A Fun Time was had by all...

at my very first Tea & Mystery discussion on Thursday, August 28th. There was a wonderful group of people assembled at the New Carlisle Public Library in New Carlisle, OH. We talked about mystery books and why we love to read them. We talked a little about the mystery films and television shows that we enjoy and we even solved a mystery together! Congratulations goes to Elizabeth Shoemaker (pictured below)! She was the winner of the Whodunit contest and took home her very own Rona Shively T-Shirt!

It was nice to spend the evening with people who enjoy reading mysteries as much as I do. We had a very lively conversation about the different types of mysteries out there and were even able to give one another recommendations on other mystery authors we might enjoy reading.

My next Tea & Mystery event will be at the Clark County Public Library in Springfield, OH on September 10th at 7 p.m. If you would like to attend, call for details on how to register. The number is (937) 328-6903.

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Tales from the fence...

Though I'm a loyal Democrat, I'm intrigued by John McCain's choice of running mate. McCain announced earlier today that Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, will be his pick for Vice President. I think this might have been a great move on McCain's part and am also thinking that the race is actually going to be interesting to watch. Though I still don't think I can vote for either candidate in good conscience, McCain's latest move made me stop to consider whether or not I could actually crossover and vote Republican. Of course, I can't, but I've never even asked myself this question before now.

Governor, Sarah Palin seems to have some very strong credentials including her tendency to be a whistleblower. I admire someone who is willing to stand up for what they believe to be right even when taking such a stand is clearly unpopular. She's got spunk from what I can see. There are only a few things about her that I can't get past. Her participation in a beauty pageant, the pro-life thing, and of course, that Republican bit. Otherwise, she seems like a great choice. I think she will do a great job if she is fortunate enough to find herself in the position of being our first female Vice President.

Most people I talk to are still not too optimistic about the outcome of this year's presidential election. On one hand, we can endure more of the same economic hardship and bullshit that we've put up with for the last eight years by electing McCain and hoping that his watchdog V.P. will help keep him in check with regards to any ethical concerns instead of helping him continue the Bush legacy of screwing the little guy. On the other, we have a candidate who is a smooth talker and who seems to have all of the right answers to the questions Americans have been asking for years. The problem is that anyone can provide answers to questions. We need someone who will follow through and make some actual progress. Someone who isn't suspected of operating under some other agenda.

Unfortunately, there really isn't a good way to know which is the lesser of two evils until they are actually in office. Once we're stuck with them, the amount of damage they can do is limited only by the passage of time.

Until next time...


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Contrary to popular belief...

America does not "got talent" and it's evident on just about any channel you might choose. I tried to watch last night. Emphasis on tried. The show (America's Got Talent) was so bad that I eventually decided to turn it off in favor of watching a recorded episode of Nickelodeon's Drake and Josh that I had already seen. Now, that's bad. Not saying anything bad about Drake and Josh, but really, I hung in there from the extreme clogging to some really goofy looking dude that tried to sing "She Bangs", but that was all I could handle. How many versions of this terrible song should one person ever have to hear in her lifetime? And what was with the little girl who wanted to be a stunt woman? I wasn't really impressed with her ability to act like she was beating up those men. Hell, I can act like I'm beating people up. How has this show managed to stay on for so long?

To make matters worse, the whole time I was switching back and forth between this show and the Democratic Convention listening to their discussion about alternative fuels. The whole time, I'm shaking my head because I just don't believe that we'll be able to accomplish anything without Hillary Clinton in office. I'm not sure which was hurting me more, being subjected to David Hasselhoff's lack of wit or listening to a bunch of people who think they have all of the answers, but that's another post. I actually went to bed by 9:30 for the first time in months.

The contrast between the two shows was not all that clear. On one hand, I'm watching people who think they are doing something spectacular by impersonating Britney (talentless) Spears and on the other, I'm watching people who are trying to convince me to vote in a presidential candidate who won't even say the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States. And they all think what they are doing is ok. I, obviously don't. In both cases, they were simply trying to pull the wool over our eyes and make us think that what they are doing makes perfect sense and should be rewarded. My take on this is that no one should be rewarded in any way for acting like Britney Spears and no American citizen should vote for someone who conducts himself in such an unpatriotic manner.

This is an unpopular stand for a Democrat to take, for some reason, unbeknownst to me. Aren't we supposed to want our president to take pride in being an American? Isn't this some kind of requirement for taking that office? Granted, he doesn't have to like it, but shouldn't he at least go through the motions of acting like he has some respect for those American traditions? What he is saying and doing is sending a clear message to the young people out there that it is ok to buck tradition and to place no value on patriotism if you believe otherwise. How then, will he ever convince them to stand up for our country if he won't even sing our National Anthem? How does he propose to stand up for the United States if he can't even get behind those simple principles?

It's like when you tell your children not to do something and then go and do it yourself. The old, don't do as I do, do as I say cliche. He's not even encouraging others not to follow his lead. In fact, he's counting on the fact that we will follow him. I don't want to be standing at a baseball game on the day when no one in the crowd is willing to stand for the National Anthem. Not that they will still be playing it at that point, anyway. It's all very scary to me. If he has no allegiance to our country, then whose side is he really on?

I'll wrap this up by saying that I feel that my participation in last night's viewership has cost me valuable brain cells and I want my money back. See, I'm not even sure why I said that. God knows I wouldn't have paid to see any of that stuff. Not willingly anyway.

Until next time...


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