What's the Story (Morning Glory)?

Friday night I went to a new event called, "The Tell," held at El Cortez downtown. It was an evening of storytelling in the tradition of "The Moth," hosted by Dayvid Figler. It featured Mike Bunin and other Vegas alums such as Prof. Todd Jones, Historian Dr. Michael Green, San Francisco storyteller (and founder of "Porchlight") Beth Lisick. Art seller Naomi Arin and Cindy Reed rounded out the bill. There was a loose theme to all the stories: cheating.

As I listened to the stories I wondered if that was something if I could do. Stand on stage in front of people and tell a true story from my life. Sort of like the pieces in my Master's thesis. Or something from this blog. If it were any good. And...I almost said "more polished" here, but that would be missing the point. They are supposed to be unrehearsed. And they were. But they seemed to have been thought out beforehand. Dayvid Figler brought a prop.

He told a hilarious story about his quest to earn a Letterman's Jacket in high school. Figler is well known around Vegas for his commentaries on KNPR, his poetry and his work as an attorney and Judge. I remember he hosted a poetry slam at First Friday one time when I was there with Keir. I asked Keir to point him out for me, since they were friends. But we never found him. I guess we were in the wrong place. But I was excited then to meet the guy who did the KNPR commentaries.

I eventually ran into him at Dan Bunin's New Year's Eve party. And Janice introduced me to him once at the Arts Factory. She just said he was her friend Dayvid. He seemed quiet, so I wasn't quite sure he was the same one. But I remember he had the Google phone.

Anyway, when I got there I saw Dan and Martin sitting at a table in the back. I went over and said hi, and chatted with Dan about the Mets. I also said hello to Mike. Then I went to find a seat. The place was filling up fast. They say there were around 200 people. It was a very enjoyable, free night out.

The event was held in conjunction with the Vegas Valley Bookfest which starts next month. So they also had the audience members write some .Vegas-related haiku for the mayor to read at the kick off. There were some good ones. I tried to come up with something really fast in my head. But "really fast" is not a phrase I would use to describe my thought process. At least where coherent thought is concerned. My mind can be racing at a mile a minute, but it's usually in a jumble of random ideas.

On the way out, I saw Joel and Sandra and said hi. I'm pretty sure they didn't know who I was. I stood around for another 5 uncomfortable minutes. Then I gave up and headed for the parking garage. Gave up on what? I'm not sure what I was hoping for. I would've liked it if Ralph and Kate were there. I scanned the crowd for Janice or anyone else I might know. But in the end, I just bagged any further effort to socialize. I got in the car and headed home.

On the way, I tried to decide whether or not I should stop for some doughnuts. Turned out Krispy Kreme was closed. Not much of a story.

Exo-Politics

I cast my ballot on Saturday, the first day of early voting. Now I must wait for the results on November 2nd and am left wondering exactly how many unreasonable people there are in this state and this country.

I hear many of them all around me. Some, in places I expect, like on the bus and at work. And some in places it seems to come out of nowhere. Like certain MINI club cohorts.

I try to stay out of any such discussions I come across. But it gets to me sometimes, how ignorant people can be. I get it; everyone hates Harry Reid. But Sharron Angle? Seriously? This right wing wackjob is just one of a dozen or so tea party/far right Republicans that are evidence of just how crazy things are in this country now. The fact that these candidates can be anywhere near the mainstream....Christine O'Donnell anyone?

Here's how I see it: Conservative is a code word which means, I got mine, so screw you. Conservatives are worried about the deficit, and too much government. Which means, they want less regulation so they can continue finding loopholes with their greedy Wall Street ways, so they can get richer while everyone else gets poorer. They don't want taxes to increase for the rich to help pay down that deficit they are so worried about. They feel like, hey, they earned their money, through "hard work" and shouldn't be charged for being more successful than everyone else. The free market is their answer to fixing the economy and health care. So wait, haven't we been trying that? How has it worked out by the way? Oh yeah, it hasn't.

So Sharron Angle wants to eliminate the Dept. of Education, the VA, Social Security. They think everyday Americans have an attitude of entitlement and are lazy, collecting unemployment or welfare. Meanwhile her husband is living off his government pension from the Bureau of Land Management.

Conservatives want the government to stay out of their lives. Yet, they want the government to keep women from choosing to have an abortion, even in cases of rape or incest! And they want it to tell gay people they can't get married.

They are anti-immigration, anti-gay, anti-health care for children and the poor. Selfish, racist, hypocritical...I could go on, but I'd just get upset. The Fox news distortion of reality, Glenn Beck and his John Birch Society "university."

So people are voting. And we can only hope that enough people see through this rampant craziness and do the right thing. Harry Reid may not be perfect, but he's the only real choice. And if anyone asks me, I'll tell them I voted for him. Response from the wackos may very well follow. But as logic and facts are not enough to convince them, let's hope it doesn't come to those "2nd amendment remedies" Angle suggested.

And that they not drive me around the bend, so much that I want to take a swing at someone out of sheer frustration.

May cooler heads prevail.


-- Post From My iPod Touch

Cottonmouth

I wake up in the mornings with cottonmouth. It's from the pills. The ones that help me sleep. It's just one of the trade-offs. The other is that it's a bit hard waking up. And staying awake, especially at work. I find myself grateful that I sit on my own in my cubicle. I'm useless for the first hour at least. Then when I do finally wake up, I'm surprised. Like I didn't expect to ever come out of the haze.

It's like that sometimes. You get into this frame of mind. I can be walking among people, and still be wrapped up in my own little world. And then I wake up. I realize that I've been chatting with shop assistants. And spending money. And I wonder what the heck happened; because usually I'm not impulsive. But I'm typing this on my brand new iPad. Whoops!

I managed not to buy any handbags. I found myself looking at some. And I reminded myself I'm on a moratorium. It didn't occur to me to add gadgets to that list. Oh well. This thing can be useful. I originally planned to get a netbook. Something I could curl up with and write on. Because I haven't been good about writing lately. I have ideas, thoughts, but they just seem to fly away. Like they were only dreams, and I've woken up without any memory of them. .

This is kind of funny. I'm holding the keyboard dock with my feet as I type. I tried with it on my lap, but it's a bit too small. Just able to balance on my knees, but it's not that stable. It would be more stable on a table. Ha! But that would sort of be beside the point. And now I've looked at the clock. And it's way later than I meant to stay up. Time is the commodity I need more of most. And no amount of money, or number of gadgets can get me more that that.

Still I need the sleep so badly, I take the pills, and struggle to wake up. And to come back to the world, thirsty, with my cottonmouth.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad