O_a- Scola's interview got rescheduled to Thursday.

Can I tell you guys a secret I can't say anywhere else? I'm not that proud to be an American. Happy Fourth!

The silver looks a bit on the white side with CFL light.

FWIW, the lavender we painted in one room looked just like white when it was on only one wall, but once it went up on a second wall, the color suddenly popped and wasn't white like at all.

SJ, good to know.

Nora, thanks for heads up on interview time change. Why so glum about being American? Don't misunderstand me, there's plenty of things our country is doing right now that I am not proud of but I am still proud to be an American.

Why so glum about being American? Don't misunderstand me, there's plenty of things our country is doing right now that I am not proud of but I am still proud to be an American.

I'm just not very patriotic, in general. OK, I happened to be born in this country. I'm not, like, proud of that accomplishment. I'm proud of getting my Masters degree. I'm proud to live in New Orleans. I'm proud to be Tom's wife. I'm proud to be a Buffista. I'm proud to be smonster's friend.

I am not proud, however, to be living in a county that appears to be working to the detriment of everything else that needs attention to deny equal rights to people because they don't approve of who they choose to spend their life with, a country that is moving heaven and earth to strip away my rights as a women to privacy and bodily autonomy, and a country that seems to believe that being poor and sick is a moral failing and unworthy of care, concern, or compassion.

My pride in being a human also wavers from day to day as well, FWIW.

Cereal to add: I do not mean to imply that those who do feel pride in their citizenship in any way support the things I outlined as alienating me. Everyone frames patriotism differently, of course, and that's just how things work for me in my head.

But, you know, I am frightened of admitting to my Facebook/Twitter network that I am not proud to be American and that I am not a Christian. I'm sad that we're in a such a stranglehold in this country that it's so scary to admit to feeling different about God and America than the "party line."

(disclaiming again: this is not such a place- I feel safe here, even though obviously, it's a public forum.)

Whoa, I killed the thread.

AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!

Nora, you've pretty much summed up exactly how I feel. I joined the military because I believe in our country and I'm proud of the time I spent in the service, I really am. But I did it to protect everyone's rights. Not just the rights of the wealthy, the Christian, the Moral Majority and their ilk. One of the parts of the enlistment/officer commissioning oath is to protect and defend the Constitution and all I see is people trying to dismantle it, while claiming they're upholding it.

At least Wisconsin has finally got a Democratic majority in our state legislature for the next four months. That's a positive I cling to; I just hope they can get something done in that time and not dither around as they so often do.

I just defriended and blocked an old military buddy for going on and on about the ACA "tax" and how it's going to hurt him. I'm tired of people misinterpreting what the ACA is going to do and how it's going to do it. It doesn't matter what benefits the majority of Americans will derive from it, he's concerned about his taxes going up. He lives in Nevada, which has no state income tax. I'm so tired of seeing this kind of hypocrisy, it makes me want to scream.

Sorry about the rant; I has feels.

Also, HOLY CRAP, Vortex. Very glad to hear you are okay. That was a scary accident.

{{Strix}} Faster healing and less pain~ma on the wrist.

{{Teppy}} Reduced hip pain~ma.

{{smonster}} General life-coping~ma. I am one with you on struggling with my budget. I took a vacation for the first time in three years and I know it's going to fuck my budget for the rest of the year, but I wanted it so bad. I'll deal with the fallout the best I can.

Also, hugs and hairpats to others; I've skimmed so many posts to catch up, I'm a bit lost with who else needs them.

Sometimes, Nora, I try to imagine myself trying to answer the questions a presidential candidate has to answer.

"Nope, I don't go to church. Actually, I think most religions are harmful institutions. Some are flat out evil. I do believe teenagers should have sex and birth control and easy access to abortions. I wouldn't care if they legalized marijuana. Probably a good idea. Are we the greatest country in the world? I don't even know how to measure that but I do know that I dislike the inequities of our economic structure, the power of corporations to overrun democracy and lack of commitment to education. We should tax the fuck out of rich people. I don't really understand people that want to get a false, puffed up sense of pride out of being America. A lot of our values as a country seem completely fucked up to me. We're extremely hypocritical and seem to be actively hostile towards women, gays, children and immigrants. And education."

So nice to have a lazy morning on what is normally a work day.

Nora - I've been considering my thoughts on patriotism also. Though I'm coming from a different direction. I wasn't born in the US. My parents had moved to Iran to live. Forever. But after I was born they decided to move back to the US.

So, despite all the stuff you noted, I'm still proud to be an American. Cause I know I may not have ever had the chance to speak up against those issues. I may not have ever gotten an education.

It is just a matter of perspective and I'm not trying to say you should change your mind or anything.

a country that seems to believe that being poor and sick is a moral failing and unworthy of care, concern, or compassion.

Well, that's what Jesus taught us about the poor and sick, right?

Oh, wait...