Ride 'em

While we were at the beach, Desi had his first real amusement park ride experience at the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk. Based on the pics, I'd say he enjoyed himself. And a future carnie is born...

Alone

Craig recently finished reading "Alone" byRichard Byrd. It's a true story of a guy who is stuck alone in the Antarctic. He had been alone for a long time with hardly any communication with the outside world and had a lot of time to contemplate things. Craig really liked one passage where the author writes about being "alone" because even though he was very ill at the time and thought he might be nearing his death, he was very brave, maintaining his viewpoint with clarity and without succumbing to a "traditional" religious viewpoint that might promise a heavenly salvation. Here is the passage.

The universe is not dead. Therefore, there is anIntellligence there, and it is all pervading. At least one purpose, possibly the major purpose, of that Intelligence is the achievement of universal harmony. Striving in the right direction for Peace (Harmony), therefore, as well as the achievement of it, is the result of accord with that Intelligence. It is desirable to effect that accord. The human race, then, is not alone in the universe. Though I am cut off from human beings, I am not alone. For untold ages man has felt an awareness of that Intelligence. Belief in it is the one point where all religions agree. It has been called by many names. Many call it God.

La Playa

We spent a week at the beach house and had a nice time doing face plants in the sand (Desi) and getting slammed by waves (Azalea). We had plenty of playmates -- Gigi and the Segals, Angela and Kai and the Schindlers, a brithday party of 10 nine-year-old girls (don't ask), Dr. Joyce and Doc, Paul, and Butt-Surfing Champs David and Helen. The Singers also came to stay for a few days and Lauren taught Azalea some basic gymnastics moves like "crouch down! The Mahoneys were there for most of the week, staying a few doors down from us on Dune St. The Mighty Quinn asked Azalea to go upstairs to "see his room" at one point. Should I be worried?

Desi's First Baseball Game!

Last Sunday we went to our first-ever Washington Nationals game (well, it was Craig's second; he went on opening day). It was Desi's first-ever baseball game, and Grandma Gwen's first baseball game in about 30 years (or so she claimed). We had a great time riding the Metro (can't believe I just wrote that), eating hot dogs, peanuts and blue snow cones, and watching the game -- even though the Nationals lost to the Padres.

After the game, Azalea and her Dad waited in line for about 45 minutes for a chance to run the bases at RFK. Azalea was really excited to run (and kept running ahead of people in line) but once she got to the actual baseball diamond, she refused to move and Craig had to carry her and run the bases. Oh well. Maybe next year. She only really wanted to run the bases so that she could get close to Screech the Eagle.

Desi had fun crawling around the top of the Nationals dugout until a security guard busted him. Not even a year old and already in trouble with the law...

Ohio Blues

I'm pretty disappointed this morning. I really thought Paul Hackett would win the Congressional seat in Ohio last night. I know that it's a really Republican district and all, and that the race was super-close, but still... You'd think in this era of "support the troops" that people would support an Iraq war veteran. Oh, but wait. I forgot. He's a Democrat so he is not worth supporting. Interesting that Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are all in favor of respecting and supporting "our brave men and women" and fall all over themselves kissing the butts of any serviceperson who calls in to the their shows, but they feel okay with trashing one of these people and besmirching their reputation if he doesn't believe the same things they do.

I was reading a message board the other day where a similar thing was happening. A Republican was complaining about the bumper sticker "I support the troops, but I don't support Bush." He was arguing back and forth with an active duty serviceman because the serviceman was praising the bumper sticker as 'telling the truth' about how most of the troops feel. He pretty much was spewing bile and calling the serviceman "pathetic" and a "disgrace," merely for expressing his opinion. Of course, the Repug had never been in the service, so that was interesting, too.

Here's one of the things the serviceman wrote: "I'm active duty. I'm speaking out against the President. Like most of my comrades, I know very well my life is on the line for some a$$hole's oil reserves. I also know my tour will pay for my college and give me a shot at a decent life. That's why I'm here. That's why we're all here. Thank God for people who have the intelligence to see that supporting us is the opposite of supporting that chimpanzee in the Oval Office."

Well, unfortunately, Chimpanzee put the troops there, and while I'm sure that they cannot openly be defiant of their commander in chief (rather than secretly defiant on the Internet), many of them are probably feeling pretty bitter. I mean, we have so much money as a nation and we can't make sure these people have adequate protection while they're in Iraq cleaning up the mess we all made? To me, that's what supporting the troops is. Make sure these guys have kevlar, for crying out loud. How about some new equipment that doesn't malfunction? The Operation Truth web site is very illuminating; it's written by people who have returned from Iraq and their true stories. www.optruth.org I should add that to our list of links.

Unfortunately, you can't fit all of that onto a yellow ribbon.

Back to the Hackett race -- I heard this morning that the places where Hackett was the least popular was in the 'exurbs,' the areas that are beyond the established suburbs where they are building all of the gated communities and McMansions. Draw your own conclusions.

Flower Power

The Gladiola Gang

Cheers from NY

While we were in NY for the Michaelides family picnic (see below), we also saw the Thanos crew Yiayia got a chance to engage in one of her favorite activities -- shoving food down Desi's throat.

Family Reunion

So we went to NY the weekend of July 23 for a Michaelides family picnic (or Mijailidis family, if you're from the Argentine contingent). It was at the Ragonesi Neverland Ranch, otherwise known as the home of Monica, Louie, Louie Jr. and Jessica, and complete with a swimming pool and inflatable slide, playsets and batting cage. It was good to see everyone, and especially relieving to note that Rachel is just as much of a exhibitionist/nudie girl as Azalea. There was a lot of Yankees talk going on, not surprisingly, since lil' Louie is OBSESSED with them. Another highlight was Tia Lydis' steaks with chimichurri (yum). Maybe next year the reunion will be in Maryland...

"I'm a uniter, not a divider. I refuse to play the politics of putting people into groups and pitting one group against another." -- George W. Bush

"It's sad that even while the president preaches democracy around the world, he bends the rules and circumvents the will of Congress in appointing our representative to the United Nations." — Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J.

Once again, Dubya gives the big F-U to all who disagree with him. Zieg heil, baby.