Category: General

Just wanted to tease all y’all with this excerpt from my novel-in-progress. The scene is the Portland office of Representative Matthew Candleman, Democratic Congressman from Oregon’s Third District.

*****
“I am not debating him. He’s not a serious candidate! He’s… he’s just doing this for lapdances and booze! It’s a fuckin’ game to him.” Candleman didn’t even look at his aide as he pawed through the papers on his desk, looking for the memo he needed for the meeting.

His aide stood there near the door, hands held in front of her, her face placid and sympathetic, her body still, her manner calm. “Matt… He got the AFSCME endorsement.”

Candleman stopped and looked at her. “What? What did you just say?”

“The county union gave your opponent their endorsement. It was in that newspaper,” she pointed across the room to the local Oregonian, tossed on top of other papers on the overstuffed burgundy leather couch, along with the Congressman’s briefcase and suit jacket, “this morning.”

Candleman sputtered, “But they’ve always endorsed me! It’s a done deal! Their endorsement was what got me elected in the first place!”

“Matt,” she replied, cutting him off in mid-rant, “that was almost 20 years ago.”

Candleman’s mouth puckered up, his eyes narrowed down. Jaw jutting forward, teeth clenched together, he growled out, “Fine. I’ll debate him.” He turned to look out the window and squared his broad shoulders. “But let’s make sure and pick a proper venue. I’m not sitting in some smoke-filled bar full of strippers and punks. See if the ballroom at the Hilton downtown is available.” Over his shoulder he snapped, “Make it happen, but take control of the frame. We debate him on our terms, not his.”

Sensing the conversation was done, she turned and left.

Candleman muttered, “Fucker. Fuck him and his hoochie campaign.”

It’s my birthday, too, yeah. OK, it’s actually my blog’s fourth birthday! My birthday isn’t until December.

I’m deep in writing, so I don’t have much to say beyond “yay, me!” Later I’m going to dig up some of my favorite posts from the past four years, and maybe see if I can find other places where my posts have been linked and quoted.

Feel free to talk about how awesome my blog is in the comments. Any hate mail will be mercilessly snarked and mocked.

Seriously, though, by my count I’ve got, on average, over 400 unique visits every day. That’s awesome. I write for me, and having the eyes and ears of that many people is a humbling thought. Thanks very much to all of y’all out there reading my words. If only I could figure out how to make money doing this… Heh. Just kidding.

Probably.

One thousand, seven hundred and sixty eight words.

Not bad for my first day.

First, as a constituent, let me offer my congratulations to you and your wife on the birth of your twins! A happy day for your family.

And then… Then I read last night that, while you were busy attending to your personal life, our Majority Leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, ignored your hold on the nomination of Lyle Laverty to an assistant Secretary of the Interior, and brought the matter to a vote on the Senate floor.

Did that sting? Did you see red? Does that seem like a betrayal of the collegiality of the world’s greatest deliberative body, for the leader of our own caucus to ignore a long-standing tradition? I think that Senator Reid’s actions would be bad enough if he were a member of the opposition. But to override the wishes of a member of his own party? Ouch.

Believe me, though: Senator Wyden, perhaps now you know how the majority of the American people feel.

I’m used to feeling betrayed by my leaders in Washington. After the debacle of the presidential election in 2000, where the will of the people was overridden by the Supreme Court preventing the votes from being counted in Florida, to the administrations’ subversion of the laws in regards to wiretapping (prior to the sad events of September 11th, 2001, we now know), to President Bush’s dismissal of the threat posed by Osama bin Laden until 3000 lives were lost on that tragic day, to the failure to pursue OBL in Afghanistan and the rush to war in Iraq against a country that posed no threat to us…

The list goes on and on.

And I voted in hope in 2006, on the promise of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and other Democratic leaders, that with control of Congress, the betrayals would stop. I know many of my friends and family members, and others I read about across the country, in story after story, poll after poll… they all thought the betrayals would end, too.

It hasn’t stopped, Senator Wyden.

I sat in a forum in NE Portland and heard person after person stand up to speak to your colleague, Earl Blumenauer, and tell him over and over again the many reasons why the Bush administration’s dangerous “unitary executive” policies must be stopped, and why, in the eyes of the American people, simply pursuing toothless “non-binding resolutions” or passing legislation that this White House feels it can simply ignore or modify with a signing statement is not nearly enough. Impeachment appears to be an impasse and yet, I feel that President Bush and Vice President Cheney would find impeachment impossible to ignore as they have so many other efforts by you and your colleagues in Congress.

My email sounds to me, upon reading what I’ve already written, to be a smug “the shoe’s on the other foot” taunt. I do not want to diminish my respect for you and your efforts. Many times you have been one of just a few lone voices of dissent on some key issues, and for that I thank you. You seem to prefer to work quietly, behind the scenes, and you try to reach consensus and build bridges with those who disagree with you, which is a noble and honorable way to approach your position.

