Category Archives: National Stuff

National stuff and Newburyport, MA

Urban and Suburban Wind Turbines

This video (editor’s note: the video is no longer available) was sent to me by a reader of the Newburyport Blog. It is one of the latest (and looks like one of the most effective) new vertical wind turbines (as opposed to the horizontal propeller wind turbines) for urban, suburban and populated areas. Very cool. Jay Leno makes the presentation (a little star power here).

The wind turbine is made by a company called Enviro Energies. I am especially fascinated by “Ed Begley and Jim Rowan talking turbine” on their website.

Ed Begley who at one point I saw all over TV talking about alternative energy has this to say:

“Enviro Energies has re-awakened my excitement of utilizing urban wind power.”

I don’t see why a product like this on could not be installed at industries in Newburyport’s Industrial Park instead of huge industrial size wind turbines. They would both be effective and neighborhood friendly.

Plus, something that I was not aware of–there is a now a federal tax credit for “small wind turbines”:

“Today (October 3, 2008) Congress passed legislation, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, H.R. 1424, that includes a new federal-level investment tax credit to help consumers purchase small wind turbines for home, farm, or business use. A few hours ago, President Bush signed the bill into law. Owners of small wind systems with 100 kilowatts (kW) of capacity and less can receive a credit for 30% of the total installed cost of the system, not to exceed $4,000. The credit will be available for equipment installed from today through December 31, 2016.”

You can read about the tax credit for small wind turbines here.

Significant or Insignificant Shadow Flicker

The power and nuance of words.

My objective would be to have a Newburyport wind ordinance that effectively uses wind energy and also protects local quality of life (to paraphrase or steal from Newburyport City Councilor Ed Cameron).

From talking to and emails from people, one of the central themes of this “work through” on various local Massachusetts wind turbine ordinances, appears to be the word “significant” in the phrase “that does not result in significant shadowing or flicker impacts” (Newbury’s draft wind turbine bylaw amendment), and on Newburyport’s current wind turbine ordinance on the Shadow/Flicker–XXVI-G 3.e..”the effect does not have significant adverse impact..”

It appears that the conflict or disagreement from different people’s point of view–the word “significant.” What appears “significant” to some would appear to be “insignificant” to others.

Folks who email me, rightly worried about Global Warming, and see wind energy as a win-win scenario, often feel that shadow flickers from large wind turbines would be insignificant.

My very cursory “whisk through” in understanding where these folks would be coming from, leads me to believe that there could be a disconnect between a larger wind energy agenda, and how things are accomplished on a local political level.

Which is why, I believe the Newburyport City Council is taking very seriously the concerns of neighbors of Newburyport’s wind turbine who do find the shadow, flicker significant in their lives. I think that they understand from a “getting things done” point of view, that “all politics is local.” That translating a larger wind energy policy into local lives, is difficult and takes an empathetic and nuanced approach, if we as a country are going to have an effective alternative energy policy.

Newburyport Wind Backlash

I know what it is like to work on a Newburyport civic project, to be completely committed to a Newburyport civic project for years, and then have an incredible Newburyport public backlash. It’s not fun.

So I understand how our elected and civic Newburyport officials might feel, working on the Wind Energy Conversion Ordinance that made the current 292 foot wind turbine in Newburyport’s Industrial Park possible, and how the backlash (which is significant) could also make them feel.

My first reaction to a very vocal Newburyport public backlash was that people just didn’t understand, that this was a solution to a very complex problem and that people would come around.

Not only did most people not come around, but the project was derailed, lost funding, may be put off for decades, that civic employment was lost, and a significant amount of distrust from the public still lingers on.

And the sense that I get from folks who have worked hard on the Newburyport Wind Energy Ordinance that made the 292 foot Newburyport wind turbine possible, is that they might feel, in someway, the way I felt–i.e. very much committed and wedded to the concept.

