No. No. No. No. No.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I do not want to "make a statement" with my phone much less my phone service. Of all the political CRAP that clogs the snailmail box, I'm hoping this is not a trend. Have we really come to this? Not just "Vote for/please don't vote for so and so" but "BUY THIS BECAUSE OF/TO BE ANTI SO-and-SO"?

God help us. When we're born, we should come with a giant opt-out button on our little butt.

Complainers Make Me CRANKY

Regarding folks complaining that Irene was over-hyped by local and state government agencies, listen to Administrator of FEMA Craig Fugate's stone-faced response to Wolf Blitzer's question: "My condolences to the families that lost lives, with homes that have been destroyed; to the communities that have been flooded. We work from a forecast with not so much precision that we can say whose house will be impacted and whose not." (Kudos on his subtext of "Guess what, a world exists outside your backyard." My new hero!) And when asked if they operate under the theory of "better safe than sorry", he responded, "We operate under the theory that you can't change the outcome if you're not ready." <-- THIS!

People who are complaining need to get out there and go see where the "over hype" landed a lot of folks in other Areas, sometimes even in the next town over! And maybe lend a hand in the massive rebuilding of lives and communities that is going to be taking place. And they need to remember all the times they moaned "They should have been ready for this!" How about a little recognition of lessons finally learned? And this, for the "over-hyped" crowd:

"What you see is farms destroyed, crops destroyed,
businesses underwater, houses eroded or swept away and
widespread devastation." GOV. PETER SHUMLIN, of
Vermont, on the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene

Humans as a whole can sure be short-sighted. As the article linked below says, this storm left an "1100 mile trail of destruction", even if one didn't lose power in one's OWN house.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/29/hurricane-irene-trail-destruction

A Picture Worth a Thousand Bags of Hot Air

A picture worth a thousand bags of hot air.

37 total in 10 days (12 on one day).

And because I have nothing better to do (we put people on the moon and invent things like hanging chads, but we can't come up with a sarcasm font?), here's the breakdown:

Of the 20 republican supportive ads, 8 were positive (vote for me because I can do this for you), 11 negative (don't vote for the other guy because he's a lying scum) (6 of those were paid for by outside organizations) and 1 neutral (just go vote, please). The outside organizations went after the democratic candidate for US senate.

Of the 17 democrat supportive ads, 3 were positive, 12 negative (6 of those were paid for by outside organizations) and 2 were neutral (one of these was an outside organization endorsing a slate). The outside organizations (other than the one neutral ad) went after the republican candidate for US House of Representatives.

So I see which way the wind blows. "We don't campaign negatively. That was [Name of Citizens For or Against Something Group]. We have no control over them!" Horse poop!

Of particular interest was the Mommy Letter (which I counted as "positive", but read on). A US House of Representatives candidate's (party affiliation doesn't matter) mother wrote a heartwarming letter, a one page, typed-on-computer-paper letter in a cursive style font, to all her "neighbors" (25 miles away… hello?) asking for their votes for her wonderful son. I don't know who paid for that one. It wasn't indicated on the envelope, which bore a handwritten "send to" address and a homey-looking, crookedly affixed (more homey!) return address (PO Box... Wonder whose it really is?) sticker, and a real US postage stamp. In my opinion, the Mommy Letter was a big mistake. It made me feel physically ill, not because it was a "my son is wonderful" letter but because it was so blatantly… I dunno… what's the opposite of "fear language"? I felt used and manipulated, and not by the candidate or a committee (such manipulation is expected of them), but by someone's mother who pretended to confide in me as an old friend! Or worse, someone used their mother to manipulate me. Pathetic.

Robo Call Political Jokes

What's worse than telemarketing?
Telemarketing that leaves a message.

What's worse than telemarketing that leaves a message?
Telepoliticking.

What's worse than telepoliticking?
ROBOtelepoliticking.

What's worse than any of the above?
Robotelepolitical calls that leave messages and take up space.

How do you kill (robo)telepolitics of all kinds?
With a (robo)telepolitics of all kinds gun, of course!!
*Sigh* *Eye roll* No no no. You unplug your telephone for the next 10 days. "Of course".

