Nuts, I completely forgot about this celestial event!  The sky has been hazy or down right cloudy all day here; I didn’t even give the sky a thought.

I’ll bet it’s clear in the eastern U.S., though, unlike here in the Midwest.  The moonlight reflecting on all the snow in the northeast should make for bright viewing tonight.

Be sure to check Sky & Telescope for the location of the moon this evening; Saturn should be visible near the moon for an added bonus.

Next month:  Full Wolf Moon on January 7^th – mark your calendar now!

9:23:22 PM    comment []

The “Commies” are on Comedy Central; we’re watching one of our cherished icons, Rodney Dangerfield, accept a special award for comedy.

The kids are piled on the bed with us; I’m putting rag curlers in my daughter’s still damp hair while the little guy is trying to settle in amongst the mound of pillows on the bed.  With the imagination only a kindergartner can muster, he's building a pillow fort.  Hubby is in heaven, hanging on the old master’s every word.  Imagine that, eighty-four years old and still holding court; Rodney is the definition of staying power.

The award is bestowed, the acceptance made, the program moves to musical entertainment.  It’s Bare Naked Ladies or so says one of the nominees as they announce and welcome the band.

WHAT?? says the small, blond-haired boy as he bursts out from under the pillows, his eyes large and curious, looking from us to the television and back…

My daughter and I burst out in laughter; we assured him promptly it was just the name of the band, go back to what you were doing.  Son of mine looks a little puzzled, checking the television just in case we might be wrong.

Hubby is just now wondering what’s made us laugh; Huh?  What’s going on?

Never mind, I tell him.  We forgot he’s a boy.

8:47:26 PM    comment []

For reasons of personal privacy and the protection of my family, I elected to write under a pen name when I started this blog.  I really didn’t want to have to deal with local right-wing nuts who might not like my decidedly Democratic writing.  I suppose I could handle it if it was just about me and stopped there.  Unfortunately, we live in a time when even your family is tarred and feathered for sentiments they may not even share with you.  Children don’t deserve that kind of harassment; they deserve to live unfettered lives, free of worrying who might be on their back about something their mother wrote.  And I deserve to be free to write without worrying about any negative repercussions that might affect my children.

The cosmos is conspiring to push me out of the cocoon I’ve woven, though.  There are increasingly more reasons to “come out” and write under my real name, my legal name.  I’m walking a fine line between this personal, private experience and the increasing opportunities to write as ME, the woman behind the façade.  My efforts as a Dean campaign volunteer and other writing opportunities really beg for me to be open about who I really am; after all, if I'm speaking about voting in America, shouldn't it be as a registered voter with a legal name?  Does a pseudonymous entity have any rights to speech about our political process?

There aren’t any procedure manuals on this, either; I can’t consult a text that will tell me whether there is some other option, some third path I can take that will allow me to retain my personal name and yet write in the public eye as myself.  There are no instructions on how to maintain a veil of separation between the pseudonym and self.

When Real Live Preacher faced the same dilemma, I’d advocated retaining his pseudonym.  I believe that much of his personal success is encouraged by his anonymity; he is everyone’s preacher, everyone’s friend, yet he personally still belongs to his family and his congregation.  I can understand this application, can see where it makes sense for him to retain all the benefit of anonymity within his RLP brand.

Why does it feel as if I won’t be able to do the same thing for myself?

11:31:15 AM    comment []