:: sweettalk ::

:: Thursday, June 26, 2003 ::

politics

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace-
that where there is hatred, I may bring love-
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness-
that where there is discord, I may bring harmony-
that where there is error, I may bring truth-
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith-
that where there is despair, I may bring hope-
that where there are shadows, I may bring light-
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather
to comfort than to be comforted-
to understand than to be understood-
to love than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.

Thank You for keeping me sober today. Amen.

Politics is the art of the possible. -- Otto Von Bismarck, Prussian statesman, remark, August 11, 1867

Politics is repetition. It is not change. Change is something beyond what we call politics. Change is the essence politics is supposed to be the means to bring into being. -- Kate Millett, U.S. feminist theorist, literary critic, essayist, autobiographer, sculptor, Flying

Politics are for foreigners with their endless wrongs and paltry rights. Politics are a lousy way to get things done. Politics are, like God’s infinite mercy, a last resort. -- P.J. O’Rourke, Parliament of Whores

Another good couple of days...mostly. Work was fine yesterday. I finished more of the projects on my to-do list and finished training with John Paul on his close responsibilities. At lunch, I drove to my old dermatologist's office to pick up a copy of my medical records for my appointment today with the new dermatologist.

After work, I went by Eatzi's to pick up a lemon chess cheesecake for dessert for the Rebellion Dogs. I mopped the kitchen floor, picked up a bit, made some peach tea and coffee, and read Tradition Seven before all the guys arrived at seven o'clock. I am really learning so much going through the steps and traditions all at one time, and I continue to be amazed at how unique and special an organization AA really is.

After we finished our discussion and had dessert, the guys just hung around to talk. Marcus from Lew Sterrett called while they were still here. He had asked me to sponsor him a couple of weeks ago just before he was transferred to the Wilmer correctional facility. He seems very enthusiastic about working the steps, and I'm very excited that a sponsee actually called me. The other thing nice about last night was observing my friends just hanging out in my house until about ten o'clock. When I think of how many years I spent isolated in here, I realize how rewarding it is to let people in. Thank You God, and thank you Dan.

I didn't go to sleep until late and woke up very, very late this morning. I tried to pay my insurance premium online and spent too much time on it. I was very aggravated with myself on the drive to work. Tomorrow, I am going to be early dagnabit! I spent most of the workday finishing up loose ends and working on a couple of projects for Jeremy.

While everyone else was out taking Jeremy to lunch for his birthday, I returned a phone call from a Tony with whom I had served on the Program Council board during college. In the voicemail message he left yesterday, he asked if I was the PR and marketing genius from SMU. I laughed when I heard that because nobody I know now probably has any idea of my interest or capabilities in those areas, and I can't ever recall being referred to as a genius at either.

Anyway, Tony was calling because he has become involved in the Dean for America presidential campaign. I thought his call serendipitous as I had recently become interested in learning more about Dean after reading about him and the announcement of his candidacy in the paper this past week. Although I voted for Bush in 2000 and had been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, I decided recently that I would not vote to re-elect him in 2004 solely because of his determination to invade another sovereign country unprovoked.

I remember a few months ago while at GE, Malcolm from England and I were discussing the plausibility of trying to prove a negative. By this, we meant that perhaps the UN weapons inspectors could not find any weapons of mass destruction because there were none to be found. How can Iraq prove it's destroyed them if they did not exist in the first place? Now, that seems to have been the case. In addition, I'm all for Dean's balanced budget stance and against Bush's apparent desire to give tax cuts in the present at the expense of increasing the fiscal burden of future generations. I never thought I'd live to see a federal surplus and was amazed when I did during the Clinton years. Unfortunately, we may not see another for a long, long time. So for now, Dean's my man.

I took a late lunch to see my new dermatologist. He froze several warts off my hands and my knee and performed a biopsy on a hard, flaky spot on my lip. I returned to work to finish one of Jeremy's projects. I tried to call Francisco but his phone is temporarily disconnected. I hope he's okay.

Finally, the other big news, today the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the sodomy laws in Texas and twelve other states. We can have sex legally now! Hooray for us. I missed the rally at the community center but will probably see a lot of other people out when I meet David at the Round-Up later on.

:: Kyle 6:22 PM 0 comments
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