Please, if possible, learn from my experience. It’s really hard to let go of something that has so much passion and reason behind it. But if another huge wind turbine would be put up in Newburyport’s Industrial Park, my guess is that the pitchforks might come out with even more force. My sense is that the Newburyport Wind Energy Ordinance has the potential of causing an even greater fissure within the city of Newburyport, MA if another industrial size wind turbine would be erected.

And the very, very good news is that we have a mandate from the President of the Untied States to make wind energy work. That communities all over the globe are experiencing the same conflict that Newburyport, MA is–an ambivalence about having an industrial size wind turbine near a populated area. All kinds of incredibly innovative ideas are in the works and being funded to make wind energy that is more effective and more in scale with the cities and towns in which we live.

So I would urge the Newburyport City Council to be open to rethinking the Wind Energy Ordinance that will be discussed in a public meeting this Tuesday, March 31 at 7PM at City Hall Auditorium.

Making sure that we as a city have the trust of the citizens of Newburyport, MA could be essential in making sure Newburyport, MA has long term, vibrant and viable wind energy projects.

A Loud Moderate Voice

I flip though the TV channels and go, “Wait a minute, that looks like Frank,” but in backtracking, he’s vanished or I was wrong.

So a few days later I Google, and yes, on YouTube I find him. The most entertaining and Frankesk is his appearance on CNN.

I’m very proud, of long time friend and Newburyport community member Frank Schaeffer, whose political views I’ve watched morph over the years from someone who was “right” of Attila the Hun, to now a “moderate” voice– howbeit a loud, unrelenting “moderate” voice. And this is a “moderate” voice, one who has as much distain for the far “Left” in our country as he does for the far “Right,” although I’m sure that the Left would love to claim him.

Frank wrote a number of novels about what the Religious Right is like from the inside. I’ve always been amazed that the novels weren’t picked up as an insight into how this vocal and powerful segment of our society thinks. But they were never viewed that way. I guess it was too subtle an approach.

In “Crazy for God,” Frank takes the reader by the hand, and step by step guides them through the good, the bad and the ugly of this part of American culture. And I always thought that this was the book that would make the inevitable huge breakthrough for Frank. And yes, it appears that that may finally be true.

And finally the media may have found someone, right here in our own Newburyport community, that can explain in no uncertain terms what the Religious Right is like and what it has done to our society.

And the CNN interview with D. L. Hughley is quintessential Frank Schaeffer. No apologies to Rush Limbaugh by this fellow.

I’m not a betting woman, but I wouldn’t be surprised after his visit to CNN, that within a year Frank Schaeffer could have his own cable TV show. He’s a natural. You can see the segment on CNN here.

Economic Rebellion

I find that when something major bad happens in my life I go, not surprisingly, into shock–paralysis, then fear, then I start to get cranky, irritable and downright angry, and then eventually some sense of equilibrium settles in. All part of the process.

At least what the press is reporting is America enraged, and their rage coming to a boiling point. Protests at 100 locations are being organize by TakeBackTheEconomy.org at the offices of major banks, other corporations and locations against corporate excess tomorrow, Thursday March 19th. From what I can make out Bank of America is the corporation of choice in Massachusetts (this will, I think, make Gillian Swart happy). The rage at AIG rages on all across TV, Web and radio land.

It seems as if a country we went into shock when we first heard about the financial excesses and meltdown, then into paralyzing economic fear, and now we seem to be thawing out, and experiencing a sense of communal rage. A sense of justice is being demanded, problem solving and getting out of the situation we are in, at the moment, seems to be on the shelf.

And I wonder if this is part of a process of communally working through a major now global trauma, or if it is something more. More revolutionary. An “Off with their heads” rebellion. A visceral demand for a more equitable distribution of wealth.

From a perch in Newburyport, MA or anywhere, who could know if this is just part of the process of working towards an economic equilibrium, or if it is the beginning of an all out rebellion about something much bigger.

What if you Burp

My son tells me that security is impossible. That I should prepare for the very, very worst.

“My son is in the play, ” I tell them (them being security). Open sesame, no problemo.

My son tells me that my experience is an anomaly. That it will not happen again.

