I miss Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. With them, politics lives up to its absurdist potential — and those brief moments of true conviction and REAL patriotism get a chance to sift through all the blather. I know politics has always been a blood sport (literally in Roman times) — just ask Jefferson and the pamphleteers regarding his zipper (or laces) problem. For some jolly fun, read about Charles Sumner being caned on the floor of the US Senate during the slavery debates of the 1850s. Or for some really nasty political campaigning, look at the 1860 election — the Scopes illustrations had nothing on how the other parties portrayed “Honest Abe.” So, why I am surprised by the sniping, jibing and foulness of the present-day contenders? I just keep hoping one of the Democrats will step up and denounce the sly racism in the attacks on Obama, and the Republicans will get over the fear of damnation via Mormonism. I mean I have reservations about the 2 of them as viable candidates — based on experience and in Romney’s case, a general loathing of smarminess :)It seems much of the discussion between the candidates and among the punditry is based on who can hate the most — left versus right, neo-con versus progressive, hawk versus dove and Ron Paul versus just about everyone! Chris and I have disagreed on issues for our entire relationship, in fact the rector who married us talked how marriage brought together people, “no matter how far to the right or how far to the left.” Yet, it’s never been a problem for us — we talk about things, disagree when we feel like it, and get over it when we don’t. How hard is that? For some reason this baffles people — evidently you are only supposed to interact with those who agree with you 100%.What an expectation to put on another person, on a candidate, on anything — see this is where I get to work in my passion for perfumes. For the longest time I considered myself to be a fragrance slut — my mother wore the same two perfumes for her entire life. And in novels, classic and otherwise, the heroine’s scent is always distinctively hers. Therefore, I’ve spent most of my life looking for that “it,” the absolutely perfect completely representative scent that people would associate with me. I can’t do it! There is NO way I can be faithful to a fragrance — it’s just too hard! Some mornings I wake up wanting girly & feminine, others I want crisp and spicy — still other days I want sensual and mysterious. Certain core scents are always there — citrus (usually bergamot or orange), rose/jasmine and some amber, sandalwood, fig or other sultry note — the proportions change with my mood.I guess it comes down in life to the same thing — there are certain base notes that flavor how you approach everything. With those as givens, additional flavors, opinions and hopefully knowledge open you to a more complex and interesting experience in the world!This post is a little yadda, yadda — but I was one course short of a philosophy minor in college Music to evolve to: the Police (love, love, love them) — most people have heard a few mention of Sting’s post Police career, but if you ever get the chance check out Andy Summers’ jazz albums, especially “Green Chimneys.” Stewart Copeland joined together with Stanley Jordan and Deborah Holland to form a band called Animal Logic. They released 2 albums that are truly cool.“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes” –> Marcel Proust Take care, Aly
History Thru the Looking Glass 