Facie’s Ramblings

"And what matters at the end of the day is the small things. It’s not the trivial things that so often consume us in our daily lives. It’s how we treat each other and love one another." -President Obama, speaking to a crowd of supporters in Fort Myers, Florida, today Some days I get so weary about what goes on the world. Today is one of those days. I could write about gun control, mental illness, violence in the media, the over-present media in general, or how society has gone to hell in a hand basket. But I instead want to think about being compassionate, doing the right thing, and treating others as you want to be treated. I try to do those very things. Sometimes I fail, even though I so want to succeed. But as I often tell students the day after they have treated me less than kindly, every day is a new day. Here's to tomorrow.

By now I should be tired of all the negative political ads that I am being bombarded with. But because Penn State continues to remain at the forefront of local and, to a lesser extent, national news (Paternoville is now Nittanyville! Take the statue down! Camp out to defend the statue! The Paternos are conducting their own investigation! The Freeh Report is biased! Joe Paterno is a child rape enabler!), the ads are not affected me as negatively as they have in the past. Yet. I read yesterday that Romney is outspending Obama. I was extremely surprised at this nugget. I would have put the ratio of Obama to Romney ads at about 4 to 1 in western PA, which would lead me to conclude the opposite. Because isn't PA supposed to be a battleground state? If so, why is it that it appears I am seeing mostly the mud-slinging by Obama's camp? Maybe this just occurs on the stations I am watching, but if any of you is seeing a lot of Romney ads, I would love to hear. But speaking of mud-sli...

Although I am so very glad I won't have to suffer through dozens of political ads for at least a little while, it looks as if I will be listening to, watching, and reading the strong opinions of friends, relatives, bloggers, the media, etc., for the foreseeable future. So many people think their way is the only way. But is it possible there is not just one right way? I can see the beauty of gray, so why can't others? Why must so many refer to those on the opposite side as crazy, extreme, out of touch, socialist, racist, greedy, idiots, morally bankrupt, gun-toting, stupid, lazy, uncaring, religiously fanatical, and smelly? I am only partly kidding about that last adjective, but I do find it sad that conservative and liberal have become "bad" words for many people. I am neither all-knowing nor able to predict the future, so I have no idea how this will turn out. I do find it a little sad that a lot of young people who were so jazzed about the 2008 election did not ...

I hate that phrase. If you start off by saying that you don't want to offend someone, chances are you are going to do just that. In fact, when I hear someone say that, I am usually offended right away. For that reason, I try not to use that pointless phrase, but sometimes it just falls out. My bigger goal is just not offending people to begin with. But I fail at that too. Right here in this blog. Sometimes it is because I am pretty opinionated about something. I don't feel strongly about too many things, but when I do, I tend to beat a dead horse, which means blogging about something a number of times. And if you are tired of hearing about it and particularly if you don't agree with me, then chances are I may have offended you. I am not extreme in my religious beliefs or political views, but yet I think that (ironically) offends many people, or at least those with strong opinions. I am Catholic, but not what most people would consider devout. And by most, I guess I mean...

I am sure that some people find my blog kind of boring. Unlike fellow bloggers who come up with a variety of topics, I tend to write (and by write, I mean ramble) mostly about the following: money (expenses, spending, taxes, etc.) sports (easy to do when you live in the City of Champions AND are not a big baseball fan) kids (well, mine specifically) politics (though I have been lying low on this subject for awhile) It is easiest to write about something I feel passionately about. Or, as is often the case with me, something that bugs me. When I was trying to come up with a name for the blog, I was debating between "Facie's ramblings" and "Facie's rants" (in either case, I probably should capitalize the R, but I am so sick of people capitalizing things they should not, that I left it lowercase out of spite). Since I tend to ramble more often than rant, I went with the former. And considering some coworkers asked if my blog was called "Facie's Rants...

But I am. I promised myself and others that I would give Obama a chance, that I would show him the respect that so many others did not give Bush. So far, I am breaking that promise. Pretty much any time I see an Obama bumper sticker, I have a visceral reaction. I wince, make a snide comment, or roll my eyes. I pretty much always roll my eyes. I want to like the guy. I want to want him to do well, so why can't I get over this? Partly, I guess, because ever since I started following politics, around 2000, my guy has won the presidency. I was not a big Bush supporter, but he seemed the lesser of two evils in 2000, and mostly I wanted all traces of Bill Clinton out of the White House (that was when I voted on the basis of morality, which I no longer do). And in 2004, there was something about Kerry that made it impossible for me to vote for him, so it was Bush again. Maybe I am sore loser? Last night during Obama's address to Congress, when I saw Nancy Pelosi in what appeared to be...

