Alaskan Jeopardy

Good grief, what a train wreck.

Over on Facebook, I posted a story about Levi Johnston's interview on some news show. The video itself isn't important. It was the usual stuff from this pretty but not-so-articulate kid, dishing some dirt about Sarah Palin and implying that there is much more to dish (things that she did as Governor) that he won't be divulging. His coming spread, so to speak, in Playgirl was also mentioned.

I think most of us feel a little disgust at being subjected to the airing of this family's dirty laundry. Diapers and all. It's just unseemly, don't you think? However, considering my long and historied dislike of Sarah Palin, I have to admit that I'm getting more than a little glee out of all of this. It's just so...trashy.

It's also sort of seedy and sleazy. It makes me feel a little dirty for even paying attention to this story, much as I would if I were obsessed with Jon and Kate. However, Jon and Kate are nothing more than idiotic reality TV stars; Palin seems to be interested in maintaining some sort of political presence in this country, no matter how unwarranted that is and how unqualified she is, and if Levi's gossip girl mentality helps to take her down, I say more power to him. This woman should never have a place in national politics, and whatever it takes to keep her out of that arena is fine with me.

So young Levi, you just keep talking. I realize that you are merely cashing in on your Warholian moment, and I really can't hate on you for that. You dropped out of school—have you gone back yet?—because you were going to marry your preggers girlfriend, but we all know how that worked out. I fully recognize that you are pimping yourself for a little bit of cash and a little bit of fame, and I'm thinking that any kid in your situation would do the same. You may not realize it, but you have a broader mission here, and that is to ensure that your dangerous almost-mother-in-law never sees the light of day when it comes to national politics. I know you can do it, kiddo, so you just keep on keepin' on. Make your buck and save your country while you're at it.

What the…?

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Left to right: back yard to the northwest, front yard, and back yard to the north.

After Ken went to bed last night, I flipped on the outside light and saw big fat snowflakes coming down, and about an inch already on the deck. I left Ken a note that he might want to take the truck, because it looked like a really dense, wet snow that would make it slow going in the Mustang. He emailed me from work to let me know that he'd made it okay, and he said it was really bad on the back roads, but better on the highways.

Almost all of it has melted by now, can you believe that? The official total from the airport was a couple of inches, I think, but at our place, it looks like 3-4 inches (7-10 cm) on the deck. It's sunny right now, but we're supposed to get some lake effect snow tonight. Pffttthhh. I know our hardwood trees will be okay, but I hope this doesn't kill all our flowers that were coming up! That would bum me out.

I finished my Facebook quiz and successfully posted it! YES! I'm like a dog with a bone when it comes to stuff like that. I can hardly stand it until I manage to get it to work. The endless Facebook quizzes have gotten kind of funny. There are some that are fun to take...but I don't really need or care to know what color I am, what type of woman I am, or what Winnie the Pooh character I am! No offense to anyone who takes them, but keep in mind that I just wrote a quiz...so it's people like me who are writing them! My friend Dan (Milwaukee Dan #1) recently wrote on Facebook that the quizzes seemed to be getting a little out of hand, so I jokingly wrote that I was going to write a "What infectious disease are you?" quiz. Enough friends (mostly lab friends, go figure!) wrote that I should do it...so I did! It is firmly tongue-in-cheek, believe me, and there are some subtle microbiology jokes in there. Although I suppose that most microbiology jokes are subtle. Ha! I've got three STD's in there, gonorrhea, Chlamydia, and syphilis, and I don't think anyone is an STD so far.

If you're on Facebook, I could only send 20 invitations today, so if I didn't send it to you, you can find it on my page, under my picture on the left.

I'm just now watching clips of Levi Johnston on the Tyra Banks show. Dang, I wish I'd known that was airing today, I would have watched it! Man, what kind of train wreck is this mess? Is this the Aleutian Hillbillies? It's on the verge of Jerry Springeresque, with Levi saying that he lived with the Palins before the baby was due, the Governor's spokesperson denying it, he and Bristol were practicing safe sex all the time...no wait, most of the time, Levi can't take the baby anywhere, etc., etc. This whole thing is just sad. I didn't hear the entire interview, but last I knew, he had dropped out of high school. It's a sad circus.

