Like many who plan to vote Democratic in the fall, I’m not an enthusiastic Hillary Clinton supporter. If she’s nominated, she has my support, but as I’ve stated before, I’d vote for a Paris Hilton-Wilmer Valderrama ticket over anyone the Republicans could possibly put up to the job. Just to, you know, send a message.
But speaking of messages, I’m also aware of what constitutes fair criticism of her, and what doesn’t. Like the black person who fails to be cheered by being called “articulate,” I know what hits me in the frontal lobes, and what’s tickling the medulla oblongata. I have a sense of humor, and I don’t think I’m overly sensitive. But to tell the truth, some of this shit is just getting on my last nerve. To make things easier and keep the tone light, let’s let Stephen Colbert ring ’em up:
That On Notice generator is fun to play with. As most of them are.
I have three days of work to do in two, so I’m letting you folks carry the conversation today. I will make a small announcement: Kate and I will be in Fort Wayne the 22nd, that is, a week from tomorrow. Kate will be off with her posse, but I’ll be at liberty that night, staying with Alex out in beautiful suburban Leo. He suggested we hold an open-table meetup “somewhere we can smoke,” although, to be sure, I’d rather it be somewhere we can’t smoke, but I’m flexible. Anyone interested? I favor Henry’s (can’t smoke) or Beamers (can smoke), but what the hell — maybe we should go all out and rent an Eagles hall. Make it a real Hoosier evening.
A short bit of bloggage: My ex-colleague Mike Harden did a moving column many years ago about a kid who needed human growth hormone injections to overcome a pituitary problem and give him something approaching normal height by adulthood. I recall that, at the time, HGH had to be gathered from cadavers, making it scarce and dear. The injections were very painful, and the kid fought them like a tiger. Now it’s synthetically grown in labs, much more available and less expensive. And now people like Debbie Clemens allegedly take it, to look good in a bikini. Is this a great country, or what?
OK, time to shut down the browser and get some real work done. Carry on.
4dbirds said on February 14, 2008 at 9:57 am
Because her radiation treatments destroyed most of her hormone producing glands my daughter took Hgh for years and should still inject a small maintenance amount. I never could get her to do it on a regular basis. The injections sting. Still it managed to get her height up 3 inches to 5′ and the effect on her body was stunning. She went from soft and pudgy to lean and sinewy almost overnight. Hubby and I both joked that maybe we should take it ourselves.
463 chars
colleen said on February 14, 2008 at 10:06 am
Come to the NIPR jazzfest (can’t smoke) at the Botanical Conservatory. Music and food.
87 chars
brian stouder said on February 14, 2008 at 11:12 am
OK – so what is your “Hillary problem”? If I read this correctly, the problem is only that you’re not as enthusiastic as you could be.
The point is worth pondering, because I’ve noticed that (on the flip side) I feel a little guilty for being too giddy about Obama’s campaign; surely he will disappoint everyone, one way or another, and this will all end in tears – and it will be the fault of all the suckers who fell for his endearing demeanor and earnest speeches, yes?
By way of saying – regarding enthusiasm – HRC would have mopped the floor versus the D field of 2004 contenders.
But who can eclipse the bright and rising Obama? (a pundit said that really, it is a measure of just how good Hillary’s campaign is, that it has come this far versus Barack’s, and is still in the fight)
811 chars
Sue said on February 14, 2008 at 11:12 am
A get-together of Nancynallers? Wow. I will come and sit in reverential silence. Or, if it’s a smoking joint, I will sit in reverential silence with an occasional cough.
172 chars
brian stouder said on February 14, 2008 at 11:20 am
I think Pam and I will be able to go wherever it is – so mark us down as ‘pledged delegates’…..’course, votes can change as circumstances dictate!
148 chars
nancy said on February 14, 2008 at 11:27 am
My Hillary problem is this: It’s perfectly OK to dislike her, but it has to be for the right reasons. That nasty undercurrent of misogyny is hardly undetectable. (Not that you’ve shown a shred of it, Brian.)
207 chars
Sue said on February 14, 2008 at 11:42 am
And by “smoking joint”, of course I mean place of business that allows smoking.
79 chars
alex said on February 14, 2008 at 11:44 am
I’ve never heard of a place of business that allows smoking joint.
68 chars
John said on February 14, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Sue,
You shouldn’t have clarified that…Just let the people wonder.
71 chars
Howie said on February 14, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I hardly ever post, but I would enjoy meeting the local nn.c group. Don’t have any suggestions, except I would prefer non smoking.
In other news, what do Cedar Lake, IN, Mulberry IN, and Crawfordsville IN all have in common? No using the google, at least for a couple hours.
279 chars
Dorothy said on February 14, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I’m just hazarding a wild guess, but – what they have in common is being in the state of Indiana????
