10 Reasons to Vote for John McCain in 2008

1. He’s a good strong Christian. An Episcopalian. Wait, I mean a Baptist. Oops, hold on, let me check. Okay, here it is: a long-time non-practicing Episcopalian who recently announced to heavily Baptist North Carolina that he is actually Baptist. Never mind that he hasn’t been baptized (which is sort of a big thing for Baptists).

2. Unlike John Edwards, he would never engage in adultery. Anymore. Of course his marriage to current wife Cindy emerged out of his 1980 affair on his then-wife Carol, who had gained weight after a horrible car accident.

3. He respects women. Except when volunteering his wife as a candidate for a topless beauty contest (last week).

4. John McCain is a straight-shooter who won’t flip-flop on issues (disclaimer—this statement does not apply to the following issues: (tax cuts for wealthy—against then for, torture—strongly against then for, citizenship for immigrants’ children who finish high school—for then against, immigration—announced he would vote against his own immigration policy, ethanol—against then for . . . darn, I’m running out of room).

5. People around the world don’t come to hear him speak or think he offers hope for the world. That kind of thing is so annoying.

6. He’s not an overachiever. He proudly boasts that he graduated near the bottom of his military class. And we sure wouldn’t want anyone overqualified making commander-in-chief-type decisions.

7. He’s good at ingratiating himself with powerful people. Take his first senate run—he found himself a good sponsor (owner of a beer distributorship), seduced and married his daughter (despite his pesky other marriage), and used her money to finance his campaign. Just imagine what he could do with mid-eastern oil shahs!

8. He’s like Ronald Reagan. Aside from the fact that he became estranged from the Reagans after his infidelities came to light and the Reagans strongly sympathized with McCain’s ex-wife Carol.

9. He doesn’t pat the butts of US Olympic athletes like GW Bush. Really. Thank goodness.

10. He’s not elitist. Those people who grow up in one-bedroom houses, work their way through college, give their kids $1/week allowances and attend parent-teacher conferences (like the Obamas) are SO uppity.

My new niece!

Welcome to the world, Lucy Mae Zina!

The Scarlet Stockings: The Enchanted Riddle, by Charlotte Kandel

Review:
In an orphanage in London’s Hoxley district, a young girl yearns to find her parents and learn the truth about her history. Cue the orchestra for a rendition of Oliver’s “Where is Love” or Annie’s “Maybe,” and pull out a box of tissues, right?

Not so fast. In The Enchanted Riddle, the first installment of The Scarlet Stockings trilogy by Charlotte Kandel, we meet Daphne, a thirteen-year-old orphan with an ambition: to dance the finest stages of Europe and become a prima ballerina. When a mysterious package arrives at the orphanage for Daphne, the quest is on to achieve her dreams and solve the riddle of the magic scarlet stockings the package contains. This pursuit catapults Daphne from the vaudeville theaters of Hoxley to stage of the Royal Ballet Academy in Paris, where she finds heartbreak and disaster, and finally the truth.

Unlike the sympathetic orphans found elsewhere in literature, Daphne vacillates between friendly camaraderie and prima-donna arrogance. She makes choices that alienate her friends, only to beg forgiveness and steal her way back into their (and our) hearts again and again. In the end, we discover with Daphne that a dream come true is anything but, unless the people we love are at our side . . . and watching our back.

I HEART BOOKS

Wherein I begin a list of all the books I want to own as my children grow, so that when birthdays and mothers' days and such lurk I can tell people "check out my May 21 2008 blog post if you want to know what I really want!"

To be added to and subtracted from as needed, and in no particular order:
All Junie B. Jones books
A Little Princess
The Secret Garden
Robinson Crusoe
Tom Sawyer
Chronicles of Narnia (still have my old set--man are they worn out)
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Harry Potter 1-6 (and I thought I was being good waiting on the library all those times . . .)Ramona Quimby books
Are You there God? It's Me Margaret
The Jungle Book
The Little House on the Prarie books
Anne of Green Gables
The Emily Trilogy (L.M. Montgomery)
to be added to . . .