I’m using this week to catch up on some correspondence. I’ve been putting off some pretty important e-mail lately. I’ve had two distant uncles pass away in the last month, one on each side of my family. One of my friends had a baby, and I haven’t even gotten around to looking at all the photos yet.

At least (I hope), I managed to get something to Minnie on time. It’s her birthday today.

One of my readers wrote in to ask about my hair and my thoughts on politics today, so I’ll answer that now … because I know she’s not the only one wondering. My hair is the same as it ever was—still down to mid-calf when it’s down and wet, mid-thigh when it’s braided, and always in the bun. I’m too lazy to get a good self-portrait done prior to cutting it, and I’m too stubborn to simply cut it without having the photos taken first.

As for the political season, I started off torn between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton, slightly leaning towards Clinton, but more and more lately I like Obama better. His judgment, his enthusiasm and optimism, his ability to inspire people, and his calm and cool way of dealing with any bumps in the road give me confidence, and I’m sure those things will overcome whatever lack he may have in experience. As the saying goes, people make the same mistake over and over again and call it experience, so “experience” is not necessarily an advantage. Most of all, though, if the way he runs his campaign is any indication, I think he’ll be an effective leader, as it’s the best run campaign I’ve ever seen.

As for John McCain, I do like him, and I respect and admire his service to our country; I never tire of seeing all the biography shows and documentaries on him, as his life would make a great movie. He is a true hero. But the fact that he still supports the war in Iraq and wants to stay longer scares the living crap out of me. I was OK with the war in Afghanistan and was proud when we brought down the Taliban, but I never for one moment thought the war in Iraq was a good idea.

I remember arguing with my creative director about it before our country got into a war we never even declared. He was for it; I was not. I asked him if it was a war he would fight, and he said, “Hell, yeah. If I didn’t have kids, and if I was younger, I’d join up right now and get over there.”

Skeptical I said, “Uh-huh.” Handy excuse, and yet many parents, both male and female, have died there, and some who perished were at least 10 years older than him. I thought of a word H.E. taught me: chickenhawk.

Then I tried to explain that there were different groups in Iraq, and if we went in, we’d have to stay in for a very long time because there’d be a civil war otherwise, and then I tried to explain how expensive that would be.

But he remained unconvinced.

For some context, I should mention that for a little while this same man believed that the moon landing was faked and that the holocaust too might have been a hoax. He was also a former drug addict and is now devoutly religious.

We had some interesting conversations, I’ll admit. I had a pretty good time using logic on him and seeing if it would work or not. Sometimes it did. Sometimes it didn’t. He was still a good guy despite our difference of opinions, and he was bright if somewhat misinformed. He was a good father, and he was a hell of a graphic designer. I learned a lot from him on that subject.

But with our country so deep in debt these days, I wonder what he thinks of the war now. Many who supported it once no longer do, but I wish they had had the judgment to listen to those who opposed it from the start.

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