If they find my cell phone number, I swear I will invent a (robo)telepolitics of all kinds gun.

Philadelphia Sports Fandom Balance Restored

In less than 24 hours, my faith in Philly sports teams has been ressurected.

The Phillies had a chance to be the first team--in MLB history, not just Phillies history--since the 1940s to go to the World Series three years in a row. That was over with by 11:00++ pm last night as 3rd out Ryan Howard watched strike three slither by. Fear the Beard. *SNort*. Go Texas.

Today, the Eagles were semi-blowing away the Titans after 3 quarters, making it seem as though they might not only win the game but, holy wow, actually be a HOT football team. Then suddenly, in ONE 15 MINUTE QUARTER the Titans scored 27 points. Final score. 36 -19. I won't even bring up the last play of the game. Google it. It was just so... so... Well, go google "long suffering" and "Philadelphia sports fans".

But Oh Em Gee. I'm so relieved. All that winning puts a lot of pressure on the average Philly fan. Now that I know it was all... you know... just teasers, and it's sports as usual in the Delaware Valley, I feel a lot better. (The Flyers and the Sixers, just getting started, could yet ruin the equilibrium, but who am I to complain?)

Dad

It's coming up on the 15th anniversary of my dad's passing. He's the guy on the far right in the photo above. He piloted that shot-up C-47 back to England after dropping troops into heavy fighting somewhere over Europe in 1944.

He's been on my mind a lot lately, so I thought I'd post the poem I wrote for him.

DAD
By Nan Jacobs © 2002

Dad I wish I knew
all that you went through.
Tall and quiet, you held within
your boyhood joys and carefree days,
friends, and Fords, and bright tomorrows;
a war… and peace… and countless sorrows.

I'm only now beginning
to understand how much
within the Dad who loved us
breathed a man who dreamed and such.

I can't speak of what molded you-
the "Dad" we never knew-
I only know what sculpted us;
it's thanks to you we grew.

You taught compassion, open minds,
and moral decency;
honesty, respect for all,
responsibility.

Dad, I hope you knew
in us some dreams came true.
Precious freedom to be "us",
creating our own stories
of love and dogs and bright tomorrows,
and not too many sorrows.

Polyphemus Moth

This evening, while weeding the garden, I grabbed a handful of greens and started to pull. As my hand slid along the stem of a squirrel-planted pin oak tree-let, something caught my eye and thank heavens I stopped just before squashing this gorgeous creature, shown here with a (US)quarter-sized dandelion head for perspective:





It didn't fly away in alarm, so I'm assuming either it was cold, or had just metamorphed. His/her body is fuzzy all over, and his/her legs are all fuzzy looking too. It reminded me of a teddy bear! But I didn't want to disturb it to take a pic of the giant body underneath. When I went back later, it was gone. Adios, fair winds to you, Poly Giant!

A is for April... and Autism Awareness: Hair Dryers in a Toaster World

"Awareness"... what is "awareness"? We have all kinds of "awareness" days, weeks and months, don't we? One could grow too accustomed, wave a hand and say, "pffft, another awareness something-or-other". But just the "Pffting" makes you more aware, doesn't it? :) So, "Awareness" as it pertains to autism is, to me, this:

• not "let's find a cure"
• not "yes it exists and I'm sick of hearing about it" (face it, autism is the 'fad disorder' of the decade, prone to much misinformation and misinterpretation)
• but rather: lightbulb moments and acceptance.

What the world needs now... all that.

Having been on writing hiatus for a year, and intending to stay on hiatus until I'm no longer haitusing... I nonetheless wanted to put something of substance "out there" on this close-to-my-heart subject, and have just stumbled across someone who says it all so much better. It's gratifying to know there's a parent out there who can put things into words, *gracious* words, that others, like moi, can't find. This blog is a parents' point of view, not an autistic point of view, but this is a parent who accepts accepts accepts with a love strong enough to help others learn to accept. And I am a parent, so I share her with you out of, perhaps, a selfish movtivation ("please try to understand me and my kid!")

Enough pontificating. Click on the title of this blog to get to the toasters and hairdryers.

Thanks, MOM-NOS.