Apparently proud mothers are deemed a low security risk, because they (security) continue to open the security gate, no questions asked. They even smile–this can be unusual in New York City.

In the “talk back” after the play, one of the audience members asks, “What do you do when you burp?”

The question, which could have been awkward, is deftly handled by the young Shakespearean troop. A burp or even a sneeze would not be a distraction, but could be seen as part of the plot by the audience and the actors would move ever forward (sort of like proud mothers breezing through security gates).

And I suppose that would be true of the burps and sneezes in life. My own life burps and sneezes are noticed hardly, if at all, by the outside world. It is only in my own little brain that they have the possibility of becoming anything of consequence.

However, as I watch and follow the new president, from my home town of Newburyport, MA and elsewhere, as I’ve never watched or followed any president before, I realize that every burp, sneeze etc. appears to have major significance to at least someone and can be open to the possibilities of multiple burp, sneeze interpretations, i.e. distractions. Often, it seems, so much so, that a larger picture could be obscured by burp and sneezing stories (mostly, it seems to me by Republicans and media outlets in need of a story line). And I wonder if pride in one’s country could often be mucked up due to constant conjectures as to whether or not a political digestive tablet or a Kleenex might be necessary, making it difficult for everyone to get on with the plot, or of solving the gigantic Shakespearean size problems that lie before us.

Frolicking Doom and Gloom

How weird are your enemies.

The fierceness of hate towards President Obama takes me by surprise. And it may be shrouded in disagreements about policy, but it’s a whole lot more than that (see earlier entries).

I guess it’s a long task for me to wean myself from Pollyanna hopefulness–that civility could happen.

The latest high-ratings hatemonger, frolicking fear sower, is a baby-faced boob (a double D–see earlier entry) called Glenn Beck. A wolf in sheep’s clothing and all of that.

I have this awful feeling that Mr. Beck may be one of these Sarah Palin “End Times” folks. People who look forward to the earth self destructing (and who better to destroy it than President Obama), because religion-wise that’s good for them. I’ve know more people over the years who have been so severely psychologically damaged by this world view. Little children lost in the supermarket, not being able to find their parents, and wondering if the “Rapture” has occurred and they have been left behind–all of this haunting them well past middle age. And I’m not even a shrink.

So March 4, 2009 was a nifty day for me, because, God bless him, Steven Colbert took on Glenn Beck and his Mr. Doom stuff in the most delightful way. Humor can be a wonderful weapon.

You can read a little more about it and see Stephen Colbert do his downright brilliant parody here.

Financial Confusion

In trying to make some sort of sense out of the financial mess that we are in, Newburyport and globally, I find myself staring incomprehensibly at my Newburyport TV watching some guy in a hot pink necktie and a raging bald guy. It feels like Flannery O’Conner meets the business channel, or “Alice in Wonderland” meets the business channel. It’s really hard to take these folks seriously from my vantage point in Newburyport, MA, but as a neophyte desperately trying to learn this stuff, I’m not exactly sure just how crazy these people are.

And along comes Jon Stewart last night, God bless him, to explain the whole thing to moi, confused in Newburyport, MA.

The whole business channel thing doesn’t even rate high enough on the weirdness scale to be a combination of something as classy as Flannery O’Conner or “Alice in Wonderland.” Nope, this is the Twilight Zone gone rancid:

“Maybe the most shocking Jim Cramer gem is when he is advising that his audience buy stocks: “You should be buying these, and accept that they are overvalued, but accept that they are going to keep going higher. I know that sounds irresponsible but that’s how you make the money.” On that day in 2007, the Dow was at 13,930. It is now below 7,000.”

You can read the Huffington Post article and watch the Jon Stewart segment here.

And this is one of the guys who is slamming President Obama. Good grief.

Hope, Faith and New England Winters

My son says to me as he hears more and more people that he knows being laid off, “Mom, people now know what it’s like to be an artist.”

When folks ask me how I’m doing in these times I say, “Being an artist really helps me a lot in times like this.”

