Nothing to report, really

Today I don't really have anything earth-shattering to tell (do I ever?), but I think some of my better posts are the ones where I just type for a while and see what materializes. Free-form blogging, as it were. You've been warned.

My mind has been trying to wrap itself around the elections the last week or so, like most people. I don't like watching either convention, because it's all just a lot of scripted cheerleading and Other-Party-Bashing, and I don't like that. There's little of substance. But I have peeked in on each convention and you know what I've noticed the most? The sets. Like, behind the DNC podium one day last week they had a couple of huge window panels, right? Those were pretty, with the beige carpet-y looking surroundings. I don't know if that was the stage all the way through. Like I said, I try not to watch. Last night I wasn't as fond of the large black and white images behind the RNC podium, because I thought it took away from being able to see the person who was speaking. I did think Laura Bush looked lovely in red, and behind her they had a giant, soft image of an American flag -- that was nice.

You see how much I pay attention to the content, though. Not much. The debates? I will watch. The tickets this year make the race really fascinating (I = Master of Obvious) and I want to hear what everyone has to say about how they will lead this country. Even the debates, though, can't be trusted. Politicians will SAY whatever they have to say; whether or not they follow through on "promises" is certainly a toss-up. I do hate all the meanness that comes with politics, though, and I wonder if we'll EVER move away from the either-or mentality of a two-party system.

BUT! I don't want to talk politics with my friends. It's impolite.

Speaking of impolite -- one of AJ's favorite stories lately is "Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby." We have it in an illustrated children's literature anthology, as well as a Little Golden Book handed down from DH's childhood collection. Do you read this story to your kids? It was a favorite of mine, too, when I was small. Of course there's the dialect. Brer Rabbit says to the Tar Baby: "Ain't you goin' to say 'Howdy?' Ain't you goin' to be PER-LITE?" And I read it in dialect because that's the way it's meant to be read -- it's part of our country's literary tradition. But it makes me feel a little funny. I worry that, in one edition, they repeat the phrase, "And the Tar Baby, he say nothin'," over and over again. AJ quoted it back to me yesterday. "Mommy, I like the part where the Tar Baby he say nothin'." Eeek. "He doesn't say anything, son. Anything." Just what I need is to raise a boy who thinks "ain't" really is a word. Maybe I'll suggest "Make Way For Ducklings" tonight instead.

And speaking of dialect! (Wow, the segues are just perfect this morning!) I heard a radio interview with someone from Montague, LA, where the reporter kept saying "Hurricane GOOSE-tahv," like we've all been saying. The Montague resident, however, said, "Gus-TAHV," with his French-Cajun accent. How I love that sound. It made me smile.