But, again, as a constituent, as a voter, as an adult who has watched the traditions of our form of government under attack by a president, and a party, and a coalition that has only their own narrow interests at stake, I have to say: I don’t believe you can count on the traditions of Congress and the spirit of civic-minded people to carry the day.

More, much more, courage and leadership is required.

You are not alone. The vast majority of America, including sizable groups of people identified with either major party, wants these dangerous presidential powers and precedents stopped.

It can’t happen soon enough.

This is for Metroknow, who commented here yesterday.

First, thanks for your kind comments! I write what I feel, and put it out there for anyone. It’s great to hear that others are out there reading it! Just knowing that is the best compliment I can think of for my writing.

And second, my NaNoWriMo handle is “Lunarobverse”, same as my blog name. I’ve been Lunar or Lunar Obverse online for almost as long as I’ve been online. This is my NaNoWriMo page. Good luck, Metroknow! May the words flow like… um… flow-y stuff. (See how many words I used there? And it’s funny. That’s a helpful trick for this thing. You’re welcome.)

I tried to find an email to send it to him (her?) privately but couldn’t find one. And if Metroknow, or anyone else, would like to be my “writing buddy” or otherwise keep track of my progress (and compare it to theirs if they’re feeling competitive, heh), feel free.

I know my friend Kevin is also doing NaNoWriMo this month for the first time! Maybe I’ll see any other lurkers out there at any of the several Portland-area meetups over the next month.

And, no – I haven’t started writing yet. In fact, I’m late for work and I have to get going…

Yesterday, Ken and I were out in the field for work, and we ran into a lady with whom we both used to work. Nice lady, friendly, positive. Hadn’t seen her since she transferred away into another department, so we stopped to chat.

Ken is the gregarious one, and he and our co-worker traded stories about their kids and family life. Then she turned to me, and asked me how I was doing.

And instead of saying, “Oh, nothin’, really” and having the conversation pass me by… I blurted out the first thing I could think of.

“I’m going to Cancún for Christmas! I’m really looking forward to it!”

She responded with surprise and delight, and shared a quick story about almost going to Mexico herself, years ago, for a summer vacation, and I mentioned having gone there once before and having a great time, and we all agreed that tropical beaches sounded like a much better plan than the bitter cold we’ve had in Portland the past couple of days.

It was… fun. And all because I didn’t just let my turn in the conversation go by.

I’m going to try that more often, I think.

Just a note for the mom dressed up like Cruella de Vil on the bus today: Did you notice that your baby stopped crying faster when you held him close and spoke softly to him, rather than previously when you were shaking him in frustration while trying to get his dalmatian suit on?

That’s good to know, isn’t it?

Don’t shake the baby. Please.

Two days until I begin my second attempt at writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. My blogging here might go down, drastically. Or it might not. Last year I started a second blog to post excerpts from my work-in-progress. I may or may not do that this year, too.

Three days until my fourth blogiversary. Still not sure what I’ll do to celebrate it. I may simply mark it’s passage and move on. I may be too embroiled in NaNoWriMo to work up anything fun or cool. Just let it be known that I’m aware of the passage of time.

Fup, the store cat at Powell’s Technical Bookstore, has died (via the Merc Blogtown).

I have nothing, really, to say. She lived a long life for a cat – 19 years!

Dying is sad.

Goodbye, Fup.

I was up by 7 AM today. Yes, on a Sunday.

Did some calisthenics (push ups, stomach crunches, squats, back crunches), weighed in (down a pound), got a cinnamon roll and coffee from the coffee shop down the street, started my laundry, made the bed, cleaned the living room, printed out last year’s NaNoWriMo novel (in its uncompleted state – I’m going to read through it and take notes and get re-inspired to finish it (that’s the plan, anyway)), did the dishes, made sure I knew where my passport was, sorted out the old magazines and got my recycling ready, took out the trash, folded the laundry as it dried, kept the paper tray in the printer filled out, figured out my calories for the day (in advance! So much better that way), balanced my checkbook, installed iWork ’08 on my Mac mini, showered, flossed my teeth, chatted with Tracy, put on some nice slacks and my new black blazer, packed up my laptop, got on the bus, transfered to another bus, had lunch (which had been pre-planned) at Pizza Schmizza (Creole chicken pizza and a Caesar salad combo), wandered through the mall, dropped my ballot off at Pioneer Courthouse Square, walked to Backspace, ordered a coffee, told the woman working behind the counter how much I loved Radiohead (“In Rainbows” was playing as I walked in), sat down on the comfy couch, opened my laptop, chatted with Tracy again… and here I am.