red

[sidewalksparkle]

Apolitical observations from the Democratic National Convention: Teresa Heinz Kerry was wearing ketchup-red (I know, along with half the other people in attendance). She looks like an older, prettier version of Sandra Bullock. I liked the "opinionated" statement.

If Bush wins again, I am going to be really upset. This is my number one political observation. The Democratic party isn't perfect, but it's a huge improvement over what we have now. Like anything of its size, the wide spectrum of beliefs within the party and the subsequent divisions are inevitable--I just hope enough unity can be achieved to get through the November election.

It is my day off. I worked a lot this past week, and I am so glad to give my arm a break and to hang out with my sister this afternoon and to go see The Bourne Supremacy tonight. When I woke up this morning I had the same reaction that I used to have when I'd wake up early on a Saturday morning thinking I had to go to school--the blissful realization that there's really nothing I absolutely must get done today.

Time off means more time to worry (ehh) but also more time to be productive in ways other than getting lots of waffle cones made or scraping tubs or taking care of a big group of customers. And being productive with a nice supplement of perfectly allowed lazy-time makes me happy.

Yesterday my boss and his wife took a small road trip to Valparaiso so they could sample the brand of ice cream carried in a friend's store. The ice cream, the Chocolate Shoppe brand from Wisconsin, is apparently really delicious and really well-named. They have Halley's Comet (caramel and chocolate and vanilla) and Fat Elvis (peanut butter and banana with chocolate--mmm, I love Elvis sandwiches, so this would be the perfect ice cream for me) and tons of other really unique flavors. Right now I'm printing off a huge list of the flavors. I love the ice cream business. I honestly think that if I ever needed to enter the retail world as an adult, it would be ice cream-related. Because of the trip, I got to be alone in the shop for a couple of hours. I got to sign off on a big delivery, which was more exciting than I would readily admit. Later, a girl from the other store came to work with me, and it was really fun getting to know her better. I mostly work alone with my boss, and have only spoken at length with a couple of the employees. It's fun to work with a person close in age from time to time.

I need to go start my day, now that it's already noon.

Comments

[padraiceen.livejournal.com]

I'm not exactly sure how the Dems will be a step up.

[padraiceen.livejournal.com]

Thinking about this comment, I think it bears some elaboration. :p

In recent weeks (probably because of the conventions), it's struck me that I'm much less of a "Republican" than a "conservative", and that I have much less faith in a party as a whole than in certain individual people within that party. My comment really is more of a question about why a political party would necessarily be any better than any other political party (at least, one that's not outright evil). I have noted that the American people really do go about their lives with minimal intrusion from, and concern for, the government, relative to pretty much every other country in the world. I'm asking myself the same question, really, and my answer is that I don't really *know* how one party is a huge improvement over any other party.

I hope that helps, and I hope my first comment didn't come off as being snarky. ^_^;;

[sidewalksparkle.livejournal.com]

I guess what I meant is that having a Democrat in office, based on my political beliefs, will be a huge improvement. While much of politics is party-fueled while much everyday life is more issue-fueled, I'm more willing to let the big unwieldly Democratic party attempt to be the "face" of the U.S. rather than the big unwieldly Republican party--despite the fact that a party is so huge and spread-out that the government will always be faceless.

[sidewalksparkle.livejournal.com]

And thanks for the message clarification. :) I didn't think the first message was snarky, but I appreciate the additional food-for-thought.

Also, I thought originally that Amber was the one elaborating on the message because I guess I'm pretty visually oriented at times and noticed that the icon you used is one that she had at one time, too. So I was really confused by what "she" said since the remarks about being a conservative seemed out of character and she never comments on this journal.

[forboston.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that those were called Elvis sandwiches.

[sidewalksparkle.livejournal.com]

Yep! Elvis liked his peanut butter and banana sandwiches fried. I've never gone that far, though I enjoy toasting the bread. I guess I just don't want any type of food known as Fat Katie, and I think the spirit of the food (er...the spirit of Elvis?!?) is captured without frying. :)

[thecountrygirl.livejournal.com]

I've told everyone that if Bush wins again, I am moving to Canada. I agree with your political thoughts. :)

[axis-evil.livejournal.com]

I'll second that; my only worry is that Bush may want to attack Canada because of it's role in 9/11 and all it's terrorist ties... *rolls eyes*

Honestly, if Bush was in office again...it would only be a matter of time before another country was uselessly attacked...

[sidewalksparkle.livejournal.com]

or our country, again. i mean, it could happen anyway...but still.

[axis-evil.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm semi-skeptical that our country will be attacked again (especially an attack in the form of something like 9/11). I think the worst damage that has been done, in a sense, has been brought on by the administration and the ignorant people that don't keep up with what's going on in this world; now the whole world thinks we are imperialistic agressors who attack pre-emptively without basis. That rep is doing us some serious damage, more than we'll ever realize.

[mojavua.livejournal.com]

I wonder if any of you Americans could tell me what the American reaction to Fahrenheit 9/11 has been. I know a lot of the film was just a sensationalist portrayal of stuff we all already knew, but still...is this going to affect Bush's chances of victory at all?

[forboston.livejournal.com]

I don't think anyone came out of the theater with their mind changed. If you were republican, you remained so. I don't think anyone who was undecided (and intelligent) should be swayed by the movie.

[mojavua.livejournal.com]

I think you're right, at least in general: one movie shouldn't change a person's political outlook. And I had a bit of a problem with the emotional manipulation of the movie, but I guess I just can't imagine being a conservative, or a Republican, regardless of the movie. Any President who calls the country's richest of the rich his 'base' doesn't deserve the support of everyone else.

[sidewalksparkle.livejournal.com]

Forboston and I live in the same town, and the local newspaper was full of letters to the editor calling Moore either a liar or a genius. There's very little middle ground, and that was to be expected. It's such a powerful, hit-you-on-the-head kind of movie. I don't think it's changing any opinions, and there's no way to measure whether or not it's a motivating factor in getting people registered to vote. Even if the movie gets some non-voting liberals registered, it'll probably get the same number of angry conversatives registered.

[axis-evil.livejournal.com]

That 'base' comment really drove me up the wall; but are you surprised that he said it, or that he meant it?

[sidewalksparkle.livejournal.com]

Not surprised at all. :-/