Which Came First--the Totem or the Egg?

I've been looking for a nice dragonfly quote to go with the image I've started using as my avatar on a variety of different sites. I haven't found a quote yet, but what I have found is fascinating. I've always been drawn to dragonflies, but for no conscious reason other than I think they're cool. I love the way they look with their colorful bodies and delicate wings. I love the way they race around ponds and streams with the light reflecting off their gauzy wings, touching down and taking off again with no apparent objective or reason. Living in Central Texas, I also LOVE the fact that they eat mosquitoes, which are the bane of my existence a good portion of the year.

What I didn't know, however, was the role the dragonfly plays in Native American lore. The dragonfly is apparently a symbol of change. Some Native American belief systems view the dragonfly as a symbol of renewal after a time of great hardship. According to one source I read, dragonflies "remind us to take time to reconnect with our own strength, courage, and happiness."

Elsewhere I read that as the inhabitants of two realms--starting life in water and moving to air with maturity (but never venturing too far from the water), people who relate to the dragonfly have emotional and passionate early years, but achieve balance, mental clarity, and control as adults.

Hmmmmmm. I don't know much about totems, but the topic has come up recently on several occasions. I guess I assumed a person would seek out and choose their own totem. But perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps the totem seeks you. . . Or me as the case may be. Either way, I don't have to think very hard to come up with ways dragonfly lore completely reflects my frame of mind over the past several months as I've struggled to reconcile my image of the fun, vibrant, unstoppable young woman I once was to the "balanced, mentaly clear, and controlled" woman I have become. (And thanks, dragonfly folklore, that sounds so much better than "old and boring.")

The upshot? Even though I don't know exactly which way it happened--whether I found it or it found me--I'm certain I've identified my totem. And I guess it doesn't matter how it came to be, because the one tattooed on my shoulder is clearly here to stay.

It's Too Bad Alzheimers Jokes Aren't Funny

So this is like the 17th time I've logged on to blogspot today KNOWING I had something I wanted to post, but completely forgetting before the page was actually up in front of me.

But THIS time I remember! And it's worth the wait, I tell you. Or then again, maybe it's not. Anyway. . .

The Austin Symphonic Band is preparing for one of our three yearly free performances at Zilker Park. This concert is scheduled for Sunday evening, October 5th, at 7:00. Here's a link to the ASB website with more information: http://www.asband.org/(Is it just me, or is that site getting uglier and uglier?)

I know some of you with children in band this year were planning on coming out to the Mother's Day concert last year, but it got rained out (I *think* it was Mother's Day that got rained out. Right?). Since it appears that it's never going to rain in Austin again, I think we just might be safe this time.

Suffice it to Say

In Austin, at least, Ike was not at all "the big one." Other than a nice breeze and a few sprinkles overnight, we got nothing. Which is good, I suppose, other than the fact that we really need the rain.

It looks like Galveston, Houston, Beaumont, and the surrounding areas may have gotten hit pretty hard. And apparently a lot of people who were told to evacuate the Galveston area didn't--and then were angered and disappointed when rescue workers couldn't help them during the storm.

That's the part I don't get. I mean, I can see deciding to wait it out, but it seems like you do it with the understanding that you don't get to ask other people to risk their lives to help you out if it's worse than you expected.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I think that part of the deal is pretty clear.

Still, I wish everyone in the storm-hit areas the very best.

The Big One

Hey Guys,
You may not hear from me for a while. I've got preparations to make. I need to get the windows boarded up, gas up the generator, and stock up on Spam and Coke. There's a hurricane coming. And it could be the big one. High schools are cancelling football games and one district even cancelled school on Friday. Hell, FEMA even set up a temporary service center here yesterday.

What? What's that you say? Yes, you're right. I DO live in Central Texas, which is, by any measure, a far piece from the Texas coast. And no, technically I don't think Ike is going to make it this far inland. But we could, potentially, get some tropical storm level winds and rain. And apparently, in this post-Katrina world, we MUST BE PREPARED. So the news stations are on full alert, and city and state officials are itching to prove that they won't be taken unawares. And from now until Saturday it's gonna to be all Ike, all the time.

So, here's MY prediction. Ike is going to take a sharp right turn, and nothing's going to happen in Austin. We, like always, will be right outside the storm. We'll get no rain, no wind, AND no UT football game.

