Set Your Tivos

My husband's into this thing of sending me articles and factoids he picks up throughout his day. He does this because he knows these articles and factoids are never something I'd cross when left to my own devices. When it comes to websites, we definitely run in different circles..... He's more google news, sacbee.com, forbes.com, the what's-actually-going-on-in-the-world type of surfer.... Where as I - I am the less-noble perezhilton, myspace, fark.com and of course the mindless self indulgence bloggy type of browser. Yep, I do my best to steer clear of the heavy/have-to-think-to-read stuff.

So Matt's like my portal to the outside world. Hey, not everyone has their very own portal.

...The first official Presidential Debate of the season is set to take place this Friday, September 26th, at the University of Mississippi.

In an odd coincidence, Friday also marks the 48th anniversary of the famed debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. The first debate ever televised*... (Remember the footage of like the glowing, young Kennedy and then the ugly, profusely-sweating Nixon??)

Anyway, this President will also be the first elected into office, since Kennedy, that isn't coming from either a VP or governor's chair.

...I loved Kennedy. You know that weird question they ask in those weird interviews... "If you could meet anyone, past or present, who would it be and why?"... My answer was and will always be JFK. Even though I wasn't present, I just feel like he represented not only simpler times, but more hopeful times. And today, when it seems like you have to hold on to your optimism with a white-knuckled grip, I think sharing a cup of coffee across the table of someone who represents the epitome of hope would just about make my life. I would ask him about all the plans he had for this country... What his hopes had been.

And I know I'm not alone when I say that, just as they did in their times, we need hope and we need change in ours. ...At least I know I do.

And I won't get into all the things in the press and in the media that have to do with politics, that absolutely make me question the hope of our future. But I am genuinely terrified.

(*information provided by The Museum of Broadcast Communications; photo by NY Times photographer George Tames)