Are You Pondering What I’m Pondering? V.7.2.2009

R.I.P. M.J. – Yes, it’s all we’ve heard about lately.  His death caught me completely by surprise, though not because it was unexpected.  Michael Jackson has always seemed like a tragic figure to me.  Not just tragic in the way that his life was so deeply scrutinized, his feelings and his privacy marginalized.  Because of talent.  Yes, he was a genius when it came to pop music.  He knew what worked, what didn’t.  I liken him to James Dean.  Marilyn Monroe.  Elvis Presley. Anyone who was deitized in their lives, therefore eliminating any privacy they might have once hoped for.  Being forced into the public eye is very difficult, as one is constantly judged and found wanting.

Jackson didn’t choose to be talented.  He was talented.  Perhaps talent chose him.  We may never know.  But we will always know that we the people are the ones who killed him.  We used him up and then spat on his image when certain true or untrue information was made public.  We dug beneath the surface of his public image and made a pariah of him.  How many of us could live through such an ordeal?  I couldn’t, I know.  Because when it came right down to it, we never liked him as a human, but as an idea we placed on the highest pedestal, demanding ever more of him, never satisfied with what we were given.  We have no one to blame but ourselves.

OZZIE SWIMS! – Ozzie has lived with me for just over six years.  In all that time, we’ve visited many rivers, creeks, lakes and ponds. He’s a wader. He’ll enter the water just up to mid-belly and walk along the shoreline like an ancient barge on the river Nile.  He’s very stately.  This year, he’s waded in until the water covers his back.  I used to think he didn’t like the feel of water on his back, but apparently I was mistaken.  Then yesterday, he waded in well past where I know his feet could touch bottom.  I called him, in shock.  He was swimming!!!  In six and a half years, he’s never shown that he even knew how, in spite of the fact that he has webbed feet that he took from his black Lab half of his genetics.

As if he’d been doing it every day for years, he took his time getting to shore, and once there, shook himself off and sauntered off as if nothing had happened.

I was as proud as a dad when his baby takes its first steps, or speaks its first word.  My respect for the Oz-monster grows every day.  He truly does things in his own way, in his own time.  There’s no hurrying him. What an awesome pup.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GREAT DANE RESCUE – So I’ve immersed myself in my new responsibilities with the Rescue as Event Coordinator.  The job suits me.  Of course, I worked as a live music promoter for twenty years as a younger man, so the details are second nature.  Setting up fundraisers and other events to gain exposure for such an awesome organization is deeply satisfying.  Now that I have a good grasp on it, it’s flowing well and I’m liking it immensely.  Yee haw!

HOLIDAY – Looking forward to the long weekend, even coming so closely on the heels of my stay-cation.  Since my boss announced his imminent retirement for November 6th, it’s like the joy has gone of of my job…even though it’s not just working for him that brings me joy.  What with the governor trying to fix the State’s budget shortfalls on the backs of his employees, it’s more like working in a coalmine than an enjoyable job.  So this weekend will be spent decompressing and hanging out with my pups…and writing, of course.  It’ll be a marathon!  And I’m starting right now with a warm cup of homegrown spearmint tea.  Mmmmmmmmm.

THE RAINS – It’s been extraordinarily wet this season here in Colorado.  So much so, that the flowers I planted back in May are going crazy.  My rosebush is so laden with blooms, it’s drooping.

Today’s task is to tie it up so the flowers aren’t forced to lay on the ground.  There must be easily 75 flowers on it currently, with many more buds unopened.

I didn’t even know I could grow roses!  Ironic that the season in which they’re most prolific is the same season I’m most allergic.  However, I suffer the sneezing attacks gladly for a chance to garden.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T – I have a whole new respect for President Obama, in spite of the fact that he has not followed through on all of the promises made during his lengthy campaign.  Why?  Because I believe that he made the promises out of a certain sense of ignorance about how the process actually works.  The same goes for those who are currently putting him down as a lame-horse president.

I work for the government, and have had my eyes opened to the astoundingly ponderous manner in which governments work.  Perhaps Obama believed that once he was named leader of the free world, he could do as he pleased, but once he got into office, realized that no single issue was as simple as it appeared on the surface.  Politicians know how to work the system, to slow down and kill bills and legislation that might make our lives better.  Not out of a sense of mean-spiritedness, necessarily, but often because in order for Obama to get what he wants, he must kowtow to others who may want an entirely different outcome.  So in order to get a bill through the Senate, he must first dress it up and make it attractive to special interest groups and senators who have a different agenda for their constituents.

It’s a matter of too many chefs.  Or chiefs. Or whatever word you want to use.  I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, for this system of checks and balances is necessary for our country to operate.  Otherwise it becomes a dictatorship.  There will never be a President who gets his way in every instance.  And perhaps that’s a good thing.  Look what happened to Germany in during the War.

KINDLE ME THIS – I’ve been watching the reviews on Amazon’s Kindle e-reader since it was released in 2007.  Even since Kindle 1 was released, I’ve been intrigued by it, as I’m a voracious reader.  There are nearly 3,000 reviews, many pro, many against.  I was reluctant to purchase the first-gen version of this product as I knew that it was more of a prototype than a long-lasting model.  Now there are two heavily updated versions, one at the original price of $359, the other more than 30% more expensive.

I’m tempted to buy the Kindle 2, but am not sure I want to give up the paper versions of books just yet.  Perhaps I could read them on paper and, if I like them enough, buy them for Kindle.  There are some I would like to have as an e-book rather than hardcopy to save space if nothing else.  “The Shining” comes to mind.  One big downside is that graphic novels are not yet included in e-book format.  And I wouldn’t want them to be, as they’re printed in full color, and Kindle can only be viewed in shades of gray.  There are a few, but I’m not sure how I feel about reading them in that format.

Okay, must consider this further before spending the money.