But if you haven't heard from me by Monday, it's because I was wrong. The levy has broken and I'm trapped on my roof. Oh wait. We don't have levies. Doh. Why is this so confusing?

UPDATE: So, now LOTS of districts have cancelled school today and our schools are letting out early. But now I actually understand WHY. The districts have been asked to get their bus fleets of the major evacuation routes (I-35 and hwy 290) as early in the day as possible. Now THAT makes sense.

THIS is why!

This article from the Washington Post is a good example of what I love about Obama. Rather than battling one stupid sound byte with another--he actually fights back with substance. Apparently, this kind of response doesn't make headlines (has anyone seen an Obama story on the front page of the paper lately--ANYTHING?) because it's too boring. But I'll take boring, informed, and intelligent any day.

Forgive me for posting the whole article, but it's short and to the point so I think it's okay. Oh yeah, and it's my blog anyway, so I guess I can do it however I want to!!!

Obama to Palin: 'Don't Mock the Constitution'
By Peter Slevin
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. -- Sen. Barack Obama delivered an impassioned defense of the Constitution and the rights of terrorism suspects tonight, striking back at one of the biggest applause lines in Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech to the GOP convention.

It was in St. Paul last week that Palin drew raucous cheers when she delivered this put-down of Obama: "Al-Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America and he's worried that someone won't read them their rights."

Obama had a few problems with that.

"First of all, you don't even get to read them their rights until you catch 'em," Obama said here, drawing laughs from 1,500 supporters in a high school gymnasium. "They should spend more time trying to catch Osama bin Laden and we can worry about the next steps later."

If the plotters of the Sept. 11 attacks are in the government's sights, Obama went on, they should be targeted and killed.

"My position has always been clear: If you've got a terrorist, take him out," Obama said. "Anybody who was involved in 9/11, take 'em out."

But Obama, who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago for more than a decade, said captured suspects deserve to file writs of habeus corpus.

Calling it "the foundation of Anglo-American law," he said the principle "says very simply: If the government grabs you, then you have the right to at least ask, 'Why was I grabbed?' And say, 'Maybe you've got the wrong person.'"

The safeguard is essential, Obama continued, "because we don't always have the right person."

"We don't always catch the right person," he said. "We may think it's Mohammed the terrorist, but it might be Mohammed the cab driver. You might think it's Barack the bomb-thrower, but it might be Barack the guy running for president."

Obama turned back to Palin's comment, although he said he was not sure whether Palin or Rudy Giuliani said it.

"The reason that you have this principle is not to be soft on terrorism. It's because that's who we are. That's what we're protecting," Obama said, his voice growing louder and the crowd rising to its feet to cheer. "Don't mock the Constitution. Don't make fun of it. Don't suggest that it's not American to abide by what the founding fathers set up. It's worked pretty well for over 200 years."

He finished with a dismissive comment about his opponents.

"These people."

link to actual article

Mucho Funny!

I don't know how long this has been around, but it's awfully funny. And not even remotely political.

Yay!

Enough with the "Sexy" Up-do Already

Sure, there's lots to be said about Sarah Palin, McCain's choice for running mate. And most of the irrelevant stuff has been said again and again over the past week.

But what I can't bear--the thing hat makes me want to SCREAM every time I see her, is that ridiculous hair. Did she like her prom style so much that she's decided to wear it every day since the big night? Is she being advised by a Playboy centerfold stylist? Because I swear, in the first Playboy I ever saw (yep, teenage girls check 'em out too--to figure out the ideal we're aiming for but will never quite measure up to), there was a whole sexy librarian spread that started with the mousy chick in a navy suit, nerdy glasses, and a prim but touseled up-do and ended with Ms. Prim and Proper, hair down and glasses discarded, spread out naked among the books in the reference section. Maybe Palin saw that one too (she's about the right age, isn't she?) and thought--yeah! That's the look I'm going for.

So, am I a hypocritical anti-feminist because I even care about her hair? Maybe. But I CAN'T STAND IT. And even Jenny, our visiting German teenager who has followed NONE of the media frenzy following Palin's nomination and has no stake in the election, saw her on tv and noticed something was amiss. "Why is McCain holding hands with a porn star at the Republican convention? That woman totally looks like a porn star."



It's the hair, I tell you. Well, and maybe the dominatrix suit and the pretend-I'm-smart glasses, and the makeup. But mostly it's the hair!

(Oh yeah, and her politics suck, too.)