This past week has been really strange…it’s been so quiet and lonely. It’s as if Beach Hill has come to a stand still and I hear only the wind. Even our birds have been quiet and I wonder if it has to do with bird migration. I think the weather might finally be changing and maybe this is affecting people.

I did my weekly circuit of going to Petsmart, Longs, Trader Joe’s and the liquor store where I buy our water. I like buying the tall 1.5L of water there since Longs sells smaller bottles and I feel like I might save more plastic that way. Anyway I looked on the yahoo map and I think I’m doing about 3 miles just for my Petsmart day and I ride my bike to other places as well so I’m getting some good excercise every week. The scale told me I actually gained weight but I’m not too bothered since muscle weighs more then fat so hopefully I’ll start losing the fat but I am more concerned about being healthy then skinny. Hmm I feel so melancholy…maybe it’s the weather…

In other news I’ve been pondering Big stores vs. local stores. Nathan works at a local store and knows so many people here and remembers what they want to buy without asking. And when I go to the local market or laundry mat I recognize many people and talk to them. When it comes to Petsmart though I wonder why they remember me. Sure I usually come in around the same time every week but I’m sure other people are creatures of habit. But I notice a lot of people buy in bulk so maybe they don’t frequent the store as much and therfore don’t establish a connection with the workers. But in many ways I think our Petsmart is unique because many of the workers have been there for awhile and it seems like the floor staff is pretty small.

When I go to Trader Joe’s it’s always a horrible experience even though I only go there once a week. They have so many workers and it’s always packed with people who think they are the only people shopping. I can’t count how many times I’ve been run into, cut off, or had to ask people if they could move so I could get by (which they wouldn’t). I only go there for OJ, Brie, and soap but it’s starting to get to me and I’m thinking of buying the stuff at our actual grocery market. I know I sound like a horrible bitch but seriously I can’t stand it anymore when people in the express line start getting chummy with the worker when there are 7 other people waiting. Sure I talk to workers at both TJ’s or our main market and I usually bag my own stuff but I just get annoyed when they are finished bagging and haven’t paid and are sitting there talking. I don’t even care if they have finished and the person is ringing me up and they are still talking to people..I just don’t want to stand there listening to their random conversation while the rest of us are holding our 3 items. Eh but I guess I’m going off on some lame pet peeve.

Let’s see…ran into our ex-non-resident crack head guy at longs. I run into him so often it’s kind of creeping me out. I just hope he doesn’t start hanging around again since it’s kind of scary when he and his buddies are around. I remember last year during the fall/winter I wouldn’t even leave the house alone after 5 because I didn’t want to deal with the drunk/etc people around. Earlier this summer I was going to walk down and buy some water and this guy came up to me drunk saying hi and I guess he was hanging out with some of our neighbors. Nathan was going to run to longs but he ended up following me down the hill and picked me up because I guess he heard the guys saying some weird stuff about me and he didn’t want them to start something when I was by myself. It’s not like we live in a terrible area but we do have a lot of people who have lifestyles that can be scary sometimes. And being that I’m 5′1″ and I don’t carry a knife or pepper spray it can be a bit scary at night. I’ve actually started thinking about buying one though just in case…

Anyway, I should get back on track and not get lost in memories. I cleaned out part of our closet today and boy was that a sweaty adventure. At least I sorted out some old school books I don’t want anymore and got rid of some boxes. Nathan is kind of a box fanatic because he thinks we might need them again if we move. It makes sense for some things like our flat screen t.v. since it has to be transported upright, but for other things like old cell phone boxes it just ends up taking up room. I guess we just forget to throw them out after 30 days and they end up in our closet taking up so much space. Well at least I made room for all my comic books. Yup I love comics but I don’t like most of that marvel stuff…I only collect one series and I think I really like it because it’s written and created by a woman. Some of my favorite anime is done by women so maybe I tend to identify more with these sorts of graphic novels/movies/comics because they come from a different perspective. Ah I could go on about anime for so long…some of the series or movies are so well developed and the directors and cinematographers are really cutting edge (well I think so).

