Patriotism

With the fourth of July behind us I finally feel that I can admit something. It's not a popular thing to admit right now but I don't really care. It needs to be said.

I'm not much of a patriot. Or at least I don't care much for patriotism.

I like this country. There are a number of nice benefits of living here. It is certainly a better place to live than many country in the world. But do I believe that this is the greatest country ever? Do I believe that everything the US does is great? That's where my patriotism begins to get a little shaky. I was young when I started to notice how the word patriot was bandied around in debates. It was often meant to be a conversation stopper. I watched us go to war (for the first time in my lifetime) and the cracks started to appear in the "America is wonderful" veneer. I suddenly started wondering if we were just as flawed as the other countries.

I started to read more about the ways that our country slips: torture, espionage, war-mongering, etc.... And the more I read the more I realized that we're not a perfect country. That we do some of the things that we rail against other countries doing. We just try to do them quietly and covertly. Now I'm not expecting our country to be perfect. That would be silly. But I am tired of the patriotic rhetoric that goes around, that says we are. I'm tired of the flag waving and political speeches that seem to say that we can do no wrong.

I got into an argument on July 4th about Edward Snowden. There was passionate argument on either side about whether he was a traitor or a hero. And one of the debaters asked me if I loved my country. And I paused to think. And I honestly couldn't say one way or another. Like I said, I like this country. But I think I could just as comfortably live in Canada.

A Rant

I'm in a rather frustrated mood tonight so of course I'm going to write. And publish. I'm officially tired of politics. I'm tired of national primaries, I'm tired of local politics, I'm tired of the stupid decisions that keep being passed into law, and more than anything I'm tired of unwillingness of any politician to compromise. Or even talk logically. 

I'm inundated with media that pushes the fanatics to the front and center. I hear yelling, not discourse. I hear name-calling when I should hear logic. And I hear a lot of people talking out of their asses. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of seeing legislation that has no place in our society. The whole idea of the Bill of Rights was granting rights. Not taking it away. 

So I'm chucking it all. I'm checking out of this political game. I'm tired of hearing it so I'm going to turn off my TV. I'm going to stay away from news sites. I'm going to read my books and write stories and wait for the world to become sane again. I'm going to practice common courtesy in my own life. I'm going to continue to be a vegetarian and live my principles. I'm going to be nice and polite and a good citizen. And when the idiots up in Washington or up on the hill figure out how to act like human beings again, perhaps I'll start paying attention. But until then I guarantee I'll be in a better mood. 

Keystone

I don't normally get political. But I spent part of the day today listening to a politician talk about why we should build the Keystone Pipeline. They threw out all the classic reasons: jobs, income for companies and people, national security. When asked about why the president would put of the decision on the gigantic pipeline, he said something about how the environmentalists has lobbied him into waiting. Normally I would ignore it. But I hear the same arguments day in and day out. How creating jobs is far more important than worrying about the environment. How income seems to trump wilderness. It's one of the reasons that I hand over a small piece of my soul every day. My job helps bring these projects to life.

I don't believe that money trumps environment. I don't believe that the short term benefit we get now, outweighs the long-term damage we do. Thankfully there are others who feel the same. The Sierra Club posted these pictures from Garth Lenz, an award winning Canadian conservationist and photographer, who took them in Canada right around the area where the tar sand will be mined.

Above is the area where the mining would take place.

Above is the nearby area where tar sand mining is already taking place.

That is my reason. No amount of money is worth that. No local source of oil is worth that. I respect our president for waiting. I'm sad that we're even having the discussion.

Kushiel's Dart

I will start by saying that I almost never re-read books and I don’t read series. There are only two books in my entire library that I have ever re-read, Pride and Prejudice and Siddhartha. My reasoning is that there are way too many new books that I want to read and I have a good memory for things I’ve read before. As for series, I will read the first book of a series but almost never continue on to the next book. Series are a huge time commitment and I tend to have plenty of other books waiting to be read. So when I tell you that I finished Kushiel’s Dart and immediately wanted to re-read the book you’ll understand how significant that is. I’m also debating heavily whether or not I want to continue with the series. I don’t remember the last time I was this seduced by a book.



Seduced is an apt word for this story. Kushiel’s Dart, by Jacqueline Carey, is filled with intrigue, adventure, and romance with some steamy sex scenes. The story follows Phedre, a courtesan/spy who starts the book working for a nobleman to gain political information. Phedre is unique in that she experiences pain as pleasure (a masochistic prostitute), denoted by a mark in one of her eyes called Kushiel’s Dart. She uses her unique seductive skills to learn information which she then passes on to her benefactor. But Phedre and her benefactor are betrayed. He is killed and she is sold (along with her bodyguard Joscelin) to a tribe of barbarians as slaves. While there, she uncovers a plot to overthrow the Queen of Terre D’Ange (her home) and Phedre and Joscelin escape to warn her. The Queen decides that an alliance between Terre D’Ange (France) and Alba (England) would save the country from the invaders, and sends Phedre and Joscelin to Alba to return with the king and his army. On the way they must persuade Dalriada (Scotland) to lend its aid, gain safe passage from the Master of the Straits, and get back to Terre D’Ange before the invaders. I’m leaving out half the book practically with this plot summary but so much happens in this thick book that it would be impossible to list it all.

