Single What? Female...

Bailout Bust...

And so Congress, mainly the Republicans, many of whom according to John McCain and Paul Begala on CNN "didn't like Nancy Pelosi's speech" and had hurt feelings, voted down the $700 billion "bailout" and there may not be another vote until after the election.
This, of course, led to panic on Wall Street where the Dow dropped 777 points, the largest drop since the Great Depression.
I remain unemployed at present, and certainly not for lack of trying, but you know, as I walked out of Trader Joe's with two bags full of groceries that cost nearly twice as much as they would have even a few months ago (and Trader Joe's is CHEAP compared to even my uptown grocery), I saw a guy sitting at a little table with a typewriter and a stack of mimeograph paper (kids, look it up). On that table was a handmade sign reading "Poetry while u wait". I had seen this before on TV as there is a guy in Berkeley, California who does this outside a grocery store in his neighborhood and has inspired a handful of others, including Allan Andre, the gentleman I met outside Trader Joe's.
It's been a grey weekend, the economy is a mess, we have a tight election 36 days away...I figured it was time to get a little poetry.
As a topic, I looked into my grocery bag for inspiration - golden raspberries. he got right to it. As I waited, and he typed away, there was a moment when he shook his head and said "This is weird..." When he handed it to me, he even apologized a bit for it, but you know, while the poem itself is not brilliant, it is oddly charming and a nice distraction from the present way of the world...
Mr. Andre, for doing your best to put a little more art into the world, here's to you:

They're hard on the teeth
but your stool will be worth millions
Provided you decide to eat, and risk
the passage of new laws
that lower the price of precious metals
to rock bottom
There is no end to them
these twisted fruits
that scream to be devoured

--Allan Andre
New York, NY
9.29.08

Okay, now that you have had a distraction, I just have to say VOTE, DAMN YOU VOTE! If you are not already registered, get out there and get registered and make sure you're friends are registered. And if you live in Ohio and you see my friend Nadette coming at ya, say hello, give her a hug and allow her to help you register to vote.

It is a crazy time my friends and it is time to do what we can to keep McCain and Palin out of office...

KEEP PAYING ATTENTION!

Peace --Alex

posted by funkweee @ 2:34 PM