Hmm let’s see..oh update on the bread…it turned out great but I think the recipe calls for too much salt..so I’ll take that into consideration next time. I made Curried red lentils for dinner and that turned out great as well but I think it’s kind of tough to mess up that dish.

Well I suppose the debates are important to remember…I totally forgot last night and we missed the first 30min but it could have been worse. I still don’t feel all that great about Obama but I guess I’ll vote for him. Sometimes I think the Ox in me is actually there…I just feel so conflicted for voting for someone who I don’t believe in. And I think about times when the popular vote should have put a certain person in office and the electoral vote overrode it. Personally I don’t like that there is even an electoral system and it goes to show how our founding ‘fathers’ (where were the women then?) didn’t show trust in the people. Sure we can argue that the people back then were uneducated but that doesn’t mean they were idiots. It’s about communication and open information. People who don’t have certain types of education can still make good choices if they are given information from all around and can discuss it within their communities. Anyway I’ll try to stick to the point…I guess I have a lot of things on my mind so I keep wandering. I thought the debates were alright but I couldn’t stand listening to McCain make jokes especially when it was followed by silence. I thought it was a bit rude too since he would also interrupt the moderator and that tactic made me feel as though he was marginalizing Obama’s presence by assuming he had the right to act in that fashion because he thought he was the main event. I thought it was funny when McCain said he knew how to hunt down Osama and that he would make sure to do so if he became president. It just sounded so silly to me and I kept thinking ‘why hasn’t he created an Osama hunting party already then?’. I’m sure if he really knew how to ‘hunt him down’ that the Bush Admin would be putting his face to the grill on that issue and I feel as though that statement underminded the work that the U.S./International forces have been doing. One thing I’m confused about though is this concept of buying healthcare across state lines (McCain right?). I not sure if he means that the policy will be in another state and the coverage will be in-state. And even if that is the case I wonder how competitive can that be? I mean I’m sure state people will want to pass bills that help their state keep health insurance in-state for the benefit of their state economy. But maybe I should research that.

I thought it was worrisome when McCain said he’d do a freeze across the board on programs. I felt like he was ignoring that some programs (like people’s socioeconomic status) vary in impact and beneficial results for poor/middle class americans. The results for an across the board freeze wouldn’t mean leveling the programs equally regardless of the economic savings. I think it would make low and middle class people struggle more than ever with that kind of stance. Also I didn’t like Obama’s analogy of using a ’scalpel’ on programs to make sure important programs weren’t put on hold. I know it sounds knit-picky but I really don’t like how medicalized our country has become. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t invest in medical research or deny people medication where it is needed. I just personally feel that many conditions can be solved through cultural, social, economic or political means. I’ve taken a Medical anthropology class and many other classes that refer to instances where people became ill (not just physically) due to problems in society. And I guess those classes just remind me to be careful of what we consider a simple ’scalpel’ fix. I mean to say that preventive care (for individuals and society) needs to have a greater emphasis in the U.S. so that we don’t wind up in economic, political, social, health, etc turmoil. Looking back though I know Obama meant that he would put less important programs on hold but I still think my point is somewhat valid. I think he has the right idea but I think politics also revolves around vocabulary. Palin uses a certain way of speaking that may be authentic but is also serves to bring her closer to the ‘joe six-pack’. But again I think I’m being a bit critical of one reference by Obama but it just stuck in my mind and I wanted to discuss it.

I really need to work on making shorter posts…when it comes to the debates I guess I felt a tiny bit better about resigning myself to voting for Obama. It’s just that I don’t like to choose something that is decent rather than the best. Maybe it has to do with being an only child, or having leftist parents, or maybe because I’m naive and an idealist. But I know that if I do go to the polls it will be with a heavy heart. Maybe it’s also the Libra in me that feels that it is so unfair to expect so much change when I feel in my heart that we won’t get it in our lifetime. Change is always coming but I just don’t feel that these next few years will be a burst of change like the other decades that expierenced revolutions, social rights/freedoms, and social unity (and of course some were left out even then). At least we have hope and the goals though…I hope that doesn’t change.