I'll Never Do This Again

PS - If you tell me I'm wrong and that this show is fantastic, our friendship is OVER.

Dan Rather?

I know Dan Rather has ties to Texas, so there's a chance this small SUV belongs to him.

I would be a little surprised if he'd put his name on his license plate. It doesn't seem like he'd want people honking their horns at him or shouting things about the scandal that ended his network career. OOOH! Or shouting, "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" at him! I think that might make him a little less cranky. I don't really know why I think Dan is an old crank. Maybe it's because he's now on some cable channel most people don't know exists (I'm pretty sure it's not listed among the hundreds of channels I get). If he really is cruising around with this license plate, I'm sad for him. So sad, I kind of want to give Dan a hug. Kind of.

I could be wrong.

In fact, the more I look at this, the more I think maybe it doesn't really say RATHER. Maybe it says RAT HER. Like, "I'm going to rat her out." Don't roll your eyes. It's a possibility.

So is the pronunciation. Maybe it's supposed to be read RATE HER. In that case, the guy driving this is a douchebag. You don't rate girls. That's rude and a sure way to not get ladies to ever want to spend time with you - even the 10s. They'll be worried that you will lower their rating and that will send them on a path of self-destruction (eating disorders, plastic surgery, dating more douchebags, etc.).

And just like that, I've gone from being excited about maybe seeing Dan Rather in the home improvement store (I did not) to wanting to punch the owner of this Kia.

We Need New Names

We Need New Names: A Novel by NoViolet Bulawayo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have always wondered what happens to children removed from harsh lands to America, still seen as the land of dreams and opportunities. Darling's story, while fictional, gives some insight into that dramatic change.

Fleeing Africa with visions of the America she'd seen on TV, Darling winds up in significantly unglamorous Michigan. She is a young girl in need of guidance who never gets it, instead making her way mostly on her own. She lives a life that will be limited because she's not in America legally. Her childhood dreams don't seem that much different as she ages in America. Her family and friends back home don't have the real view of America that Darling lives. Her reality is harsh - she's destined to spend her life working jobs that keep her off the radar of the government. The worst thing that could happen is she could be found out and then sent home to a place and people she wouldn't recognize.

Her life is probably safer in American than it would be in her homeland. Her personal safety is not as threatened as it would be in Africa, but she seems lonely. No matter how "American" Darling becomes, she seems to still miss the things she loved about her African childhood.

This is the kind of story that reminds me how lucky I am to have been born in America. My life has never been run by fear or even the kind of abandonment so many children in this world see as normal. It is a raw story that may make some uncomfortable. It made me grateful.

I could never walk a mile in an immigrant's shoes. This book gives me a chance to walk just a few steps. Darling's dreams aren't all that different from mine or anyone else's - a chance for a good, safe, happy life. If there was one more chapter in this book, I'd like to think Darling gets all of that and more.



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Coolidge

Coolidge by Amity Shlaes

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book promised to give me more insight into this President. Instead, it told me all the things I already knew - all learned from history books that got to the point faster.

Coolidge liked numbers more than he liked people. It's why he enjoyed the budget process and finding ways to cut taxes without actually having to see people face-to-face. When the country was in crisis, he hunkered down with numbers instead of consoling people. He hated big government, but that was his comfort zone.

The best part of his story is his struggle to make something of himself - even if it was something he didn't really seem to want. Why doesn't Coolidge get respect for the things he accomplished in office? Probably because he didn't allow the people who voted him into office to get to know him. Career suicide for a politician.



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