I want to talk for a moment about the setting before anything else because it affects so much of the rest of the book. The story is set in Terre D’Ange which is an alternative Renaissance France. A religion of sorts dominates the lives of the people, denoting where their position in society will be. Phedre is sold to a benefactor at a young age because her parents cannot take care of her. She is trained as a Servant of Naamah (a goddess of sex) but also follows Kushiel (a god of pain and destruction). Each of the characters has their role in society because of the god they are most aligned with. Joscelin is a Cassiline Brother, a priest who is trained from birth to protect. He is skilled in weapons and lives the ascetic life of a priest. So there is considerable friction between him and Phedre because of their different roles in society. Terre D’Ange is the wealthiest country and also the most beautiful in the invented world. Because of their wealth, they are often focused on politics, fashion, and pleasure.

There are so many characters in the book that at times they are tough to keep track of. Carey provides a detailed character list which helped greatly and the main characters are easy to keep straight. Phedre and Joscelin are the focus of the book and I really felt like I got to know the characters over the course of the book. So much happened and the characters grew so much that when I finished the book I wanted to go back to the beginning to watch the progression again. I wanted to see them again with the knowledge of what they would become. The book jacket gives you very little idea of the plot and when the benefactor was killed I was shocked since it was so early in the book. In fact I was surprised by almost every twist and turn. I had no idea what to expect and each adventure seemed to just breed more adventures. It was hard to put the book down since it seemed that there was a climax every couple of chapters. Speaking of climaxes there is plenty of interesting sex in the book since Phedre works as something of a prostitute for the wealthy. If you are turned off by submissive behavior or pain in sex this may not be the book for you but I found the scenes steamy but understated. This is not a Story of O, and everything is done very tastefully. And the sex is often overshadowed by the political intrigue which fills almost every page of the book.

There is an incredible diversity of characters and places in the book which makes for a very fleshed out setting. Carey creates a complex world, and fills it with interesting characters. It has been years since I loved a character but I loved the character of Joscelin so much that I had to skip to the end to see if he survived. I didn’t want to be surprised by his death. Both he and Phedre are the main focus of the book and Carey breathes life into both of them, creating complex and interesting characters. The relationship between them evolves beautifully after all that they have been through and we see that progression. The dialogue in the book is wonderful, filled with things unsaid and undercurrents. The setting is interesting and beautiful, and the characters are well written. The book was exciting enough to make me ache to know what happens, long enough to make me feel that I knew the characters, and steamy enough to leave me wanting more. A great read and an incredible story. Perhaps I will have to pick up the second.

Involvement

As you know I normally try to avoid politics on this blog. I'm just not a huge fan of them. I work too close to the capitol for my tastes and I know too much about the ways in which politics operates to enjoy them. So why did I spend a good chunk of my morning watching the inaguration?

Because I'm excited about our new president. I'm excited about his vision for this county and I'm excited that everyone else is excited. There were several million people in DC today, a turnout that is well beyond any presidential inaguration that we have seen. There were people who stood there in the freezing cold waiting to hear our president speak. Waiting to see him sworn in. And they are excited. There are tears and cheers when this president speaks. He has great charisma.

And more than anything, he makes people feel involved. Today we saw a president who said that we need to help him make changes. It was not just about what the high government officials can do but about what the people should be doing. He won the election because he got people involved. Even his "Yes We Can" theme features one very big word "WE". For a long time I have felt like government didn't really involve the people. It was representation without any real representation. But today I feel like I could actually make a difference. I feel like I have some control on what happens. I'm excited and inspired. And that doesn't happen with politics very often.

Election Fever

I know you're all tired of hearing it but if you haven't had a chance to get out and vote, do it. I went this morning at 7:15 and was the 80th person through my polling place. My hope is that this means that there will be a good turnout. I've had smaller elections where I went at 6:00 pm and was the 80th person. In Des Moines we don't tend to get the huge crowds that some of the polling places in New York seemed to have today. The lines around the block have been encouraging.

Now I don't tend to be a political person. My idea tends to be that the less the government does, the better. My dad once told me that the best situation is to have a Democratic president and a Republican Congress or vice versa. Less gets done that way. Cynical I know but that seems to be the overwhelming response before this election. Suddenly everyone is excited about politics and I have to admit that I have been swept up in the fever. My plan for this evening is to go home, turn on the TV and watch the results roll in. I've never done that with any election before. Now I'm not going to say that the computer won't be on during the whole thing. I'm sure Jeff will talk me into playing some WOW. But Tuesdays are traditionally my knitting night. But I don't really want to go tonight. And everyone who normally knits with me says the same. They want to stay home tonight and watch. History is about to be made, no matter who wins.

And today is a proud day to be an American. I love election day. The actual election process gets old fast but election day is wonderful. This one started almost two years ago and has been the focus of more media coverage than any other before it. I get three or four political campaign calls a day and I hate those. But election day is special. I get to go and cast MY vote for who I want. I get to stand in line with my fellow Americans (and that is one of the few days we call ourselves that) and make my small voice heard. I get to do something that some countries' citizens don't get to do. And for that I'm proud. I don't care who you vote for, I don't want to know. That's between you and the voting booth. But if you want to complain during the next four years about who our president is, make sure you've said your piece and cast your vote.