Life of Wry

Gosh… could write about so much..

1) Cole Brauer’s finish in the Global Solo Challenge, making her the first woman to sail around the world non-stop and alone (at 29). Followed her more or less daily videos on Instagram for a few months and grew to really admire her. The idea of that kind of effort appeals not at all.. but I could understand a lot of it (b/c of my years of sailing and some racing) and put myself in her shoes (er, sailing boots and foulies) each time I watched one of her videos. Could I ever do such a thing? Most def not.

This is the route:

And this is a shot from the trophy presentation (she came in second… it’s a long explanation.. google it). She’s darn cute. (But more importantly: incredibly able; fierce; strong.)

2) Wonderful lunch with Susan at Grange. I even have a pic of that..

That’s a seafood chowder with a floating, savory, cheesy spiral cracker that, when dipped in the chowder, was over the top insanely good — maybe, though, a bit rich. A sensible pile of greens, a spicy steak 1/2 sandwich, and a “treat” — a layered cakey thing that was a nice way to end a meal. Susan was her lovely self.

3) I backed out of going to Arizona tomorrow for a long weekend of canvassing and petition signature gathering and voter reg. That, too, is a long explanation. Let me just say I made the right decision for this weekend for a number of reasons and I’ll canvass in Arizona probably 1-3 times before it’s all said and done. Whew.

4) SOTU. Lot of democratic angst going into the speech tonight. Biden had to prove to the country that he is not senile, basically. So he came out hot and stayed hot for the entire speech. His oratory style is not at all to my liking, but I’m not the one he needs to convince. The post speech punditry seemed to suggest he did exactly what his team prepped him for (plus valued-added “unscripted” riffs). They were happy and satisfied. The non-fans said he yelled too much and made it too political-slash-campaigny. (Too campaigny… lol… how about MTG in full Maga regalia — against House decorum rules — or the relentless politicking at SOTU of the former guy when he was prez… like, for example, his giving the Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh DURING THE SOTU). (Hypocrits.)

I say, damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If Biden didn’t yell for 60 minutes, he’d have been accused of being low energy and unable to do the job. So that’s what he did. Otherwise, he twisted facts and slurred his words… standard fare, but nothing too wincy for this democrat. I may have relaxed about halfway through. I actually wrote a speech for him a few days ago. I thought mine hit all the right notes. His hit on just a couple of my points but not in the way I’d have suggested, were I a part of his speech prep team. Still… I think we live to fight another day. It’s going to be a long 8 months. Ugh.

Here’s a screen shot of fiery Joe, dutiful stand-up-sit-down Kamala, and out-of-his-element-sometimes-confused Mike :

More screenshots. Some of today’s political cast:

L to R, T to B: Roberts and Sotomayor; Gaetz and Burchett; Mazie and Bernie; Ketanji Brown Jackson; Clyburn and Maxine; Nadler; Pete; Bohbert; Halland, Garland, Austen and a smidge of Mayorkas.
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I’m a bit shocked by how tired I am. Yes, I need to establish a better sleep habit.. but I think (oddly, to me) that I’m still catching up from a couple weeks in Guatemala with very, very little sleep. In case you needed to know this.