PvPonline.com - 09/25/08

http://www.pvponline.com/2008/09/25/reunited/

Just read it. 2 hankies

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson - 9/24/08

I only discovered Craig Ferguson a few months ago when he was a guest on NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!," so I don't know how rare or common it is for him to take a serious tangent in his monologue. He did take one, tonight, though. At about 3:50 into this clip (the whole thing is worth watching, though - he is really funny) he starts talking about the financial crisis and proposed bailout. At the end he very seriously, and, to me, shockingly, asks, "Where's the bailout for the 10 million uninsured kids?" and immediately the smile I was wearing at hearing his jokes was knocked off my face and tears sprung to my eyes. He's exactly right. Stable markets are nice, but there are much more serious issues that we've been neglecting for too long, and they have precedence. 2 hankies

The Abominable Charles Christofer - 9/24/08

http://www.abominable.cc/2008/09/24/precious-in-his-sight/

Today's Charles Christopher brought a tear to my eye. This had been building over the last few strips. 2 hankies

Real Time with Bill Maher - 09/19/2008

"Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" 3 hankies

The Order of the Stick #593

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0593.html 2 hankies

I've been reading Order of the Stick for a couple of years, now. You don't have to read all the back story to be touched by this installment, but you should, anyway. It's not the only stick-figure comic I read, but it literally is the only stick-figure that I actually enjoy.

(I'm looking at you, XKCD... I basically only read you, anymore, so I will get the joke when chainsawsuit skewers you...)

Early morning conversation with the boy - 9/15/08

I've been having a rough time, recently. I'm having a difficult time, financially, because gas and just about everything else is getting more expensive and we've been living on a fixed income for years. Also, I got into an argument with my folks, yesterday, because I pointed out that Republican shenanigans are why my Mom's retirement account with AIG is in jeopardy. They're both hard-core Religious-Right Republicans and my Mom actually ended up shouting at me about it, telling me to "shut the fuck up!" (She rarely cusses...) It didn't matter if I was right, they were entitled to their opinion. Pointing out that you can't have an opinion that's contrary to actual facts only made it worse. Naturally this stirred my ever-lurking insomnia and when I got up at 6am, this morning, to get the kids bathed and fed before school, I was feeling pretty rocky.

My girl is autistic and for some reason was really pissed off that I put syrup on her waffles so she was yelling and screaming all through breakfast. A little while later I was just chattering at her while I was dressing her (she's completely non-verbal all conversations with her are one-sided) and told her that I was going to be taking care of her for the rest of my life, so she'd just better get used to putting up with me.

My son heard this, and immediately hopped over to where we were sitting and asked, "When you die, can I take care of her?"

I told him, "Well, son, that'd be very nice of you, but I don't know if you'll really want to. By then you'll have a wife and kids of your own, and you may not be in a position to."

I then turned back to my daughter, putting her shoes on, and continued, "Which is sad because when I'm gone she'll have to go into an institution, and there won't anybody who loves her, there."

And I started to cry.

I wasn't expecting it. It just flooded over me. The realization that this poor girl, a grown woman by then, who simply can't make sense of her world, will be shuffled off into some sort of institution where she'll be stored away to count down the rest of her days. 5 hankies.

** Addendum **

This was an unusual event for me. As this diary illustrates, I cry a lot, and all sorts of things can trip me up and push me past my emotional tipping point, but rarely do I cry about events in my own life. Which, when you look at the facts of my life - widowed at 28, lost the love of my life who was pregnant with a son I never got the opportunity to know, and an autistic daughter that I'll likely be caregiver to for the rest of my life - is really astounding.

There are days I feel put upon by the universe, and days I feel sorry for myself and inwardly grumble that my life couldn't have at least been simpler, if not altogether more fortunate. But since I finished grieving for my wife and second son (which did take about 2 1/2 years, though) - but once I finished grieving their loss, I rarely am made sad by my own circumstances. Today, really, it wasn't even my own circumstance that made me sad. It was the idea that there will be a time in my daughter's life that she won't have somebody who loves her as much as I do. Hell, even typing that sentence is making me teary-eyed, again, but it's not for me - it's for her.

I spent the better part of this afternoon absolutely crying my eyes out. I mean wracking sobs and using up most of a box of tissue. Every time I'd try to come back to this post to edit or finish it, it'd set me off again and I wouldn't be able to do anything. I guess once I do have a chance to stop and think about the tragedies that are happening to me and mine, it hits me much harder than all these times when I merely get misty-eyed over a touching movie scene or a tragic comic book hero.

Alaskan Anti-Palin Rally

These times are so scary to me. Never in my conscious memory have I seen the country so visibly suffering. I also understand exactly what brought us to this point, and what's needed to fix it. Choosing Palin was a stroke of genius. She's so muddied the water by bringing back the culture wars that we've completely lost track of the issues that really matter. She scares me because she might be the wedge that allows McCain to take office and drive the final knife into America's heart.

Still, I keep finding hope in surprising places. 3 hankies

American Elf

The September 13 American Elf was really touching. 2 hankies

I've been through this, as I'm sure most parents have.

Les Misbarack

I went to Little Rock and saw Les Misérables three times during my Junior and Senior years of high-school. I loved that play. I think that's why this little spoof resonated with me so much.

Also, I knew it was coming, but seeing McCain as Javert had me roaring with laughter, even as tears were streaming down my face. 4 hankies

Below I've embedded a bit of the real Les Misérables. Made me weepy all over, again. 3 hankies

Give 'em hell, Joe!

A lot of times I cry because I feel a sadness or emotional pain or I'm in sympathy with somebody else's' sadness or pain. Fairly often happiness or joy can do it, too. Those are very strong emotions in their own right. Watching this clip, though, I had tears in my eyes not because I was sad or happy, but because I was filled with rage. A righteous anger at the systematic rape and ruination of my country, my people, my way of life. I dislike hate and and vitriol, but this isn't that. This is the well-deserved response to 8 years of wrong that has been perpetrated on my nation. 4 hankies



More and more I'm liking Joe Biden. Now I see what his early supporters already knew: he's capable and he's a fighter.

Give 'em hell, Joe!

Signs of Hope

3 hankies

Jonathan Winters on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Jonathan Winters has always been one of my favorite comedians. I somehow saw some of his stand-up as a kid, and his humor just really appealed to me. It made me a bit weepy to see him triumphantly raise his cane to the audience at the beginning of this segment (1 hankie) and he was pretty funny, throughout. With this interview, though, he really strikes me as a man sort of saying his goodbyes. He's been married for 60 years, and his wife isn't well. With couples who've been bonded so long, it's rare for one to long survive the other. I hope he and his wife live to be 150, but I really had the feeling while I was watching this that this may be one of his last public appearances. 2 hankies

Dog Whisperer: ATF K-9 Gavin

I just finished watching this episode (only an excerpt, here), and it's hard not to be touched by the troubles this dog has, and not to be moved by the way he's recovered and so much healthier, now. 3 hankies