Okay.

I realize it’s been over a month since I last blogged. For this I am very sorry. But I believe I have good reason.

So this one will be long because I fully intend to update you all fully. I just am having trouble trying to keep it all straight in my head.

Alright. I’ll just go for it.

1. New Link Added!

Volansky, as evidenced by previous posts and in a number of luminous articles by everyone that matters, is the Goddess of my Idolatry. And she has stared a blog. I encourage you to click – and see why she rocks so damn hard.

2. I Got My Jeep Back!

It only took a month and a half. And they only made one mistake – which isn’t bad considering they basically had to put the entire car back together. When I asked what they didn’t touch, the guy said, “Um, basically from the doors back. But not even, we had to fix some of the doors. Otherwise the rest of it is brand-new.” Suhweet. As for the one mistake – I have windshield wipers on the front and back of my car. When I go to try to clean the front window, I’m supposed to pull the lever towards me for the mist. When I pull, the mist goes off in the rear window. When I push the button for the rear mist, the front mist goes. It’s actually pretty amusing. But they are going to fix it. I was so confused the first time – it was like getting the car brand new all over again. But I’m happy my baby is back.

3. Vacation, all I ever wanted!

We went on our annual trek to North Kackalacki again. Seven miles up the beach in an amazing house – sure, there were a couple of problems with the house – like no air conditioning on the third floor until Wednesday, a broken bathroom door that three of us were sharing, and a luke-warm hot tub. But really, who cares when you’re on vacation up the beach, nobody really around for miles, good food and drink, and most importantly, good company? We played Dance Dance and Karaoke Revolutions, we beached, we wave jumped, I rented a boat to take out on the water, we luke-warm tubbed it, we played board games, we listed to music, we drank, we watched movies – and we had fun. I don’t know that I can ever ask for a better vacation that that. For fun quotes, click on the link to the Cardboard Box’s Blog – it’s all there. That’s some fun you can shake a stick at.

4. I bought a time share!

I did! In Williamsburg. I spent a pretty penny. The next day…

5. I cancelled my time share!

It was a really sweet deal, but I don’t think I’m ready at this point in my life for that. I still have car and education to pay for – and an education I hope to have in the future. So no time-shares, just give me North Kackalacki and I’m cool.

6. It was still a free vacation.

So Fabs and I took advantage of it, went to Busch Gardens for free and rode all the rides – I was afraid I was too old for that stuff. I’m not. It was soo much fun. And we had an amazing time. The free hotel room was connected to an IHop and we had a whirlpool in our bathroom - which prompted a trip to the Big K for bubble bath. The next day we went to Monticello to check out good ‘ol TJ’s hizzy. We’re dorks, but we love that shit. Next time, we’ll do Montpelier.

7. I passed this sign twice in a month. I still laugh when I see it. Ha.

8. July 4th in Philly with Tony Danza?

Lindsay, Brian, and I went to Volansky’s on July 4th and went to the free concert. No, we didn’t go to Live 8 – everyone keeps asking. But we went to Elton John’s free concert. We saw Brian Adams. And Patti LaBelle. And Rufus Wainwright. And then the man himself came on. It was great – we were just standing there, having a good time (and yes, it was hot as hell and standing was annoying after a while, but once Elton came on, I didn’t notice anymore). I could see for most of it. Until Elton came on. Then this was my view:



Dick.

All night, we kept shouting, “Tiny!” Who doesn’t love Tiny Dancer? And he actually played it! And then one of the girls in the group said, “Ever notice how it sounds like he’s singing ‘Tony Danza?’” I’ll never hear the song again without thinking in my head, “Hold me closer, Tony Daaanzaaa.” Damn.

9. I MET ANI DIFRANCO!!!! I CAN DIE NOW.

So a while back, Sarah and I got tickets to the Ani DiFranco show in Wilmington this past week. Lindsay and Brian were going to come, but at the last minute, we had to change plans. So I gave the tickets to Siobhain and Dickert – it had recently been both of their birthdays. So I was happy to finally give them the chance to see Ani live – and front row balcony, too. So we went. Erin McKeown opened. She is amazing. Then the ‘Lil Folksinger herself came on and it was one of the most memorable shows I’ve seen her do. She did a lot of my favorite songs – As Is, Your Next Bold Move, Subdivision, Shameless, Studying Stones, Overlap – I can’t remember all of them, but it was a great concert. Afterwards, we noticed her tour bus behind the venue. There was a small crowd of about ten of us and we waited for almost two hours. Before she came out, the cops tried to kick us out. The Righteous Babe staff and her road crew told us to stay – they made sure we got to see her. Then one of her people came out and explained that she didn’t like pictures and couldn’t sign autographs because she had tendonitis – she was really sorry, but we could at least talk to her. No problem.

