It has been a little while since I last wrote my online diary so there is a lot to cover, but when I think about what to say and how to say it - there is really not that much.
Since my last entry a lot of things happened. The most stirring thing and that which stands out is the fact that the other day I received a package in the mail and I sat in stunned silence before I opened it. I have to say that it probably took me an hour to have the "courage" to open it as I knew it had something to do with my friend, Katie (talked about in my first entry) who died in November. Seeing his name on the return address made me certain that it had to do with Katie, but I didn't know what it was.
After sitting quietly for a little bit I started to open the box - it was pretty heavy - and in it I found pictures and things that she kept from a trip we took some years ago along with some things that were important to her. Katie was a scrap-booker and photo keeper. When I go on vacation I'm lucky if I find myself in a couple of the pictures, but not Katie. She had a way with making sure that not only did she keep pictures, but she kept ticket stubs and even the menu from the bed and breakfast we stayed in Bath, England in the late 90s.
It was a vacation that I cherished, but it was just a vacation. Seeing those pictures made me realize that that was our vacation and something that only she, me and Gina shared. Of course we shared it with the ghosts of the Tower of London, the geysers of Iceland and a litany of memories from our nights in clubs.
At first I was angr
y with J.T. for sending it because I was not ready for it. I realize after looking at those pictures and with those that I have at my own house that Katie lived far more in her 30 years than I did in my life. As I live my life in the future I am going to live it as fully as I can because you never know when that life can come to an end. I didn't thank him for sending it, but I should. I'm just not sure how to say thank you for memories.
It is difficult to transition from the most important thing that happened to me this week and to turn to some of the more trivial, but here goes:
First is that I was able to have brunch with friends today and the topic was what to ask Ann Coulter when she is on my tomorrow evening. I often tell my listeners that of course I do show prep, but when it comes to talking I tend to talk about what my friends are talking about. Ann is truly an amazing person because she is not the gay hater that people portray her to be and when you read her new book - GUILTY - you will see her at her best.
She is funny, biting, honest and is able to call a spade a spade. Some of the questions that my friends came up with were kind of nutty, but one came
from Eyal's boyfriend via email and it was simple: why the black cocktail dress? What a great question from a gay guy. We will talk wardrobe. I certainly don't want to talk about the dust up on The View. How many times can Ann be asked to go on a show to talk about her book and then end up talking about something that happened on another show? How boring.
So I have my list of questions, but I'm going to take a poll on getting someone fired over making my omelette the wrong way! I have a certain way of wanting things and when people don't pay ANY attention to what I ask for I get angry. Don't ask me why - maybe the $75 price tag per person, but how hard is it to make some eggs that do not have yolks (I don't want to die from heart disease) so I wanted egg whites, mushrooms, cheese with soy milk to make fluffy. They were all wrong. I got an "I'm sorry," but I didn't get the right eggs because I hate waiting for things that I want. Not a big deal so I guess I won't get him fired, but people should pay attention.
Second is the weather. It has been hot and today it is a little over 80 degrees and as I hear people yammering on and on about global warm
ing I'm wondering where it is warm where it is not supposed to be. The people on the east coast are freezing and we're warm (like it is supposed to be - hello, the 
Mamas and the Papas didn't do California Dreamin for nothing), but it is kind of nutty that we're talking about global warming while so many people are freezing. Even the canals in Holland were frozen over so that people could walk across them.
Third (I'm going to stop numbering these now): Barack Obama is going to become the first black President of the United States on Tuesday and that is a good thing. America turned a corner on race relations to the point where a black guy is taking office the day after Martin Luther King Day celebrates the 20th anniversary (signed into law by Ronald Reagan by the way - Jimmy Carter didn't sign it).
The only thing that bothers me (outside of Obama's politics) is the fact that he is getting a pass on all of the things he promised to do if he was elected. I'm not talking about moving to the center to govern and I'm not talking about moderating something that was super liberal; I'm talking about the fact that he is going to do things that he criticized the Bush Administration for doing. Don't get me wrong - I was done with George W. Bush when he forgot that he was a Republican (I actually consider myself an Independent Conservative - I'll explain that to you again one day). But, GITMO and taxes were things that Obama ran on and now he's reversed course.
Instead, he'll become the Commander-in-Chief to an underpaid military and will hold court at the White House as a TRILLION dollars are spent to "stimulate" the economy. Part of that goes to giving money to people who don't pay t
axes and calling it a tax cut. We're also going to stop foreclosures. How? Why should anyone pay their mortgage if the government will pay for it. We should just build Soviet style housing blocks and give people a home and $200 a month to live off of. The House of Representatives just passed a new tobacco tax (which is obviously a tax on the poor since they smoke far more than the middle or upper-classes) to help children get health insurance. Sounds fine right - BUT illegal immigrants will get it too. We're borrowing money from our kids and grandchildren (and theirs too probably) in order to pay for illegals to go to school and now - THE INTERNET! yes, the Internet is now a federal right.
Someone pinch me over his silly train ride too. What a joke. I like how we expected 3 million people to go and now we're downplaying expectat
ions. I thought this coronation was the changing of the guard. I wonder if anyone from that plane that went into the Hudson River in NYC are going to DC to watch the man who will investigate the migrating birds that caused the crash get sworn in. Bet they drive?
Then there is Israel. Israel announced a cease fire with the Hamas - we'll see how long that lasts. The Hamas will continue to fire rockets into Israel and she is giving the Hamas a chance not to do it. If the Hamas sends ONE rocket into Israel I say level Gaza to the ground and start anew. It is insane to think that people who want Israel and Jews to die a terrible death are ever going to change their minds, but maybe Senator Clinton (soon to be Secretary of State) will be able to convince them to do something that her husband could not.
Counting down until January 20th at noon. Until then - if you have a question you want to ask of Ann Coulter - she'll be on the show on
Sunday (tomorrow) so tune in and call 800-600-KOGO during the program or email me and I'll pick the good ones. Don't worry Brenden - yours is on top.
