Wednesday

Well, yesterday was a struggle but I managed to stay awake for most of the day and I am feeling pretty good today. I got a solid 1 am to 7 am sleep session and that is pretty much what my body needs to keeps itself on its natural schedule. So that is a good thing.

Valley - Tramped By Turtles

My music player sometimes seems to know just what I need to get things started. I love this song.


Yesterday was an interesting day. I spent a good chunk of the day in a fog because of the lack of sleep. So it was odd. I felt very off but at the same time functional.

Drowned - The Who

The intro into 'I am the Sea' off of the classic Who album Quadrophenia. You can never go wrong with this one.

I watched the State of the Union address last night. I always enjoy listening to the President speak even if it is a President that I am not a particular fan of. In the case of President Obama I was far more excited about him when he was first elected then I am now. But I am also well aware that I am operating at a certain level of frustration dealing with the federal govt and Congress right now because of their decision to end emergency unemployment. President Obama addressed that issue last night but I am not going to be holding my breath. Because even if they reinstate it I doubt I will be getting back pay and I am still going to be behind on some of my bills because of the their being no money of any kind coming in at all. But the job search continues. I applied for a job at the Oregon Lottery yesterday.

A World Of Our Own - The Seekers

A classic late 60's number. I like it.

I also watched the latest episode of the television show Justified last night and that show just seems to be getting better and better as far as I am concerned. The first 4 seasons are available on Amazon Streaming right now and if you have not ever watched it I would highly recommend it. If you are a fan of Elmore Leonard novels or police or detective stories I do not think you can go wrong with this one.

Mother of Light (A New Age Dawns pt 2) - Epica

One of my beloved Northern European metal bands. Except for these guys are Dutch. I love them.

I really feel like I am reaching for these to write about this morning. It feels like one of those days that I want to sit quietly in my room with the light off and sip my coffee while I listen to music with my eyes closed. I imagine that is how I am going to be spending part of the day for sure. I suppose that sounds depressing to some of you. But that isn't what it is. It is for me a way to just kind of calm myself and feel centered and anchored as part of the existing world around me. I am not being distracted by the latest television show or video game but am able to just sit quietly and breath. Thoughts may come and go but I do not dwell on those thoughts. They rise and sink but I continue to sit quietly and breath. That is for me, often, the best way to get myself back on track so to speak.

Beth - Kiss

I love this acoustic version of the song Beth by Kiss. One of my favorites.

 Well, that is is for today folks. The darkness is calling for me with its calm and its solitude. Keep those feet moving and keep on loving each other and try to remember that despite our politics we are all human and all deserving of a little pleasantness. Be kind to each other.

1-28-2010 (Thursday)

Good morning folks. It is Thursday and I am back on the train. I just decided that I did not want to drive today so I pulled into Wilsonville and here I am. I enjoy the driving but I was not feeling it today.

Pretty big things going on in my corner of the world. The Presidents state of the union address was last night. I didn't think that he said anything extreme or really thought provoking. If anything I think he has chickened out on his ideas of change and has begun to act just like any other politician and that is sad to me. But, I guess I should have realized that when he asked Joe Biden to be his VP. If anything said "Hey, I am going to say change but really it will be the same old, same old." The presence of Biden should have clued me in. Now granted I did not want the kind of change that McCain was pushing with Palin but I wanted something more then we have gotten from Mr Obama. I hope the next two years may allow for some of that.

In Oregon, the fallout from Measures 66 & 67 is building. It really felt like someone had died yesterday. Because everywhere I turned on Facebook there was someone expressing sadness at the bills passing. Now I realize that there were some pretty heated things being sad and statistics being thrown back and forth about job loss and such. But, the sad reality is that it really did not matter if these bills passed or not. Because in Oregon right now there would be, will be job loss. I think the biggest thing that the bills did was to decided from where that job loss was going to happen either the public or the private sector. The other big thing these bills did was to highlight the differences in what the people of Oregon think is good politics and isn't. When I looked at the county listings of the vote outcome it was pretty obvious that along the I-5 corridor and through the Willamette Valley these counties voted yes. But east of them and south it was a no vote. What this means is that the population centers of the state are controlling the future of the state. While I realize that this is frustrating for people I think that is Democracy and when the populace has a vote well sometimes you have to eat a crap sandwich.

I have also heard a few people mention, one on the radio, that they wonder about voter fraud. I hope that isn't the case. I like the vote by mail system in Oregon and I do not want it to change. I do not think there was voter fraud and until I hear actual evidence of such a thing I am going to continue thinking it was a fair vote that played out along party and population lines.

All of that being said. I think Oregon will get through this. The wheel keeps turning and life moves forward. Big business will stay and return to Oregon. We will get out of this recession and the jobs will come. I am confident of that. I do not think our state is going to go the route of California or Arizona. So hang in there Oregonians there is always sunshine after the rain but we all know that sometimes the rain lasts for several years.