I wish I had met her years ago when she was cool with all of that, but I understood. So she came out, all unassuming and right up and chatted with us. I know I said something stupid. But she was smiling, told us how employees at Whole Foods can’t have dyed hair or piercings – this was because someone mentioned her dreads were gone and her hair was now purple. She looked over at me. I said, “Hey, thanks for playing Subdivision – I love that song – I’m from Syracuse, so I know exactly what you’re talking about.” She smiled and was like, “Yeah! That’s cool.” She put up her fist and leaned back and said, “Homestate.” I said, “Yeah, thanks – you were amazing and I heart you.” She said, “Cool. Thanks a lot.” There was some little chatter, but right after that, she pretty much got on her tour bus and drove away. So I met her. I did.

10. Congress Does Yet Another Dumb Thing.

I find the title of this section humorous and incredibly sad at the same time.

I will get on my soapbox soon – this is nothing. It’s been a while since I ranted, but I will leave that for the next post or so when I do more research. Yes, I do fact checking before I open my mouth. So there.

But you know, all of us thought this Energy bill was going nowhere. At the Ani concert, she told us how the day before they were in DC and the went to their Congressman’s offices and went to the hearing on the energy bill and “they gave [her] a mic and a podium and everything.” She ripped into them about what the energy bill was about to do – give billions of dollars in tax breaks to the oil and energy companies, create new nuclear facilities – and on top of that, they don’t know what to do with all of the nuclear waste as it is. So the bill allows them to put nuclear waste on trains and transport the waste through the country – think of all of those cities and villages and sleepy towns NUCLEAR WASTE will be traveling through - it’s destination? A Native American site/reservation in Utah.

WHAT THE HELL?!

This passed with an enormous amount of support. I was pretty pissed when I found out that the CAFTA vote came down to 2 VOTES in the House but this energy bill is outrageous. This is the type of thing that makes me so damn angry. They’re up all night, writing the bill, changing it – who wants to bet money that this 1,700+ page bill, amended at he 11th and 12th hours wasn’t read by a majority of the Congressman? I’ll bet the farm. And whatever is left of my Social Security – with this f*@!ing Administration running the helm and Congressmen kissing ass to them, my guaranteed benefit is as good as gone – these bastards have a way of getting their shit passed with no one blinking an eye.

When did America fall asleep? WHEN???!!! When will it wake up and realize that we are getting the golden shaft?!

Let me quickly break down the basics:
-This bill is basically one big tax break. Electric utilities will see a saving of $3.1 billion, the Coal Industry will see a savings of $2.9 billion, and the Oil and Gas Companies will see a whopping $2.7 billion saved over the next ten years.
-The bill has little or no impact on gas prices. So the President, when asked how to lower gas prices, has pointed to this stalled legislation had to concede that this bill will do nothing to gas prices, wanna know what the reaction was? A big fat nothing. No one has bothered to make the connection that the President was – once again – talking out of his ass. Or Karl Rove’s. Hard to tell.
- The bill won’t necessarily prevent another blackout. It makes them more accountable. And encourages investments in nuclear energy and the construction of power plants, like I said above. So it naturally begs the question – how will this connect to Homeland Security and the Patriot Act now that we have decided to give them the green light to create more terrorist targets…er, I mean, how are we going to be sure these facilities are secure?

And, my friends, if this doesn’t already piss you off, I’m sure this will:
At the 11th hour, they added $1.5 billion in research funds to help oil and gas companies in the Texas district of none other than House majority leader, Tom DeLay. (Time Magazine, August 8, 2005)

Pissed now? Thought so.

11. I’m slow to the take on politics because it has been a difficult week.

I am putting in a rare personal note in this blog post. I ask for your good thoughts and prayers – my father is in the hospital and he’s doing well, but not out of the woods yet. I’m just happy and fortunate that they were here and not home in Syracuse when it happened so that I can be here. Since my cousin just got a job in Dover, he’s here, too – so it’s good we’re all together. It’s always times like these when I forget how strong and formidable my mother is – how wonderfully resilient, brave, and graceful she is in times of duress. So there are good things along with the bad, but just say a good word for him when you get a chance, will you? Everyone has been so amazing – and for those of you who have offered support, time, and anything I need in the past week – and if you read this blog – thank you. It means a lot.

So on that note, I leave you. Thanks for reading – and checking up on it. Because I have been bad at this lately, but I hope to get better.

Coming up: Trips to Albany and Wisconsin and my 26th birthday next week – I will write soon!

Take care of yourself. And others.

-Keeza