Democracy, Take it or Leave it.

This has been rolling around in my head since I was listening to the debates and comments regarding last week's, now delayed, vote on same-sex marriage in New Jersey.

While this is an important issue to me because it effects the lives of many people I hold dear to me, that is not what this post is about. My problem is with comments made last week where certain people called for a popular vote on the issue. Why? Because they don't trust those who were elected to do the job they were elected to do? Too bad.

Think about it this way, do you want your neighbors voting on how you may or may not live your life? What you may or may not do? Who you may or may not associate with? I certainly don't. While I respect their rights to have their own beliefs, I do not want them imposing them on me.

We live in a democracy. What is a democracy you ask? According to Websters, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Democracy, it is a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.

And according to Wikipedia, one of the core tenets of the politics of the United States is Democracy, defined as the government is answerable to citizens, who may change it through elections. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_United_States).

Representation, people, that's what it is all about. Need another source, fine. Check out http://library.thinkquest.org/26466/history_of_democracy.html and see the last paragraph about the origins of democracy in America. The part I am particular interested in is: They did not desire the Athenian form of democracy however; as they feared it would give the people too much power and would lend control of the government to the uneducated masses. What they came up with was a representative democracy wherein elected representatives rather than direct rule by the people rule the government.

So if you don't trust your representatives to do their job, make your voice known in the next election by voting. Don't like our current democratic system, then join a party or organization working, legally, to change the system or move. There are plenty of countries out there with different political systems, but don't cry that you are American and expect certain rights because they will only laugh at you.

The Music of 2009 (or what I bothered to pay $ for)

Welcome to my look at some of the music of the past year or what I like to refer to as "the music I actually bothered to pay good money for". This is not a typical "Best of 2009" list because I am by no means a critic or necessarily have exceptional taste. It is simply a nod to the music that had an impact on my life this year.

That said, I also want to give a shout out to @wfuv, @NextMusicShow and @outlandosmusic for doing what they do and doing it well. Music worth listening to is much easier to find thanks to their efforts.

New Music I purchased this year (all lists simply alphabetical):

The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
Bob Schneider - Lovely Creatures
Brendan Benson - My Old, Familiar Friend
Cory Chisel and Wandering Sons - Death Won't Send a Letter
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Wilco - Wilco (the album)
Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11
Rosanne Cash - The list

Those peaking my interest and on their way to being on the purchased list:

Chuck Prophet
Chris Velan
Death Cab for Cutie/Ben Gibbard & Jay Farrar's One Fast Move & I'm Gone
Fanfarlo
Low Anthem
Mike Gent
One Eskimo

...and yes, there are many, many others. But let's be serious, you want to read a long list about as much as I want to type one.

Bands I came to love this year that I didn't appreciate enough before:
Gomez
The Jayhawks
Phish

Someone I enjoyed listening to that I never would have imagined in a million years:
Lyle Lovett

So there you have it. My little foray into the best of 2009. I hope it has inspired you to spend some money on your favorites and let them know you appreciate their music. I wish everyone nothing but the best for 2010!

In the daylight...

The glowing not so white pumpkin...

Important or not?

There has been so much going on in my head lately, that I really should have been blogging to try and clear out all the garbage and refocus on what's important. Of course, what is important to us seems to change from minute to minute, if not by the second. At 5am in the morning when I leave for work, nothing in the world could seem more important than caffeinating my body. By 9am, those thoughts have been replaced with trying to figure out how to get everything done and get home to my kids on time. At 7pm, all I can think about is how to get the kids to go to sleep so I can have some peace and quiet. And through all this, a million different thoughts pass through my head each day making me rethink some aspect of life.

We spend so much of our life worrying about so many different things. Is it just in our nature even though most of the things we worry about are beyond our control? Or are they?

Where were you born?

This whole discussion about where President Obama was born is ridiculous. Honestly, does anyone really care? Wait, I should reword that because obviously there are people that are obsessing over the issue and want you to as well. My advice to you, don't fall for it. We are dealing with so many important issues right now in this country and instead of attempting to keep the public up to date and educated, someone has decided it is better to draw attention away from what matters with headlines I would expect to see only at the supermarket checkout. Even NPR is reporting on the story http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111194869 and regardless of the opinion expressed in the story, the point is that it is distracting attention from more worthy headlines.

My children were not born in the United States, but are American citizens with dual citizenship in Italy, where they were born. Does that make them anti-American and pro-Europe by birth? I, for one, am thankful that they were born elsewhere making them ineligible to be U.S. President one day. What mother would want their child to put up with all the "crap" that the President has to deal with. So let's concentrate on what is important in order to get this country back on track and stop obsessing with what is not.