And what I mean by that is as an artist I never take for granted good financial times. My habit has been to sock it away, because there are always rainy days in the arts and hurricanes happen, and I guess now we even get the occasional typhoon.

I also know that the process of painting has taught me a lot about life’s lessons. Life’s different paths for me have never been straight and narrow, they have always been circuitous, uncertain, just like painting. Without an ongoing hope and faith, being an artist is almost impossible, and I have found that hope and faith becomes essential for living circuitous pathways.

And living in Newburyport, New England has helped me understand that creatively there can be no spring without a dormant winter. And I am no longer afraid of life’s winters because I know that life, like the seasons, is cyclical, and that spring always happens, no matter how long or how harsh winter may be.

And certainly right now, globally and as a country we are experiencing one of those long harsh Newburyport, New England winters, one that starts sometime in November and lets up sometime in April. But even in February, on the side of the street where the sun is warmest, early signs of spring begin to show. At the very top of high trees, a reddish hue becomes visible, and the buds on bushes and trees plump up. All signs of hope. All signs of spring.

So in an atmosphere of hopelessness, anxiety and often fear, I remind myself, that even in these times, spring and then the long hot summer will, as it always does, arrive once again.

A New American World Order

My father was a very smart and courageous man. He lived through the depression, served his country and received a Purple Heart in World War II. He deftly navigated the charters of the corporate and social world of New York City, and then reinvented himself at the age of 72. At almost 90 he looked at the financial landscape, and I think looking back at the different things that we talked about, he knew on some very profound level, that economically things were going to go into a tailspin. And he was tired. He was ready to go.

He knew exactly how he wanted to go and was very clear about it (I had hoped that he would make different choices, but he did not), and what I discovered was that, pretty much, aside from myself, no one was listening. But my Dad was very much in control of his own destiny, and things did go the way he wanted them to go, whether anybody wanted them to or not. And frankly, his timing was pretty good.

And what I see today is that President Obama was always very clear in what he would do as President of the United States. Either many Americans weren’t listening, or they believed that he wouldn’t go though with it, that it was only “empty campaign rhetoric.”

And in some ways it seems to me that the wealthy (Rush Limbaugh, by his own admission, is no exception) are furious that he intends to actually go through with what he promised, ie that they are going to pay higher taxes. And it seems to me as if we are on some level, this was actually articulated by some cable TV shows last night, playing a game of chicken, or witnessing a power play, between the Obama Administration and the wealthy. This is what I think. That they want his administration to fail because they don’t want to be told what to do by a man who is Afro American, and they do not want their taxes to go up, and they don’t have, it seems to me, much empathy for the folks that have less money than they do.

They are staging a weird sort of protest against what they, I think rightly, see as a reorganization of a social order. The wealthy white man might no longer be in control. Better to humiliate President Obama, take a loss for a certain amount of time, send the Democrats permanently into the wilderness, and return to a free market economy, hopefully with no or little restriction, business as usual, just like the good old days of the last eight years.

This is what I am thinking and hoping. That because they haven’t been listening, and they are so intent on their own agenda, that they have misjudged the new president, severely. President Obama is very clear on what he wants to happen. And I hope, among all the noise, and smoke and taffy, that the old world order of the wealthiest in this country getting pretty much a free lunch, compared to the rest of the country, is dead on arrival. And that we continue to see a new America emerge and once again reinvent herself.

Science and Taxes

I remember when the Bush Administration lowered the capital gains tax to 15%, my father was horrified. The ordinary American he told me was still paying 25% in taxes on a CD that they had in the bank. He was also aghast at the the Bush Administration gradual repeal of the estates tax. My father believed that the wealthy in America were the ones to pay the most taxes. He predicted that the extreme “Voodoo” (ironically dubbed by George Bush the elder) economic policies of the Bush Administration would lead to fiscal chaos for the United States of America. I wish he was around for me to say from Newburyport, MA, “Dad, wow were you ever right.”

My father was a tax lawyer, one of the first. His job was to help wealthy Americans avoid paying taxes. But what I discovered was that he used his influence as a tax lawyer to persuade folks to give to things like research for mental illness and the cure for cancer.