NCAA championship tonight! Before the game, be sure to read The Wildcat's Lair, which has chronicled the Bracket Battle of 2009. It's been a lot of fun, and I'm curious to see whether Wildcat or Page the dog will win the battle. It's some of the funniest stuff you'll read out there, folks. Pay the gang a visit!

We'll be cheering for Michigan State tonight. No offense to the North Carolina fans out there--I actually like NC, too. But I have to cheer for a Big Ten team, and I kind of like State's Cinderella story. This means a lot to the state of Michigan, and I have to pull for our neighbors. Go State!

Hope I can return the wedding gift

You've probably all heard by now that Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston have not just called off their wedding, they've broken up, just two and a half months after she had their baby.

Some of you might be expecting jokes, or think that I might even...I don't know...gloat about it. No gloating here. I find the whole thing just plain sad.

They didn't take the step of committing to a marriage they weren't ready for, but then, of course, there's still the small matter of having a child to raise. Apparently Bristol is taking courses mostly from home to get her high school diploma, but as far as I know, Levi is still a dropout, and working in the oil fields. The whole thing just makes me kind of ill. As much as I dislike Bristol's mother, I don't feel even a little bit of schadenfreude.

They paraded these kids--and yes, they are kids--out during the convention as an example of family values...saying that yes, they made a mistake but they were committed to making a good life for their baby. In her interview with Greta van Susteren, Bristol said, "Eventually, we'd like to get married. We're focusing on, like, getting through school and just getting an education and stuff, getting a career going." In October, Levi told AP, "We both love each other. We both want to marry each other. And that's what we are going to do."

Fast forward a few months, and what have we got? A young girl trying to get her high school diploma while she takes care of a baby, and the dad a high school dropout, working to pay child support. (I'm assuming that he's paying child support.) Bristol is actually a lot luckier than most young girls who have babies--she's got a family support system that is probably pretty good. Many don't have that.

And yes, I believe this is partly a result of that stupid "abstinence-only" teaching. You know, the stuff that doesn't freakin' work. I'll reiterate: I am not anti-abstinence. Encourage it in kids--after all, it's the safest sex you can have--and encourage them to wait. But be realistic, too, and understand that knowledge is power. If they know all the consequences of unsafe sex, whether it's pregnancy or STD's, perhaps they'll think twice about whether to say yes or no, and if the answer is yes, maybe--just maybe--they'll understand that they need to be safe.

As The Hazies say....

...I want a trip free life.

You've probably all heard by now that Bristol Palin had her baby. They were reporting it on CNN last night, and I couldn't catch what they named the kid. I was like, "Trick? Track? Trig? What are they saying?!" Ken said, "I think Trig is the one baby's name," but he couldn't catch the new baby's name, either. I heard the story twice and still couldn't figure out what the name was. I finally saw it online today, and in the fine tradition of weird names that her mothah apparently decided to follow, Bristol has named her baby boy...

Tripp.

You heard me.

TRIPP.

They gave him the father's last name, even though he and Bristol haven't yet entered into wedded bliss, so he's Tripp Johnston.

Bwah-hah-hah-hahhhhh!

I'm sorry, I just can't help it. That's just a dorky name. And I'm sure there will be some teasing eventually. "Hey, have a nice Tripp, see ya next fall!" "Stop Trippin' me out!" Or maybe he'll follow in the footsteps of his paternal grandmother and "take a trip," if you get my drift (better living through pharmaceuticals, doncha know). The poor kid is innocent in this whole thing and ends up with the name TRIPP. He's probably going to end up as the answer to a trivia question one day, so at least they could have given him a cool, macho name like Clint or Rock or Steele.

If you're so inclined, visit the Hazies and give 'em a listen. "Trip Free Life" is a cool song, as is "Skin and Bones." Bristol Palin sure doesn't have a Tripp free life for a few years to come, does she? Neither does Levi. Have either of them finished high school yet? [shaking my head] Oh, and...

Author's Note: Just to clarify, in yesterday's entry about To Fight or Not to Fight I wasn't implying that if couples DO argue, they have a bad relationship. The thing is, it's different for everyone, and what works for us may not work for others. However, I don't appreciate being accused of lying when I say that Ken and I don't fight, or being told that we are dysfunctional (nobody here did that--just someone with a bone to pick and a battle-axe to grind) or that we have a bad marriage. To imply such a thing speaks more of their own dysfunction, rather than whatever dysfunction that they think they see in us. I believe the proper psychological term there might be "projection."

