A Poet and a Troubadour

On Sunday, November 11th, I had the pleasure of hearing poet Janet Scott McDaniel and singer-songwriter Jim Rezak at Acorn Books in Dover, DE. Janet read several of her poems accompanied by gentle guitar rhythms from Jim and he also interspersed several of his songs into her array of poetry. It was a fine combination.

Janet’s poetry is melodious and songlike, with well crafted imagery and plenty of emotion. Her reading is very skilful, clear and well paced with just the right low key dramatic touches. Janet's poems are personal and sometimes sentimental but never maudlin. She also never falls into the trap of turning sentiment into sappiness, which is no small accomplishment. She is the author of two collections which she has self published: “The Light and Other Collected Poems” and “Parallel Dreams”. Both are available at Acorn Books and on Amazon.com.

Jim Rezak has been playing music for forty plus years but only recently started writing songs. His tunes are romantic country, harkening back to the days when country music wasn’t driven by over-produced, rock style arrangements. He has a fine voice and an easy touch with his guitar. From his first notes I was thinking of how much like country great Don Williams Jim sounds.

If you get an opportunity to hear either of these folks perform, either separately or, if you’re lucky, in a joint program you should stop in. You’ll be glad you did.

Open Season 2012: Epilogue

The election is over, the incumbent is still an incumbent and the challenger is probably trying to get some rest. Analyzers are analyzing and pundits are picking apart what the analyzers report. Meanwhile the vast majority of Americans are going about their business – going to work, looking for work, avoiding work. And of course there are the lucky few who are done with work, having completed their obligations.

As a supporter of the challenger I am, of course, disappointed. Here in my home state I was disappointed from the top to the bottom of the ballot. Not that I expected any joyous outcome here, but one does hope for an occasional spot of light. It was not to be this year.

It’s interesting to me that so many of my fellow citizens so obviously feel that the government is where we should look for progress and good ideas. My view is definitely not in line with those folks. And I suppose if we look at the popular vote count we do see that in terms of percentages, the margin of the majority is very small. In other words, in spite of the incumbent’s victory there is no clear mandate and the country is still sharply divided. How the administration addresses that division will be the key to whether or not the nation continues its decline or whether it heals and grows. The past four years have not been too exemplary in bringing people together. Maybe without the pressure of needing to be re-elected the administration will look for wider solutions to the problems of the economy and other major issues.

A lot of my fellow conservatives are in deep despair today. They are predicting doom and they are shadowed by gloom. My feelings are a little different. I believe that our system of governance, with all of its built in checks and balances, will withstand an assault of foolish actions. It will be difficult, especially if the folks in power tamper too much with the founding documents. But if they try to do too much tampering there are legal remedies in place to abrogate those efforts. And there is an opposition leadership now that is vocal and organized, ready to stop things from getting too far out of hand. So I’m still not ready to look for asylum in some other country. That’s not to say that I don’t belong in a different kind of asylum.

In conclusion there is a definite advantage to having this election over and done. And that advantage is that you won’t be pestered with any more of these long and boring political diatribes, at least not until the next election cycle.

Now go with hope and have a fine day.

OPEN SEASON: LAST CALL

On the day after tomorrow a goodly number of us will be going to the polls to cast our votes. Some may be making their vote for revenge, some for love of country and still others as a part of their party obligation. My vote will be submitted in a spirit of civic duty and personal responsibility. That doesn’t make me nobler than any of those other folks; it’s just my own frame of mind.

Today, as soon as I finish this little article, I’m going to mentally withdraw from all the political ballyhooing and just review the options and see if my current choices can be shaken. I’ve noticed on the social media that a lot of folks are making last minute pitches for various points of view, referencing all kinds of research and claims drawing on the testimony of experts and political operatives. More power to them, I suppose.

Locally my votes are going to jump around the political spectrum a bit and will be largely in favor of those who have not held office before. In our state races I’m again pushing for folks who are running against incumbents. Delaware’s party machinery is so entrenched that my favorite candidates don’t have much of a realistic chance of winning. We have a very opaque (as opposed to transparent) state government with collusion and “good old boy” dealing going on all the time and involving every issue. Very little work is done on behalf of the citizenry as the politicians work so hard for their own personal gain. That’s not so different from other states I suppose, but in a state as small as ours one would think that it would be easier to oust the self-indulgent office holders. But it isn’t. Term limits would offer a partial solution.

When it comes to our congressional delegation I’m definitely voting against incumbents. Our lone congressman and the one senator who is up for re-election both need to be removed. They are both part of that spurious network of political opportunists that are intent on keeping their careers on track while paying lip service to their constituencies. They’re either very adept at feigning sincerity or they have come to believe in their own small messianic personae. Their acts fool enough of the people often enough, but it’s high time we quit believing their baloney and send them packing.

As for the presidential election, well, I’ve heard enough and had enough. If twenty percent of the reporting on the Benghazi tragedy is correct then that alone would be enough to clinch my decision against the incumbent. But I also happen to believe that the president is a divisive leader. He’s talked about bi-partisan cooperation but has done nothing of substance to back up his talk. Of course he’ll blame the opposition but I’ve seen enough news and read enough about congressional machinations to see that much of the blockage standing in the way of reform has been solely a product of his administration. That, in addition to his bigger government policies, indiscriminate spending, religious belief disrespecting and general moves towards more interference into the private lives of citizens has sent me more and more strongly to his opponent. There’s one more thing and it’s just a personal problem I suppose. I feel that our current president is an extremely egotistical person with very little sincerity in his public pronouncements. Ego is endemic to thinking one is suitable for the office. I’m sure his opponent has a large ego. But that opponent has some real solid accomplishments to show for his years of work. The incumbent president’s record is full of only political maneuvering and campaigning. And the last four years did not add anything substantial to that record.

Okay, I’m done now. If you agree with me, go and vote to prove it. If you disagree do the same. Although it won’t bother me too much if you disagree-ers stay home. I’m just kidding. Let your voice be heard. That’s the whole point of this exercise.

Have a fine day.