My father believed in and encouraged investing in science, even when the government, in the dark ages, under the former Bush administration refused to do so, by refusing federal money for stem cell research.

I briefly got to know an artist by the name of Eliza Auth and her husband Tony Auth, the syndicated political cartoonist and cartoonist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, who has been mentioned before on the Newburyport Blog. Tony Auth graciously gave this political cartoon that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on May 27, 2005 to my father for his 90th birthday, and also gave me permission to use the image on the Newburyport Blog.

Tony Auth, May 27, 2005, Used with Permission

So on November 4, 2008 we as a country decided to put away childish things, voted for a candidate who wanted to once again embrace science, and go back to a more realistic tax structure. And all of a sudden the country, or as the media would have us think, is surprised and some of them aghast.

This is my theory, and I think it’s one that my Dad would have agreed with, that for eight years under the Bush Administration, the wealthy have had a basically, pretty close to, almost, tax free, relatively speaking, free ride. And possibly that part of why the market is down so much, is a petulance on the part of the 15% capital gains folks on Wall Street, that the existing tax disparity might have only been an eight year Christmas present by the former Bush administration.

Political Insight

My father, who was very astute at politics, once told me that the “establishment” wanted then President Clinton to fail because they didn’t want a “cracker,” ie “poor white trash” in the White House. Conservative Republicans trying to impeach the president over a blow-job would seem to confirm my father’s observation.

So I believe conservative Republicans when they say that they would like President Obama to fail. This is a “cracker” with a twist. He’s Afro-American.

Socially conservative Republicans are also so radical in their dislike for anyone who is tolerant of abortion or gay rights, much less making legislation etc. for those causes to happen. There is no room for compromise on those issues. That’s why I’m so proud of my friend Frank Schaeffer, a once a radical social conservative Republican turned moderate, who lives right here in our Newburyport community and writes often for the Huffington Post and has scores of best sellers.

I am proud, relieved and moved by our new president, but there surely are folks out their in our nation who would and are and have been trying to destroy him. Being accused by Sarah Palin of “Palling around with terrorists” is only a glimpse of what is out there. “Live and let live” does not appear to be the guiding principle.

So yes, President Obama can be gracious and hope for bi-partisanship, but, I don’t know where the quote comes from, “We have met the enemy and the enemy is us,” but it seems applicable, unfortunately, in this case.

The other thing that I’ve noticed is how the media is twisting facts to get attention. This includes places like the Huffington Post. I watched the exchange between Senator John McCain and President Obama on the new possible presidential helicopters. Senator McCain approached the subject with a little humor, it was obvious that this was something the two of them had talked about. President Obama was downright funny in his response, and Senator McCain was smiling and nodding his head.

One would never know this by reading or listening to the media. It was war between the two once presidential candidates. And either Senator McCain was a soar loser, or President Obama was put on the spot, depending on the coverage. Neither was true. This is getting old.

I always wondered why my father watched C-Span so much. I now know. Unfiltered information, from which a vastly intelligent man, like my father, could draw his own conclusions. His daughter is now learning, and I wish I could call him up and let him know.

Newburyport Yankee Frugality

So far, fingers crossed like mad, Newburyport, MA does not appear to be as hard hit by these lousy economic times, as is so many other parts of the United States. That’s not to say we haven’t had some pain and there won’t be more pain to come. But as President Obama travels to some of the hardest hit parts of our country, so far, Newburyport, MA does not seem to have those heart wrenching stories.

And in my attempt to begin to fathom what we as a country are going through, I watch, uncharacteristically, the cable business channel. And this time instead of coming across a segment on “shapewear” (see earlier entry), I came across a segment attempting to explain all of this called (I think) “The House of Cards.” I have no idea how accurate this particular explanation is, but I watch it with fascination and horror (the “horror” part they are probably counting on).

What struck me was their emphasis on folks on either end of the foreclosure crisis facilitating the “American Dream.” I can see the American Dream not wanting to be killed in a crime ridden part of the United States. In my book this is a good thing.