My friend Q has an apple-tasting party every November. During this evening, guests sample about 15 to 20 different apple varieties (BYOK--bring your own knife) and then comment on and rate them. Once done tasting, everyone has the opportunity to try to guess the "mystery apple." This evening is a lot like a wine-tasting, except you actually consume the apples rather than spit them out, as you would wine. And, happily for me, there is plenty of snack food, including cheese and bread, to help cleanse the palate, as well as an array of beverages (yes, wine). At the end of the tasting, the group goes around the room and shares some of their comments on select apples. This year, there was a decidedly anti-Obama crowd, so some of the comments centered on Hope and Change as well as a few other gems. When it came time to reveal the mystery apple, I held my breath, wondering if I would once again guess correctly, yet also lose the inevitable tie-breaker. I and four others correctly gu...

Just when I was finally heading into the acceptance stage after Tuesday's election, Penn State had to lose today. I was really starting to believe that PSU might actually end up playing for the national championship, but with a couple of minutes to go, I knew it was not to be. Except I was still holding out hope. Just as when I went to bed around 10 Tuesday night and Obama had something like 200 electoral votes. I told myself that maybe McCain could pull it out. Once I knew PA and Ohio went to Obama, the chances were pretty close to zilch, just as I knew PSU was headed for its first loss when Iowa was on the 20 yard line (or thereabouts) and had almost no chance of missing a field goal from that close. So now I am back to sadness or depression, or whichever stage that is. There is almost no way PSU can play for the national championship, and what makes it so hard to take is I feel as if this would have been JoePa's last, best chance. I love that man. My eyes actually welled up ...

I want to be happy that the country has elected its first black president. It really is a great, long overdue event. But why did it have to be Obama, such a liberal guy? I was on one of the P-G forums yesterday, and a poster told some people to stop bashing Obama because we have had to put up with 8 years of W's stuff (or something like that; I cannot seem to find the forum anymore). So let me get this straight: I have had to listen to Bush bashers for eight years, but only 12 hours after the election was called, people are not allowed to be upset or say negative things because their candidate lost/the candidate that they did not like won?! Since the forum is now gone, removed, vanished, I guess that gives me my answer. Perhaps the Fairness Doctrine was put back into place overnight! Another poster talked about restoring the image of the country. I believe that a big part of the tarnished image is that people did not stand behind Bush. It is one thing to disagree with a president, ...

When I started writing this blog, I was not sure what I would write about. I was fairly certain, however, that I would ramble on and on, whatever the topic. About eight or nine months into this, I mostly ramble about politics and money. But right now, I am just sick of both of those things. I am tired of reading about the latest bank/business/whatever to go bankrupt or be bought out. I don't like worrying about money. And yet I am worried that I am not worried as much as I should be. The excitement I felt when McCain picked a refreshing woman as his running mate? That has almost evaporated. Should I be concerned by her lack of experience? I don't know. What I do know is that about all the candidates can do is throw jabs at each other. I am just sick of it. I had a dream about Sean Hannity last night. I think it is time to turn off Fox News. I will try to watch some of the debate tonight, but I am not sure how long I will make it; my heart is just not in it. I am not sure anythi...

Either McCain's choice of Sarah Palin for veep is absolutely brilliant or it will sound the death knell (I think I mean knell, not knoll). I agree with many Obama supporters that McCain should not have talked about Obama's lack of experience and then turn around and pick a candidate with little experience herself; that could really hurt him. But I am not the only one who is not voting for Obama for a reason other than his inexperience. His views are just fundamentally different from mine (In fact, I took yet another quiz. Ron Paul got me 15 points, McCain and Bob Barr got me 8 and 7. And Obama, 0). Really, what makes a person qualified to be president? I would never vote for someone who had not held any office, but I am more turned off by someone who has a ton of experience, particularly someone who has been in Congress for decades. Of the two ( Obama and Palin ), neither is particularly qualified (though you could argue being a mayor and then governor is a more experienc...

For the second time in about six weeks, I drove past a group of people waving Obama signs, some of which read, "Honk for Obama." On this day, the peopled who probably numbered 20 or 30 were having a barbecue to help register voters and, of course, garner support for Obama. As I did when I drove past them the last time, I waved my fists in the air, which made the sign holders cheer. Jordan asked me why I did this, and I said, "These people really want this man to be the next president, and it makes them happy that I just did that." I could not honk my horn because I do not support Obama, but I do support these people and am glad for them, and envious, actually, that they are excited about their candidate. I wish I could be. The election is about three months away, and, once again, I do not want either of the top two candidates to be president. Several friends and relatives tell me if I vote for Ron Paul, who does stand for most of the things I believe in, I will be w...