Hey! I made you guys a present!

Don't say I never did anything for you! (wink)

It's not perfect, but I had some fun making it today. Hope it gave you all a chuckle. And if you'd really like to snag it, feel free. I'm thinking of resizing it and putting it by my Trekkies for Obama button. Ha ha!

I'm not going to beat the fruit fly thing to death, but it did get me thinking a lot today. (Uh oh....) As I told Indigo, last night I had steam coming out of my ears, but I'm a little more reflective today. Before I got up this morning, I was thinking about what it is that bothers me so much about not just Palin, but the general tone of the GOP's campaign lately. The word that sprang to mind was "incurious," and when I read my comments, my friend Dan-Guido had remarked that Palin isn't "intellectually curious." We both had the same thought, but I definitely like his phrase better!

That's something that is really bothering me lately. It's not just the recent GOP tactics of portraying anyone with a college degree, or anyone who dares to show a broader knowledge of issues and a broader world view, as someone who is "not one of us," it's the general pervasiveness of anti-intellectualism. The campaign keeps throwing out that word "elite." The liberal elite...the Washington elite...it seems that anyone who doesn't believe the way they do, or shows a desire to look beyond the superficial meaning of things, is somehow "elite."

I'm not sure when a thirst for knowledge became something to be ashamed of. This was something that was fostered in me and my sisters by my parents, and encouraged in Ken by his father, and by his mother in her love of reading. Palin's ridicule of fruit fly research in Paris, France (and I do wonder if she was referencing the Pasteur Institute) was cringe-worthy. Did she or her handlers not bother to do at least minimal investigation as to how something like that might be important? Google "fruit fly research," for Pete's sake, and you'll turn up all kind of references as to how these tiny insects have aided scientists in numerous research efforts and countless studies. It is not something to take lightly, and it disturbs me that she seems patently unable to understand that.

Palin strikes me as someone whose world view is so narrow that she simply cannot comprehend why something that makes no sense to her whatsoever might be important to someone else. If it doesn't exist in her world, it's not worth learning about and it's not important. This is not just about the campaigns and those involved with them; I've seen it in people I encounter in daily life. A feeling that someone who is curious about the world around them is somehow pretentious, or a know-it-all, or "putting on airs." There is nothing wrong with a healthy curiosity about a variety of subjects, and it's an admirable goal to want to further your education. Not everyone is able to do this, but that doesn't mean that learning has to stop. It didn't stop for my parents, although they didn't go to college.

I'm also disturbed by the fact that Levi Johnston, the father of Bristol Palin's baby, has dropped out of high school in order to get a job in the oil fields. I'm not mad about it, I'm not self-righteous about it, I'm not condemning anyone for their decision...I just find it really sad that the kid (and yes, he IS a kid) is not finishing high school. I wonder what kind of life they will have, and I hope that he is able to at least eventually get his GED.

The narrow-mindedness I've been encountering lately boggles my mind. The inability to see a broader world view is not only sad, it's dangerous. I know it's not easy to step outside our comfort zone, but it's imperative that we begin to do so, and try to understand that we are not the center of the world, anymore than the Earth is the center of the solar system, as so many once thought. (Copernicus got a raw deal, didn't he?) I had an email this morning from one of my uncles about a forward he'd gotten concerning alleged quotes from Obama's books. My uncle said that he knew I'd read the books, and he wanted to know if these quotes (mostly concerning race) were real...and if so, didn't I find them scary? I wrote back that one suspicious thing was that no page numbers were provided, that I thought that they were taken out of context, and that some of these quotes rang a bell, so I did a Snopes search. Sure enough, the exact email he sent me has been widely circulated, and the quotes were either out of context, rearranged, or were not Obama's words at all. My 80-some year old uncle cared enough to ask me if it was true. Why are others not investigating what is truth and what is lies?

But again, this transcends politics, although Palin's lack of intellectual curiosity (thanks, Dan!) is what got me to think along these lines. This is about an inability to take "one step beyond," and to realize that there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. The attitude of ridiculing someone for furthering their education, or for pursuing research that you have deemed laughable, is not being "salt of the earth." It is foolish and dangerous.