Tall Pockets (http://tallpocketsforprez08.blogstream.com/) asked about my being AWOL for a bit. An extended trip to The Big City to see our three daughters, Nancy, Laura, and Mary, and some friends. All the activities have interrupted the habits, like blogging, that are the foundation of a septuagenarian (had to look that one up) way of life. Started getting blogging dt's. Wish I had the writing ability that Anexplorer (http://anexplorer.blogstream.com/) has to describe all that is going on. We came up to Laura's just before the end of April to take care of Callie while Laura went to the Indian wedding in Florida. Also helped with her basement where Nancy has built a new entertainment center, put in new flooring, floor and ceiling trim, etc. She does beautiful work. Our Mary is in the admissions office at the Art Institute of Washington. Visited her a couple of times, including one where we got to have a dinner prepared by the culinary school. Mary's intended was with us. Like him a lot. Got to go to a dress rehearsal of "Sound of Music" where Nancy plays The Countess. This past weekend, we went to a friend's house who gave a beautiful wedding shower for our Mary. A special day. We stayed there for a few days. And saw the real performance of "Sound of Music". Spectacular. In a couple of days, we fly off to San Diego to see my wife's sister and then we all drive to Las Vegas for Mary's wedding. Too much to describe. Watch for details and pictures.

Why is it that I keep rolling off these pearls of wisdom and the news anchors and politicians do not listen to me? Well, at least one of the talking heads did. There was a quote on the Sunday morning show "Rev. Wright is for Rev. Wright." The purpose of a preacher and of the church is to increase its congregation and therefore its income and power. Where did we ever get the idea that Rev. Wright was giving us God's honest truth? He is an actor, for God's sake! Well, not for God's sake, for his own sake. He gives a self serving sermon and gets applause and money. We have met the enemy.... Well, I am not part of that group but a bunch of people are.

Do not hold Obama to blame for the assinine comments of a toady like Rev. Wright. The motivations for Obama for the moment seem good and above this stuff. Wright is a thorn for him. But wait, this is a politician we are talking about here. Why do I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall. And fall on my head.

My 'puter at home is just an old Dell Optiplex with only a couple of gigawhizzes. Everything runs slow. I play a lot of spider solitaire waiting for stuff to come up on the screen. Visiting my daughter's home and using her whizbang computer, it is VERY obvious when something is slow. And blogstream is slow. Still play spider. Someone wrote a blog posting a while ago but could not find it to give it a refernce. I have a mirror blog on blogger (http://sinannblog.blogspot.com/) and it loads up considerably faster than blogstream.

Appreciate the fact that we are pretty much getting something for nothing. Blogstream gives us a nice service and we do not pay a plugged nickel for it. If all the blogging sites charged something, would pay as long as it is not much. Blogging is enough of a joy to be worth it. We get TV shows for nothing except the pain of watching really stupid efforts to rip us off. Blogstream's ads could be a lot worse.

But the fact is still there. Blogstream is slow. Two minutes for a page to load is really slow.

p.s. The blog post that I referred to above is in Whit's comment below. Thanks, Whit.

Back in The Big City. Wedding business this time.

Dog sitting with Callie while our daughter, Laura, is off to a wedding in Tampa. She has a nice group of close friends. One of them is Indian. Indian with a caste mark, not Indian with a tomahawk. Really nice kid. She is the one who is getting married.

My Mother's Mother was 100% Pennsylvania coal miner German. Heinies. My Father's family Presbyterian Irish but diluted from many generations in America. If Catholic Irish are Black Micks, are Protestant Irish Orange Micks? My wife's Father was Danish - live in Denmark Danish - and her Mother just plain Alabamian. That makes our children Danish Alabamian Heinie Micks.

There are two girls flying down to the wedding with Laura. One is Asian-American. Taiwanese. Her grandparents still live there. The other is several generations removed from Caribbean Afro-American. Both are really nice kids.

The point of the story is an anecdote on race relations in our U.S. of A. in 2008. Four best friends meeting in Tampa. One Indian, one Asian-American, one Afro-American, one Danish Alabamian Heinie Mick. You ought to be able to pick out the racial minorities in this photo from a ras garba dinner.

The news is full of the polygamy in Eldorado, Texas. Some thoughts.

Do not want a bunch of women catering to my wishes and demands. One real woman is enough for me to handle. More than enough.

It is good to have one whose strengths and weaknesses compliment. One who is sane in the areas where I am weird. And will tell me in the very few instances I am weird. Need that, am afraid. If those folks want to work it with more than one wife, more power to them.

The problem with FLDS, to me, is not the polygamy but the abuse. Physical and sexual, but emotional as well. Those guys are wimps, wooses. A real woman would make mincemeat out of them. They are not up to a real relationship. And the women are a bunch of robots. That blank druggie sort of look. No personality, no brains, no hope, no aspirations. Not talking about getting into the business world, women who choose to take care of a home and family are great. Talking about facing up to the everyday joys and challenges, give and take of life. Those FLDS guys manufacture blank baby machines who will never challenge. And, of course, never give a real and joyful relationship. Blowups would be almost as good.

It would be fine with me if the government kept its hands out of the polygamy problem. But they need to really work on religious extremists and abuse of all sorts.