But what I could not fathom, was buying, what in my book, looked like a mansion, on a $900 a week salary. Now, my guess is the folks who did this documentary, found this particular example. But what I think, as I understand it, there were a lot of folks leveraging their dwelling, for things that they could not otherwise think of ever affording– a “dream” pool, a “dream” kitchen, a “dream” vacation. A lot of dreaming, that sounded like it was not too in touch with reality. So yes, watching this documentary, when reality raises it’s little head, the impossible dream thing could go out the window.

The version of the “American Dream” that was being described was so far beyond my own definition, that with one exception, I had a hard time feeling sorry for any of the folks, Wall Street or Main Street who were depicted, whose lives were affected. (Again, the documentary could have been wildly eschewed, I don’t know enough about all of this very complicated stuff to make that call.)

But I am very glad to live in what many have referred to, often in not very flattering terms, as a frugal, Yankee community. Our community banks, are doing just fine, in part, I think because they are rooted in reality, verify folks information, don’t sell their mortgages, love and know the community, and if someone wanted an unrealistic amount of lending money to finance a possibly unrealistic “dream,” my guess would be that our community banks would have a kind but firm community chat with whoever that might be.

Slugfest

Way back when, now Vice President Joe Biden warned that then President Elect Barack Obama would be “tested.”

Mr. Biden, I believe, was thinking more about folks from other countries doing the “testing.” But, nope, we here in the Untied States of America don’t have to wait for outsiders to do the “testing,” we’ve already started the process for them.

Yes, the “testing,” at least this is how Miss Mary is looking at it, has already come from the Republicans, moderates, conservatives, they apparently are a untied party on this one, a pretty gleeful media, and even the “left” of the Democratic party appears to be getting into the act.

In 13 short days into his presidency, our president has gone from walking on water, soaring down to a mere human being, bottoming quickly into a virtual slug.

It’s a process to watch and go, “Oy, Vey” about.

So I am going to be fascinated about what will unfold this week, a week that the press has already dubbed “a tough one” for the President of the United States. Seemingly rubbing their hands in glee at the possibility of delicious, newspaper selling, website clicking, money making, possibly out of touch with reality, headlines.

So having gone to the ballet and off to Camp David with his wife and daughters, I’m guessing, to process and evaluate, while happy hyenas are foaming happily at the mouth, I’ll be interested at what the impact of his visit to economically ravished Indiana and Florida, and talking to the nation tonight, might have. Will it still be depicted as a “desperate move” by an already, only two weeks in, failed president? Or will there be a grudging acknowledgment on someone’s part, that empathizing with the plight of the American people, could possibly be a good thing, or at least cynically, a “good move” politically on the part of President Obama?

Artists Creating Jobs

One of the things that really gets me about the new stimulus package, that better get passed, the Republicans better not screw this one up, is the outrage about giving money to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

This isn’t just outrage by Republicans, but on places like CNN too. “Can you believe this? This is really the last straw–money for the NEA.”

Excuse me.

Artists help the economy in all sorts of ways, and unfortunately, very few of them get to reap the rewards, and get lots of scorn, apparently when Mr. Bush’s bushwhacking of the NEA and the arts in general, is now beginning to be realized as not such a good idea.

Take Newburyport, MA for example. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s when Newburyport was making a comeback, downtown Newburyport had been rescued and restored, but the rest of the town needed a little sprucing up.

Who moves in? Who “discovers” Newburyport, MA? A lot of artists among other folks, that’s who. From writers, to visual artists etc. They added to the vitality of the town, helped make it an attraction for tourists, new restaurants and shops etc. And now Newburyport, MA is too expensive for most artists to live in. An old, old story.

Artists have a nose for what is the next “in” place. Soho and Chelsea in New York City are two other examples. Artists moved in, and then so did expensive stores, real estate went through the roof, lots of property taxes and jobs at all the new restaurants and shops. And can most artists afford to live in those places either? Rarely.