(I’m being a smart ass in case you can’t tell, Howie)
157 chars
Jolene said on February 14, 2008 at 2:07 pm
It had never occurred to me to envy people for living in FW, but I sure do now!
79 chars
Danny said on February 14, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I’m going to guess that these cities share a common city motto…”Bring Something to Do”
(I’m being a dumb ass)
114 chars
Howie said on February 14, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Yes, Danny and Dorothy, I think we might all recognize the *assery. btw, Indiana’s second state motto is: We make our own fun.
Time for a hint. Nance’s category would be Popculch. (And although I pay attention, I swear I don’t watch)
238 chars
brian stouder said on February 14, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Are they the home towns of American Idols?? (as opposed to idle Amercians)
74 chars
Howie said on February 14, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Brian, I’ll buy you a drink next week. 3 of the final 24 are from small towns in North-Westerly-ish Indiana. That’s 12.5%, what’s gotten into Simon, Randy, and Paula?
168 chars
alex said on February 14, 2008 at 2:30 pm
You googled, Brian. No fair. Two of them are hometowns of Idols from what I could tell by googling.
Actually, I was hoping to come up with some assery of my own but dissing Indiana is like shooting fish in a barrel.
219 chars
Dorothy said on February 14, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I love assery. Can’t get through a day without it.
51 chars
brian stouder said on February 14, 2008 at 3:02 pm
See, we gotta get Dorothy to cross the state line into the good ol’ Hoosier state
88 chars
Sue said on February 14, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Can someone explain the whole Indiana thing to me? I can’t figure out if you folks love it or have some sort of love/hate thing going, the way you talk. I’m originally from Illinois and don’t remember thinking too much of Indiana one way or another; it’s just like IL (cornfields, cornfields, cornfields, a few bigger cities, cornfields, famous sporting events/teams, cornfields, nice midwestern-type people, cornfields) only shorter. Well, except for the whole Chicago/Al Capone/Cook County ingrained corruption thing, it’s the same. So what gives?
553 chars
joodyb said on February 14, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Not a Hoosier, but hazarding the detected ‘Indiana thing’ is the class self-consciousness/-loathing of a Rust Belter, at least partially. Some Buckeyes are known to have it. Anyone?
181 chars
Dorothy said on February 14, 2008 at 3:40 pm
You know I would come, but I’m getting company this weekend, and I’m taking off tomorrow and Monday. I don’t think I’d get there in time for the fun – they’d be shutting down the bar by the time I’d get there! But if you do a get together in the spring or summer, I’ll try my assery-EST (thanks Dude) to get there.
316 chars
Howie said on February 14, 2008 at 3:44 pm
assery-ness that’s not a word! Try assery-est.
46 chars
brian stouder said on February 14, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Well, it ain’t Negril* – but it’ll do.
Indiana is the sort of place that is just taken for granted; basic (not to say boring); a place to be ‘from’. As I turn into an old guy, the understated beauty (not to say grandeur**) of this place begins to reveal itself.
*googled John’s reference to Negril and was suitably impressed!
**we don’t do really do ‘grandeur’; it just sort of happens. I remember when a cousin was visiting from New York City – The Big Apple – and the thing that flatly amazed him was….the view from the observation deck at May Stone and Sand’s (or whatever it’s called nowadays) gravel pit (which IS pretty cool)
Edit – Dorothy – the informal unofficial nonbinding void-where-prohibited plan is for next weekend – 2/22!
768 chars
Dorothy said on February 14, 2008 at 3:54 pm
What time is this shindig getting started anyway?
49 chars
alex said on February 14, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Dorothy, I’m sure the details will be nailed down in the next few days.
The Indiana thing. Hmmm. Well, I came back after twenty years in Chicago, so it’s not all that horrible. Basically, the cost of living here compares pretty favorably with places like Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee. (We’re also quite similar to those states in terms of obesity and illiteracy.) Anyway, today I have about ten times the house for about half the price of the condo I sold.
What makes me want to rip on Indiana is its singular provincialism. Folkways around here dictate that one must suffer fools graciously. It’s a very hard way of life.
634 chars
Sue said on February 14, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Alex, “singular provincialism”? I’ve lived in Wisconsin for 25 years and love the state, but from your description it’s Indiana North, even with its historical (not so much lately) reputation for progressive politics.
218 chars
Dorothy said on February 14, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Oh shit it’s happened again – another college shooting. Northern Illinois University. So far 18 shot – nothing further yet.
125 chars
Julie Robinson said on February 14, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Oh no. I grew up in DeKalb-Sycamore and spent many happy hours on campus, even took a summer class there. My parents were friends with a lot of the profs and Mom still lives there, just a couple of blocks off-campus. She’s fine but says there are four news helicopters over her house. There was another incident in December and she thinks this is related. There’s a lot of racial tension on campus, but she says there’s also speculation that someone was “commemorating” the St. Valentine’s massacre in Chicago. She says three dead including the shooter and many more injured. I’m so sad.
