The Unfortunate Sophomoric Slant of Politics

The current political arena is driving me nuts.  There is no doubt that every one of the people running for office are intelligent in their own right, but for some reason, instead of focusing on real actual issues with the domestic economy or international relations or crime, they seem to constantly spout rhetoric about how their opponents don't know what they're talking about and can't or won't get the job done.  Even worse, they focus more on smear campaigns to trash their opponents based upon whatever they can find in their opponents' past personal lives or long ago voting records, than on the aforementioned real issues.  There is no one who can honestly say that every opinion / stand / decision that they personally had or made 10 / 15 / 20 years earlier in their lives is the exact same as they would do in the here and now ... which makes the smear campaigns make zero sense.  It's like watching a bunch of high school girls use gossip and subterfuge to try and oust each other to win the homecoming crown. 

Doesn't the constitution state that the government is supposed to be "by the people, for the people"?  Last I checked there was no amendment to the constitution that changed it to "by the people, for whatever the views and whims of the elected ones are".  Inciting a riot by twisting words or telling quarter truths doesn't effectively represent the needs of the population anywhere.  Politicians seem to be guilty of this whether running for office or in office.  Sue me for being simplistic, but candidates simply talking about Their Own views, Their Own Values, Their Own Plans for public policy & economic reform & crime & international relations would be much more useful information for voters than pointing fingers at others.  Ultimately, when elected, they're supposed to be representing the views of the population that voted for them to be there, so understanding where they themselves are coming from is rather crucial.

Additionally, this country's constitution specifically mentions "freedom of worship" for a reason.  Our forefathers wanted all citizens to be free to choose their own religion and follow it without fear of persecution.  As far as I can tell, that would mean that even though one may not understand or agree with someone else's religious choice, it should be respected and not condemned or bashed.  Not in the political arena especially.  If that's a deal-breaker point for a voter, then they'll pay attention to the candidate that most closely aligns with their own beliefs.  Trying to make someone look bad because their religion is different than your own or is something that you don't understand ..... well, that just seems a bit far reaching & completely opposite of what "freedom of worship" is supposed to mean.

The past life of any person, place or event obviously cannot be changed, and speaking constantly of someone else's parts in those past things or someone else's past itself, only makes one's own appear as if there's something to hide.  Focusing on the future, however, current issues, short term and long term plans, goals, the wins in your own past .... well, that would be a much better use of everyone's time & listening skills.  If the candidates focus on that, we might actually be able to elect a government that can truly work together to deliver answers.  The sophmoric tactics and high school popularity political standards need to be taken out of it.

~ The Girl In The Little Black Dress

The Solitare Game of Relationships

I've had a lot of down time to ponder lately, and I've come to a conclusion .. Relationships in life are lot like playing Solitare.  I know it sounds like a long stretch of a comparison, but hear me out ...
You know how when you're playing solitare on your computer or phone, and you get what initially appears to be a great set up?  You're moving cards around creating great combinations.  Every time you move a card, another comes up that you can use.  Finally, you get to a stop point where you can do nothing else, and you hit the deck ... but you go through the entire deck and there is absolutely nothing that works.  Urgh.  New Game.
Or, you get an initial hand that's all one card color or that there is absolutely nothing you can use regardless of card color, so you try the deck and the final card that comes up is something that's useful.  Even though it's a statistical impossibility, you keep going .. trying that deck again in the hopes that you missed something, or that something changed, but inevitably, you come up empty.  Duh.  New Game.
Sometimes, you get a hand that is okay .. you can use a bit of it, but it doesn't look overly promising.  You hit the deck, and a number of those cards can be used so you keep going.  Each time you hit that deck you can use a couple things, which allows you to move more things around in your hand .. you think it's going great but then you get to the end of the deck and you realize that you're stuck with no more moves and no way to move all the card combinations up to the top.  Sigh.  New Game.
In some games, you use every trick you can .. even little idiosyncrasies like making sure that the only open spaces are on the ends (ya, that's one of my little things that makes me feel luckier with a game .. don't know why, it just does), but none of them work and you're back to starting yet another game again because you simply can't give up until you've won.
Occasionally though, you get a hand that may or may not look extraordinary at first, but as you begin creating the combinations and hitting the deck, everything starts falling into place.  It takes a couple of switch out adjustments with combinations in some cases, but ultimately, all the cards fall right into place up top.  Drumroll .. Game Won!
Relationships seem to be much like those solitare hands ... from friendships to dating to even co-workers.  Sometimes the relationship with the person is deceptively great looking on the surface but once you start really getting into it, it doesn't work at all, or, the two of you really don't work at all or make a bit of sense from the beginning even though you may try.  The most painful are the ones that really seem to be working, you really seem to click way beyond initially, but then the relationship comes up empty after you get good and deep into it.  No matter how many little "good luck moves" you make, or ways you try to change things around, it just doesn't fly.  There's not going to be a "winning hand", no matter what you do.
Sometimes though, that hand that didn't look particularly extraordinary at the beginning seems to work better and better the further you get into it, and fantastically, it turns out to be the winning game hand.  The person that's absolutely a perfect fit with you.  You have to work for it, and even maybe use some of your little combination shuffles, but it ends up being worth it .. relationship win! 
We all find many "winning hands" in our relationships throughout life .. some are easier won from the beginning, some take a bit more effort and strategy, some are just plain surprising, but everyone looks for that winning game hand in life, and much like solitare, even though you may want to beat your head against a brick for having to constantly start over, you keep doing it ... hoping that the next one will be the one that works, that wins.  The trick is to keep playing.  There's no way to beat the odds if you simply put the cards down and don't try.

~ The Girl In The Little Black Dress

Hark! Midist that be a Jerk I Hear in the Distance?

General rule:  if you don't have the ability to A: speak or text without cursing and/or lashing out, B: conduct yourself in a non-stalker manner (i.e. "No" means "go away, No"), and C: take a hint when you're being blatantly & completely ignored,  then you need to realize that whatever little warped fantasy land you happen to live in, I Am Not There Nor Do I Ever Want To Be. Note the newsflash.  Thank you.

~ The Girl (Who Is Not Yours) In The Little Black Dress (That's Not Yours Either)