Do artists get credit for job creating, real estate creating. Apparently not by this United States Congress, because it looks like help/funding for the NEA is going to be axed from the hopefully will be passed stimulus bill.

Single Mothers

Single mothers may not be “in,” but to the mildly self-aware, they are not getting the “kick in the head” that they are normally used to.

I’ve never met a single mother who said that being a single mother was their first choice. As choices go, it always seems to be fairly down on the list.

I’ve also never met a single mother who said that single motherhood was “easy.” In fact, in my experience, single mothers usually rate single motherhood as one of the hardest, if not the hardest thing that they have ever done.

And add to that, from one to ten, a walloping dose of guilt and shame (yes, even in the year 2009). A “ten” coming from the most conservative folks in our society, and “one” often unconsciously from even the most enlightened of progressives.

Single mothers often tell me that in general, it is very hard to hold their heads up in society with a complete sense of pride and dignity.

So, in the “what do we make of this now” category, here we have folks giving tons of credit to the mother of the President of the United State. The mother who was not only divorced once, but twice–a single mom.

So yes, our president appears to be a loving father and husband (a wonderful example). But so many people give credit to whatever “it” is that our new president has, not only to him, but also to enigma of the single mother that raised him (in much more less than receptive to single mother times).

Humble is In

“Humble” is now “in.”

Humility being a foreign entity, at least often in places like New York City and Washington, D.C., and probably LA as well. Although in places like Newburyport, MA, humility is very common (thankfully).

Noticing how the new president, President Obama stands while he’s waiting for whatever. His hands are clasped in front of his waist. In power, how to succeed in being powerful, hands clasped in front of your waist, a big fat “no, no,” and a big waste of time, in the how to succeed in the being powerful body language thing.

Either President Obama is very comfortable in his own skin, or has never been to a how to succeed in business, power coach, or both. But here he is President of the United States of America.

It’s not apparent to me if the major power folks, who have assisted in causing our major financial meltdown, which is now very much trickling down to our small New England city of Newburyport, MA, have gotten the message yet, or in fact ever want to get the message.

I asked a Newburyport friend, who is in finance, what is happening to some of these powerful financial folks. And I was told that their life styles have been dramatically “cut back,” as in one of their many houses may be on the chopping block.

I inquired if “they” could have any clue that maybe they, along with lots and lots of other folks, might feel responsible for what has happened to the United States, the world, as well as our own little spot in the world, Newburyport, MA.

And I was told, no way would it ever occur to them to own up to their role in all of this mess. It’s, “Give me my two extra houses back, now,” as far as I can make out.

We obviously have a long way to go in coming to terms with the whole concept of the “humility” thing. The frogs (see previous post) get it, they want to be selfish and narcissistic (their words, not mine). Maybe we could all begin to acclimate ourselves to this new “in” concept of humble, by practicing standing, while waiting for whatever, with our hands clasped in front of our waists, just like one of the most powerful men on earth, President Obama,

Website Design Outrage

The frogs are outraged.

The frogs are outraged because they think the new “look” of The Newburyport Blog makes them look awful. In fact they think it makes them look “tacky.” (What can I say, they’ve always looked somewhat “tacky,” but believe me, I’m not going to go there.)

I tell the frogs (I haven’t put a photo of the frogs, just incase the new “look” does in fact make them look less than their amphibian sparkling best, just a previous link to their entire frog page, “About George”) that the color scheme is actually pretty close to the old “look.” They are not placated. They tell me that the maroon headlines brought out their eyes (I of course am rolling mine). I tell them they have beady black eyes and the maroon headlines did nothing of the sort.

I also tell them, if I’m going to experiment with designing websites, for goodness sakes, why not start experimenting on one of my own sites, for crying out loud. And that there is always tweaking that can be done, and worstcase scenario I can always change back to the old look. Good grief.

I also tell them that they should pay attention to their new president, who said that it was “time to put away childish things,” and that they are definitely being very childish. That there is a big difference between silly and whiney, and they are definitely being stupid wildly whiney.

