campbell Brown two of my closest friends.

Now that there is a proverbial light at the end of this pundit- and pander-filled tunnel, I'm starting to wonder what I'm going to do with my time. Most people will say they can't wait for this season to be finished so they won't have to watch the ads anymore. I can't help but wonder if they are secretly suffering from the same disease as I am. It's not the ads. It's my inability to turn away from the ads. I should not feel as though I'm on a first-name basis with most of the people pictured.

Don't get me wrong, I pay attention to politics all the time and I also realize nothing really changes on November 5. It's not like I'm being forced to quit cold turkey. This seems analogous to those who are finishing a great novel in one of those (seemingly) never-ending series. Harry Potter comes to mind. I can't wait to see how the story ends, but I will miss it once it's over. In fact, I already went back and re-read the whole metaphorical book before I finished the last chapter. That's right, this weekend - the weekend before the election - I watched a retrospective of the 2008 presidential campaigns. It was a sentimental journey through debates, 3am phone calls, lipstick on a pig, and a few Joes (Biden, Six-pack, and The Plumber). Those were the days.

The first step is admitting you have a problem, right? It's time for me to look up steps 2 through 12. Let's just hope the headaches aren't as bad as when I try to give up coffee.

Favorite Photo Friday

Taken August05 with Canon EOS Digital Rebel in Spokane, WA

I'm pretty sure this was Cameron's 2nd birthday. Which means that this picture was taken back when he was my only nephew. River was born a month later. I'm not the biggest fan of the composition of this picture, particularly the shadows of the trees. I do love everything this picture symbolizes to me, though; when I look at this photo, I conceptualize guidance and safety. My brother is such a great dad. From the moment I took the picture, it reminded me of another picture:

(I didn't take this one...)

Beware the End of the Age

Just overheard on The Daily Show:
"All hell broke loose, quite literally."
I wanted to give you a heads up because I don't think these kinds of things can be contained locally, so it could get ugly everywhere.

Favorite Photo Friday

Taken 19Sept08 with Canon EOS Digital Rebel near Mt. Baker, WA

This is really the first picture I've posted that I took because of my concentrated effort to take more pictures. We were at the Firs Chalet near Bellingham for our student leadership retreat and I decided to go for a walk one morning. The lake right outside was as smooth as glass. I played around a lot with the manual setting and loved capturing the moment. I'm sure a few of the other pictures from that morning will make appearances on FPF. The pictures themselves are fine, but I love the moment they catch - the quiet of sunrise in the setting I love the most: mountains.

Don't ask why the text is so small. I've tried to change it several times and it looks right in the WYSIWYG. I blame blogspot.

The Great Depression

Ok, it's time for me to weigh in on the issue that seems to be on the mind of everyone I talk to these days. It makes sense that this topic has become so ubiquitous - who could ignore such an historic crash? It makes sense that I get sucked into the bad news and lose sleep over it regularly. I mean, just a few years ago, things were looking pretty good. Numbers were up and there was a reason to be optimistic about the future. Now, on this side of the crash, it's hard to see how things will ever improve. I find myself worried that things will take a long time to improve, or (shudder): they will get worse.

I'm talking, of course, about the state of my favorite sports teams. As can be seen in this picture of a man forced to watch a Carlos Silva start after learning how much he was paid this season, the sports year in Seattle has been vomit-inducing. The brilliantly insightful and humorous Bill Simmons (AKA, "The Sports Guy") recently called this "the single most depressing season for a city in the history of professional sports." Oh, the agony it is to admit that he's right! Unfortunately, though, he's only scratching the surface. Throw Division 1 NCAA teams in there - at least the ones people will pay money to see - and we're talking devastation of epic proportions for this city.

Let's face the facts: it couldn't possibly get much worse than this.
Over on Mountlake, the Huskies' basketball team underachieved when it failed to play in any postseason tournament at all. The football team's recruiting class was getting rave reviews which made me a believer. Certainly they would contend for a bowl this year, right? My optimism was quickly squashed. Now I don't even get to watch Jake.

My beloved Mariners had the 9th highest payroll in Major League Baseball this year. What did that earn them? The second worst record in the game. To top it off, they mortgaged their future with the Bedard trade last winter, so "there's always next year" never rang so hollowly.

The Seahawks depressed us with a drubbing at the hands of Green Bay in the playoffs last January. Now they look like they may make the meteoric fall from 5 straight division titles to a 1-15 record. Looking at their schedule (and their injury report), I'm predicting a 6-9 finish at best and a windfall for local sports medicine doctors. The one team we've been able to count on lately is letting us down.

I don't even know what to say about the Team Formerly Known as the Seattle Supersonics. This is the team that won the National Championship - the only significant national championship in Seattle (sorry Storm fans) - two months after I was born. Memories of watching Gus Williams, Jack Sikma, Nate McMillan, "Big Smooth" Sam Perkins, and Gary Payton definitely gave me an emotional bond with the green & gold. (We're ignoring their brief flirtation with red right now). Not only did this team suck this year, but they were stolen from us! If I ever meet David Stern or Clay Bennett at a 4-way stop, I am NOT letting them go first. They are bad people.

Poor Seattle. Clearly we have much more important crises to worry about. But sports are supposed to be our diversion and the place we can turn to be cheered while the world going you-know-where in a you-know-what. That might be the case in many parts of the country (curse you, Boston!) where hope abounds, but not in the otherwise glorious city in which I live.

Do you think we could convince the federal government to consider a bailout of professional sports in Seattle?

How depressing.

Favorite Photo Friday

Taken October05 with Canon EOS Digital Rebel in Spokane, WA

This picture combines 3 of my favorite things:
1) Nephews. My very favorite "things" there are.
2) Fall. Again, sorry to belabor the point.
3) Pumpkins. The perks of which I have previously enumerated.

Therefore, how could I not love this picture? A nephew dressed as a pumpkin, two nephews in front of hundreds of pumpkins on a beautiful fall day. It does not get any better than that.