The Day After

When I went to bed last night, the presidential race was undecided, although it didn't look good for Kamala Harris. I was texted a broken-heart emoji just before midnight. This morning, I was greeted with, "I am devastated."

I agree with both of those messages. I don't understand why anyone  would support Donald Trump. He's incompetent, has no empathy or compassion, or even interest in governmental policy. His whole agenda is based on revenge. The only time he is believable is when he talks about revenge and retribution.

Yet, he won the popular vote last night. I don't understand.

I heard a few theories today about why Kamala lost: she's too unknown, she's radical, she's an illegitimate candidate untested in the primaries, Trump was on TV all-the-time, the Democrats were out-of-touch on the economy and immigration, Americans hadn't seen a candidate like her.

Notice no one said the country is too racist and sexist (though perhaps the last idea touches on that.)

I don't have the answer. I'm tired, sad, angry, disheartened. Can I sleep through the next four years?

Book Sale Bonanza

This weekend both the Wilton Library and the Westport Library held book sales. Cynthia and I went to both. Having two book sales in one weekend was a first for us. 

Here are my purchases: 

CDs:

1. Sly and the Family Stone Greatest Hits. I used to have this as an album.

2. Joe Jackson Look Sharp. 

Books:

1. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I picked this up for a great niece.

2. White Fire by Preston & Child. This is one of my favorite Preston & Child books. I bought a hard cover to replace my paperback.

3. Educated by Tara Westover. This is a memoir by a women who grew up with her survivalist parents, but left to learn about the outside world. 

4. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Bette Smith. This is a classic coming-of-age story. I passed it by at an earlier book sale, but made sure to get it this time. 

5. The Entertainment Weekly Seinfeld Companion by Bruce Fretts. This is just for fun; I'm going to give it to my brother.

6. Go Dog, Go! Another for a great niece.

7. Love & Other Crimes by Sara Paretsky. This collection of 14 short stories includes VI Warshawski as a ten-year-old conducting her first investigation.

8. The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr. This is a sequel to The Alienist, which I recently read and liked.

9. Five Points The 19th-Century New York City Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum by Tyler Anbinder. I've read several books that featured that infamous neighborhood, so I'm looking forward to reading a historical approach.

10. The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory. This is the story of Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII, and arguably the creator of the Tudor dynasty.

11. The White Princess by Philippa Gregory. The White Princess is Elizabeth of York daughter of King Edward IV and his wife Elizabeth Woodville. She married Henry VII and became the first Tudor queen.

A note on books 10 and 11: I don't respect Gregory as an historian, but I will enjoy these stories. 

I've got a lot of reading to do. 

Election Day and Spike's Birthday

It's been a long, exhausting election season. I'm appalled at the money spent on ads--we probably could have fed the whole country on the amounts spent on primarily negative ads. After today, the most annoying ads will will focus on the Medicare enrollment period.

I'm avoiding news about the election until later tonight. Lucky for me, I have something else to think about.

Today is Spike's birthday. He was born in 2000 and lived with us from March 2002 until his death in December 2015. Spike was special--not just because he was our first dog, but also because he was such a great dog. 

We still love and miss him.

Hard to Believe...

 ...it's been a week since my last post, and I wanted to post before this, but...

The first half of the week was medically oriented--Jeff had four doctors' appointments, including follow-ups for his falls last week. We had our flu and Covid vaccine shots and also voted.

This is the first year there was early voting in Norwalk. I love it. There's no reason to make everyone vote on the same day and, in some cases, wait in line for hours. 

More to follow.