Nothing "must", anything "can"

Last night's entry was my 100th. Excellent.

I have been dipping my toe into the Democrat community in and around my current digs, and was just perusing some info about 2010 candidates for various posts. And then I realized that my silly ass didn't register to vote in Oakland County. I am still registered to vote in Hamilton County-- I get to cast a vote in Cincinnati proper, which is actually pretty wonderful. As of yet, I am not personally engaged with any Michigan campaign, while I have friends who VERY invested in Cincinnati campaigns. I used to be one of a LOT of Americans who didn't give a shit about any of the elections between the Presidentials. And now I can't imagine any Election Day where I wasn't doing at least something active. (This year, I was planning on standing outside a polling location collecting signatures for a petition to get Lt. Gov. John Cherry on the ballot for the Michigan gubernatorial race. Instead, I will be spending Tuesday voting and then doing whatever I am asked to do by Mother Democrat.)

[NOTE: I haven't read enough about any of the candidates to really get behind anyone, except I am 100% sure that I will eat my own hair if David Brandon gets elected Governor. All of it. And I have long, thick hair. Any friend of Tom Monaghan's anti-choice, blind-Catholic, ACLU-baiting, Contra-backing ass is no friend of mine, or Michigan's. Not cool.]

So, the other article that I mentioned in last night's post is about women and humor. But, actually, I don't want to write about that right now. I'll put it off again.

Earlier today, I reconnected with a friend/mentor who told me some very sad things about her current goings-on. Like, tear-jerkingly sad. (This friend/mentor needs a box of puppies, stat. He/she would probably benefit from a Glee marathon. I'll work on that.) Basically, Friend/Mentor is having a hard time with his/her significant other; aside from the larger issues, it seems as though F/M's S.O. [this abbreviation stuff is fun albeit cumbersome] can't match F/M essential curiosity about, and interest in, the world at large. I've had great talks with F/M about art, music, pop culture, politics, history, etc. F/M has some great stuff to say and has a great sense of humor. I would think that anyone lucky enough to be F/M's S.O. would feel compelled to bust a little ass to keep up. See a movie, read a book, just do something to engage with the world beyond the have-to's of life. (In the Ron Howard movie Parenthood, there's a great scene when Steve Martin and Mary Steenbergen's characters, a married couple, are arguing. Gill, the hubs, is running late to coach their son's Little League practice, and Karen, the wife, asks him if he has to go. Gill replies through clenched teeth and a visible headache, "My whole life is 'have to'!") I don't have the same pressures that F/M's S.O. has, so I shouldn't judge. But, I know a lot of people who regularly miss out on great things because they let the have-to's overshadow everything. What about the can's, should's, get-to's, want-to's, and may-never-get-the-chance-to-again's? Team Dana co-captain, Molly, shared with me a great gem of knowledge. She met a friend of her grandmother's while vacationing in Majorca a few years ago, and this friend told Molly that her vacation philosophy is "nothing 'must', anything 'can'". I love that. (It sort of takes a cue from the Italian phrase il dolce di far niente, "the sweetness of doing nothing", another wonderful term. I think that F/M's S.O. should meditate on that mantra sometime.

Here's a link to the clip from Parenthood. The scene to which I referred begins around the 2-minute mark, and the specific lines are just after the 5-minute mark. It's a great scene from an underrated movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6wgcTBD8Us&feature=PlayList&p=E4F92DE8A9A9FF24&index=44