594 chars
alex said on February 14, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Sue, I’m just being hard on Indiana. It is what it is. Great place to be a sheep.
81 chars
Dexter said on February 14, 2008 at 8:44 pm
I am a native Hoosier…DeKalb County. I was visiting an army buddy in St. Louis a year after we had been sprung…he was going to Missouri, Columbia campus and I was taking courses at “The Stench”, in those damn trailers they used as classrooms. IPFW was a fun place.
Anyway, we hit some bars by the river … Muddy Waters was one place, and everyone drank Busch beer. Not Budweiser…Busch.
As the rowdiness kicked in, one called another a “hoosier.” This was an attention grabber..”I ain’t no goddam hoosier, you blankety-blank!!”
So I piped up, “I’m a Hoosier!”
All eyes turned towards me and smirks and tiny little head shakes unnerved me.
My buddy, Bill, said “you’re no hoosier…a hoosier is a greaser-dumb ass who can’t do anything right.” As in, “damn! You damn-straight hoosiered THAT up!”
It was later on I discovered the history of “Hoosier”…I am sure you folks know all the stories…but not a lot of Indiana residents know that in St. Louis a hoosier is the WORST thing one can call another.
As a kid I grew up around KY-TN refugees who left the hills for northern Indiana factory dollars.
We were taught to shun them and call them hillbillies. And to be called a hillbilly was the ultimate insult we fired at our comrades.
Mom would have none of it…we had some KY natives living in a rental house a mile away as neighbors…they had about six kids and the old man kept getting fired and the kids were hungry about half the time, I suspected.
One older boy worked baling hay one day and was lugging a large can of baked beans home.
I remember Mom asking what he had in the bag as he trudged the road…
‘a can of beans! I love beans…we can’t afford them but we’re havin’ ’em for supper tonight!’
Ok…I know…sounds like bullshit…but I am fairly ancient…we had an outside privy and our SCHOOL had an outhouse too!
I went to a 2-room school, eight grades, two rooms.
One day Mom had a weiner-roast…chips…oh yeah, BEANS!…buns, relish, ketchup, mustard…Pepsi Cola.
Big deal, right? She invited the “hillbillies”.
The joy in those kids’ eyes and the “thank yous” from that bunch of sweet children…well, I’m tearing up now…it was such a tender moment, I had the pastor tell the story at Mom’s funeral a few years ago. “I wish you was MY mother.” And that is a direct quote from one of those little boys.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
2394 chars
nancy said on February 14, 2008 at 8:59 pm
My whole family is from St. Louis, Dexter, and until I moved to Fort Wayne, I never heard “hoosier” used as anything but a synonym for hillbilly.
145 chars
beb said on February 14, 2008 at 9:55 pm
I’m a native born Hoosier and I am shocked — honestly shocked to learn that people in other states use Hoosier as a perjorative. Geez, what a bunch of A-holes.
161 chars
alex said on February 15, 2008 at 5:51 am
What else would you expect from the Blow Me state?
Dexter, wheresabouts in DeKalb? I grew up on the Allen/DeKalb County line, Perry and Butler Townships. Today live not far from there. I know your county like the back of my hand.
233 chars
Jen said on February 15, 2008 at 7:21 am
I always complained about growing up in Indiana until I went to IU for college and knew a number of snotty people (mostly from around Chicago) who insulted Indiana all the time. That’s when my home state pride began to swell and I told them all to shove it. Besides, they were the ones who came to Indiana to go to school instead of staying in their precious Illinois.
Now, I have a job and a life in Indiana (in the same small hometown in which I grew up, where I swore I’d never return) and I’m loving it! It’s hard to even say exactly what I like about living here – cost of living is cheap and the area has its own beauty. (There’s something nice about being able to get in the car and drive around the nice countryside and look at cows.) Also, people tend to be very nice around here, if sometimes a little bit ignorant.
828 chars
Kirk said on February 15, 2008 at 7:48 am
Until I went to college, a Hoosier was someone from Indiana. At the University of Missouri, people from St. Louis used the term as a synonym for hick. It never worked for me. Still means a nickname for someone from Indiana to me.
229 chars
John said on February 15, 2008 at 9:08 am
We went to Jamaica for our 25th anniversary (2005) for a week and had a great time (Runaway Bay area, north side of the island). We skipped 2006, but I had promised we wouldn’t wait another 25 to do it again. So we went last year for 10 days to the Negril area (west side) and had a blast! We booked this year’s trip about 15 minutes after we returned home last March. We like the Negril area much better as there is a natural bay protecting the beaches from excessive wind and surf.
487 chars
Danny said on February 15, 2008 at 10:07 am
Nancy, are you going to post today or just lay about and let us languish?
C’mon, girl!
89 chars