Yesterday was a good day even though neither Tony Stewart nor Kevin Harvick finished the race yesterday. Dismal Dover had an extremely high attrition rate--about 13 cars (out of 43 to start) were out at the end of the day, and three belonged to Chasers for the Championship. I hope Kevin Harvick doesn't have anything else happen to him. Since Kyle Busch has had misfortunes twice in a row, I do believe he's in tenth. Drivers tend to get one mistake, but not two.
I think the only one who liked Dismal Dover was Jeff Burton, who finally snapped a 176-race winless streak. Since Stewart and Harvick couldn't win, that was nice. I feel better about him being in the Chase now, and of course, it's good when a driver's long drought stops. I don't understand why he's number one in points. The execs at NASCAR talk about "consistency," but as Mona observed a few weeks ago, "consistency don't put butts in bleachers." I hope both the Stewart Rule (last year's champion is automatically part of this year's Chase) and the Kahne Rule (drivers who win five races are automatically in the Chase) go into effect. There needs to be more reward for winning.
We actually listened to bits and pieces of the race on the radio. But my good friends Mona and Yemaya O'Reilly, as well as Mona's husband, Yemaya's partner, and Yemaya's five-year-old daughter, all went to the beach. We were going to go on Saturday to celebrate the Autumn Equinox, but Yemaya had to work and my knees were really aching. Mona, L'Ailee, and I figured we could miss Dover. I am ashamed to say that we rented an SUV, but there were seven of us, two surfboards, two boogieboards, a ginormous umbrella, and three coolers. Renting multiple cars would have been more wasteful of gas and caused more emissions; that was how we justified renting that monstrosity to ourselves. It was a comfortable ride, anyhow.
L'Ailee set up the ginormous umbrella and a blanket. She played cards with JC, Mona's husband, and helped Yemaya's daughter build her sandcastle in between applications of SPF 3,000. She's so cute. Bust magazine had a "Gothic beach party" spread this summer; L'Ailee could have been part of it, with her whiter-than-white skin and the big black hat protecting her shaved head and the way her black bikini exposed her tattoos and piercings. :-)
Yemaya and I grilled. We don't know why we always end up cooking; we decided it's because we're never satisfied when anyone else does it. Also, we kind of like it, and like hearing everyone else's complements.
Everyone surfed except for JC, Mona's husband. I spent far more time in the water than anybody, but Mona and Yemaya had their share of surfing, too. L'Ailee went in a couple times, as did Yemaya's partner. We taught the five-year-old how to stand on her surfboard, too. She smiled when she got it, but seemed to prefer her boogieboard. Yemaya preferred her on the boogieboard, too!
Something did cast a bit of a shadow over the day. Apparently some people think the ocean's only for white men. Nobody was overtly mean or hostile, but enough people commented on our little group to make us feel self-conscious. A little girl commented to an older boy that "see, girls can too surf," which was good. But we heard one woman tell another, "I've never seen black people surf before." (Yemaya's mixed, her partner's black, and her daughter's mostly black.) JC told us he'd heard other comments about us as well. A few other people were surfing, and they were all white males. At the end of the day, we were very glad that we'd gone as a group. Yemaya grew up in Jamaica and Florida--of course she can surf, you know? And a surfboard doesn't care what color or size feet are on it.
Maybe it's as I've said before--someone has to be the first.
Link time:
It's Banned Books Week! Make a donation to the library, buy yourself or a kid you love a banned book, READ!
What's wrong with Alberto Gonzales' latest idea.
*Some* liquids will be allowed on airliners again.
National Geographic offers a living bit of prehistory for $100. Anyone contemplating a Solstice gift for me needs to take note.
Vaccines may do more than we thought!
Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert) envisions what kids will be taught about President Clinton's role in "World War III."
Annnnd...there's finally a humor book by and about bisexual people! Yes, actual *intentional* humor! The authors also treat us to a few online quizzes. Gotta see it! Incidentally, I am a "model" bisexual and wouldn't shame the community if I got famous. :-)
3 comments:
Speaking of the Autumn Equinox... Whoa baby with a bull by the horns!
The energies around here were off the charts!
Not just me, but every woman I know was like PMS to the Nth degree last week.
Mother Earth wanted to do a cleansing in a MAJOR way. (At least in this town.)
Totally Outa Hand, Man.
P.S.
If I ever meet you, will you teach me to surf?
I agree with the physical oops-a-daisy’s. My body went completely toes up this week. My blood pressure - which is normally extremely low - has been reading in the extra high range. And I have noticed a lot of ‘off’ energy – if you know what I mean. The planet feels like it is gearing up for something big. I have been having cataclysmic dreams again – never a good sign. Now – it might be the pain I’ve been in. That does tend to affect my thinking.
I would like to say that I’m surprised at those comments you received - but I’m not. For some years now I have been noticing absolutely tons of overt prejudice. People just don’t bother to but a brake on their tongues any more. I’ve heard that kind of bullshit too. I’m glad you were all there in a group. Those nasty comments could have very easily turned into action, my dear. It has in other places. My husband says he all too often hears very disturbing things at his work place. His closest friend there is from Jamaica – with an Indian wife. Sometimes those comments are purposefully made when either my husband or his friend are within hearing. I fear this uncivil behavior might take a turn for the worse. There are a lot of white males whom Bush had made feel disenfranchised. It could get very ugly.
Ugh, I was so disappointed to hear that anyone would make comments like that about your friends. And saddened. I don't understand it, I really don't. I'm sorry that it happened.
I'm very much in agreement with the two previous posters, in that something is cosmically brewing. Seriously, something feels totally "off" for some reason. And like "the fat lady sings," I've been having disaster dreams lately. I have plane crash dreams, which have me flinching at every plane that flies overhead, which is a large number, since I live near an airport with an air national guard installation. I'd tell the stories of what ends up happening after a series of these dreams, but they're too long and to depressing to tell. UGH!
I hope all is well. And while I can't wear a bikini, I don't have a shaved head, nor any tattoos, I kept thinking that I'd have been just like L'Ailee on the beach... no sun for me! I'm still laughing at the SPF 3,000.
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