RAINY OCTOBER MORNING

It seems I have not posted to this blog for way too long. Was it the auto accident where I was rear-ended that took away whatever courage I had? Ennui? Lack of sleep (although sometimes that CONTRIBUTES to blogging, mais non?)

The news on the political front makes you wonder who put the crazy pills in the water. I could comment ON AND ON AND ON about the Foley scandal. I lived in both an "OJ-Free" zone and a "Monica-free" zone during the last two big scandals. Didn't want to know or hear about them. But this one I read all the articles, and this is why.

Here is a person heading the caucus on "Missing and Exploited Children" and he goes and exploits children. Because he was exploited himself. And this is a gay man with a partner who lives the ultimate "don't ask, don't tell" existence. Talk about self-loathing. And then there are all the other people in national Republican politics who apparently don't see any contradiction between they're being gay and working for people who refer to "sodomites" and "bestiality." I mean, I know that there's something to be said for keeping your personal life and work life separate, but last time I looked we were also putting a premium on living an authentic, integrated life, where your values from one arena carried into the other (assuming you had worthwhile values!)

It is also the first weekend of the Williamstown Film Festival. I have to admit I'm not feeling terribly social these days, so I may not make as many events as I have in the past. If there's one thing a political campaign does for you, it's taking the fun out of being in public. I now love solitude, long walks on the beach, sleep and playing computer games. And writing my book. Next weekend lots of friends are joining us, so I'm saving up my sociability for their arrival.

My new focus is TRUST. After venturing out into the wider world, one learns who can be trusted and who can't. It's a worthwhile endeavor and a hard-won lesson. I have always been too trusting. On the one hand, one doesn't want to wall oneself off from the world. But probably a little dose of reality every decade or so is useful.

SPEAKING OF TRUST....I almost forgot to commemorate the anniversary of the Saturday Night Massacre. Ah, those were the good old days, when Rosemary Woods was stretching over the desk showing us how little gremlins could have erased the tapes....Do we have a need for the government almost to come to a halt every quarter century to wake people up?


And so it goes.....