And they say, they don’t care, that they would like to be selfish, narcissistic (pretty big word for a frog, have they been studying psych?) frogs and they don’t give a rip what the new president said. And I say, “Guys, depending how you look at it, you are in “good” company, because there appear to be plenty of Wall Street folks who feel exactly the same way.”

The Newburyport Library’s Hidden Treasure

I find at the Newburyport Library, which is one of my favorite places in all of Newburyport, and somehow makes paying my property taxes less painful, a small, and what looks like a treasure chest of a section. I decide to keep the “call number” of this treasure chest of a section, a big fat secret, and not to share it with anyone, not even any of the librarians that work at the Newburyport Library in Newburyport, MA.

I impulsively dub this section the, “Everything is going to be all right, really and truly, at least I hope so, ” section of the Newburyport Library, in Newburyport, MA. I spot a book by Stephen Colbert, so I know this finite area contains humorous stuff. Humor being something that I could use a heaping dose of in these scary and uncertain economic times.

And I spot an old friend (my mother used to say, semi rolling her eyes, “Books are our friends”), “Lost in the Cosmos, the Last Self-Help Book,” by Walker Percy, which I snatch from the shelf, as if it might be snatched from my hands, and usher it downstairs to the beautiful granite topped checkout center, before scurrying home with my new found treasure.

And that night I sit down in the comfiest chair possible and start to read, once again, Walker Percy’s “Lost in the Cosmos.”

By page two I no longer smile in anticipation, but begin to frown. By page four I turn back to the copyright page to find out when this book had actually been written–1983, a while ago. By page eight I call it quits.

The book no longer seems like a witty commentary on the society in which we live. It seems bitter, angry and confused about the direction that society is taking. I am beginning to understand a) why “irony” has been getting such a bad name lately and b) why this book has been sitting on the shelf and does not have a long waiting list instead.

I wonder out loud to myself if it could be possible that we as a culture could have actually outgrown an angry 1980’s ironic phase?

And I think about our almost president to be Obama. Over and over again the one thing people seem to agree on, and still seem to agree on, is that here is a man that does not appear to be angry, when in fact, many think he should be.

And last night as I flip through the channels looking for the latest inaugural news, on one of the cable channels I come across someone who says that they think that it is “ironic” that our new president will be inaugurated the day after Martin Luther King Day.

I think to myself that I in fact I do not think that this is “ironic” at all, now that I am coming to the conclusion that it may be possible that “irony” may indeed be going out of fashion.

Instead I think of it as what a wise friend of mine calls “God’s pinky.” Possibly that this “coincidence” could be the god of my understanding indicating that electing the first African American president is a very good thing.

Weddings and Inaugurations

A milestone of sorts. The first one of my friend’s children got married.

I cried through the entire ceremony, and wished for them what a friend of mine once referred to as, “the normal mess of a marriage.” That they would defy the odds, and make it until death do them part.

From what was said, it appeared that there had been discussion about the difficulties of marriage, which was an improvement on my own take–that marriage would be some sort of fairytale, and with no effort on anyone’s part, everyone would live happily ever after, no problemo. Obviously, the issue of realistic expectations had been addressed in a more concrete way.

And as I listen to the folks of Obama Land, the chit chat is that expectations are way too high, for the incoming president, and could we please bring them way, way down.

Although, no matter how much I try to bring my expectations way, way down, as far as Obama Land is concerned, somehow, when I’m not looking, they sneak back up there to a soaring pinnacle.

And I imagine that on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, during the inauguration of our new president that I (along with so much of the nation, and much of the world) will find myself beyond teary.

I really do realize that fairy tales are not possible, although having the first African American president, would have been so improbably not too long ago, that it feels somewhat mythic to me.

My hope as we arrive at Obama Land on Tuesday, is, not only for our new president but for our national as well, to that have wisdom, patience, intelligence, savvy, perseverance and a great big huge heaping dose of the biggest luck that the universe can possibly offer. Realistic? no, but I desperately want much more than the normal mess of politics, and much more than the normal mess of a presidency.