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A Man In Transition

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Helen Thomas, Lynne Stewart, a vat of anchovies and me ... indeed!
-Glenn Reynolds

Jean Kirkpatrick Has Passed Away

If you're under 30 you probably do not remember Ambassador Jean Kirkpatrick but before there was Condi Rice or even Madeleine Albright, there was Jean Kirkpatrick.  Not only was she an incredible, powerful, persuasive voice for America and democracy during a transformative time in the world, she transformed the opportunities and boundaries for women in government and, more  generally, in American society.    Everyone from Libby Dole to Hillary Clinton to Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and Condi Rice owe a debt to Jean Kirkpatrick and her combination of intellect, wit and courage.  Every American, man or woman, owes her a debt for expanding the path of opportunity for thousands of talented women in both public and private life who set their sights higher and have opportunities that they might otherwise not have had because the people who had held the keys to power saw, on the world's biggest stage, that an American woman could more than hold her own against the toughest opposition that the world could throw at her.  Suddenly, the idea of female CEO's, company presidents, surgeons and firm partners didn't seem as risky or far fetched as it once did.

When Jean Kirkpatrick was appointed as the US ambassador to the UN in 1981, the United States was near its lowest point with respect to the Cold War, having shown unprecedented weakness and incompetence during the previous administration in its international dealings from Tehran to Kabul to Moscow.  There was no sense that an American or Western victory over Communism was inevitable or even particularly likely.  Then, Ronald Reagan was elected and Jean Kirkpatrick was appointed and went on to become one of the most influential and recognizable U.S. ambassadors to the world in our history.  It was almost as if we had our own Maggie Thatcher speaking for Western interests at the UN.

Jean Kirkpatrick was an American giant, both politically and culturally. She changed our country and our world for the better.  The world needs people, men and women, like Jean Kirkpatrick, now more than ever.  The world will always need people like Jean Kirkpatrick.

Posted by: Jheka at December 08, 2006 14:53 | link | comments |
politics, mensches

The Saddest Place on the Net

Feeling just too happy to bear?  Feel like bringing your mood down to earth but don't have a fist full of Thorazine handy?  Let me introduce you to the web's natural downer:  Craigslist's "Missed Connections" section.  Angst, poignancy, loss, despair ... all there in raw, anonymous, immediacy.  I've written once or twice about the possibility of joy ... Missed Connections is a collection of desperate, usually futile attempts to grasp at it ... and sometimes it's what happens when the opportunity is missed:

what's left behind - w4m

---

I haven't thought of you in a while, but I did tonight, as I was getting ready. Suddenly i realized, I've become what you always wanted me to be. My hair is long enough to pull back now-- I put it in a chignon, and applied mascara, and dark lipstick to bring out the new blonde highlights. I still feel gangly and awkward, but outwardly I possess the glamour and poise you always admired in other women. I've lost weight too, become thin--not on purpose, but eating just hasn't been interesting lately. While i was waiting for my date, an older man admired my earrings and then said "I could slice apples on your cheekbones. You're uncommonly beautiful." and at that moment my heart cracked and I had to fight back tears. You see, I waited 3 years to hear that from you and never did. You should see me now, babe. You'd weep in your drink.

I miss you - w4m - 22

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You will probably never see this, but I now see all the signals I missed. I miss you in my life. I wish I could change the past few months. I want to be with you. I know I hurt you, but I want to make up. if you see this...come to me

I had a dream about you last night - w4m

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I dreamed you had moved back to town. You tried to pretend you didn't see me or notice me but everybody else wanted to know why you stared at me when I wasn't looking. Later I asked you to go fishing even though I didn't have any equipment. You said, "Yeah, fishing." and you said it with that grin on your face. That terrible, sexy, sly "we're going to get in trouble" grin. It made me hot just thinking about it.

It's been years and still I miss you.

S - w4m

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i don't know what it is but i keep falling back in love with you, after all these times & all these years. you'd think i'd learn by now, but every time we do get together, the memories of first being with you come back and i just can't help it.
i really don't expect anything from you anymore, but i hate how you have this effect on me. i miss you

You Hurt Me So Bad - w4m

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I thought we would be together forever. I loved you so much and you crushed me that day. I feel like I only exist only as a shadow now, moving along throughout the days and nights in a daze. It didn't have to end this way, you should have just been a man and told me.

I wish you had a different career - w4m

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I squeal when I see an e-mail from you in my inbox. I enjoy our conversations on the phone. Yet, we cannot be together. I'm proud of you & the work you do. I really value our friendship.

Maybe one day. Until then . . .

just to get this out there... - w4m - 30

---

i sincerly doubt that the man this is intended for will actually read this, but I just want to get it out there.

I am still in love with you. As much as I would like to say that I am over it, I am not. I go to sleep thinking about you, I wake up and you are the first thing on my mind. I thought we could do this "new us" thing, but its just not me. I still have stronger feelings for you than I can admit out loud. I just can't do this anymore. When we are together, it actually hurts, because by all intents and purposes we are so good together, and yet, something is just off. I am not the woman you want.

I want the forever. I need to move on, and I finally realized I can't do that with you in my life.

This is the saddest realization I have ever come to, but I need to do this for me. I can't go into 2007 with you by my side, but not in your heart.

I need a reboot - w4m

---

seems my processor is stuck in an infinite loop. i want to be done with
my memories of you, but even after all this time, they still haunt me.
i think i've moved on. i'm dating other guys, cultivating friendships, having
fun, etc... yet, on occasion, i think of you and if i allow myself the
indulgence of prolonged thinking-of-you, the feelings are as strong as they
were back then. i've never felt about someone else, the way i felt/feel about
you, so i'm not sure how long this is going to take -- forgetting you, that is.

if i had it to do over, i would definitely do things differently -- i would
never allow myself to develop feelings for you, knowing that you did not feel
the same and never would... makes me mad, my logic fails me now... my head knows
what's best, but my emotions are not listening.

Question:

What do you guys suppose the guy's career might be? 

Posted by: Jheka at December 04, 2006 02:53 | link | comments (1) |
miscellaneous musings