i'm not convinced

i'm hearing a lot of excitement about the fact that the democrats are now in control of congress. people are convinced it's a new day and things are going to change for the better.

i'm not convinced. i do think things will change with democrat controlled congress, but i haven't seen a reason to believe that things will change for the better. i haven't heard a clearer plan for figuring out what to do about iraq from the democrats. i haven't heard a clearer plan for strengthening the economy and improving the dollar value against foreign markets. i haven't heard a clearer plan for reducing our national debt

i'm also not assuming that things will change for the worse. the thing is electing a bunch of people just because they're not republicans isn't going to solve anything. i think we need to start looking more closely at the individual than their party affiliation. it seems like we need good, smart, creative people to send to congress--people who can look towards the bigger picture of what's best for the country as a whole more than what's best for their career or their party.

i know i sound naive, but my one vote, for what it's worth, will be cast for the person most likely to do the best job irregardless of their party.

london on my mind

i've always been a bit of an anglophile, but i'm a bit surprised at the ways in which my london trip is sticking with me. i miss it. it seems strange to write that or even think it since i was only there for four days but i do miss it. i'm trying to process what specifically i miss and what there resonated with me so deeply.

i'm having a hard time finding words for what god began stirring in me there. i can't decide how much my lack of words has to do with the newness of it and how much has to do with how busy my life is right now.

and my life is quite hectic right now. the day after i flew home from london i flew to austin tx for the first of four national youth workers conventions. after austin i flew to vegas to see elton john and from there to denver for a conference to represent my company. just monday i came home from convention number two in anaheim and tuesday i fly to cincinnati for convention number three. i fly from there to tulsa to spend thanksgiving with family and from there onto charlotte for convention number four before flying home to sd in early december.

for now i'm surfing the web looking for cheap airfares to go back to london after the first of the year, watching movies filmed in england (four weddings & a funeral, bridget jones diary, etc.), and enjoying the photos from my trip. i've shared a couple of my favorites here...the london eye at night and notting hill homes on a rainy afternoon.

why i love lucy

lucille ball is my favorite actress and this month she's the star of the month on turner classic movies.

my love of lucy began my senior year of high school. my parents were going thru a divorce and i spent quite a bit of time with my aunt & uncle. my aunt would watch i love lucy every night on tvland and i'd watch along with her. it didn't matter how hard things were at the moment--lucy and ethel's antics would always crack me up. ever since, no matter how blue i'm feeling, lucy can cheer me up. i also find myself occasionally getting into a pickle that leaves someone saying i have some 'splainin' to do.

i became curious about her as i kept hearing snippets about her life and so i started reading books about her. when her autobiography was released, i received it for christmas and read it in a single setting. i learned not only was she quite beautiful and talented, she was also brilliant and savvy. she created the concept for the i love lucy show. when her marriage to desi ended, she became the first woman to head a studio...desilu productions--which produced star trek and the andy griffith show. she was a trailblazer in her industry.

but the two things i think i admire most about lucille ball is her tenacity and her capacity to love unconditionally. she persevered thru a variety of tough situations, being labeled a communist during the mccarthy hearings and nearly blacklisted not to mention her divorce from desi. and she loved dearly her mother and grandfather who raised her with some very strange and often harsh parenting styles. and despite their divorce, she and desi remained devoted to each other speaking to each other nearly every day until his death.

and so now you know why i love lucy... and in case you're wondering, my favorite episode of i love lucy is episode 113, l.a. at last, original airdate february 7, 1955 featuring guest star william holden. it's the one where lucy catches her fake nose on fire. i have a lucy doll based on this episode, complete with a fake nose with a burnt tip.