Busy Summer

I've been so busy the past few months I'm surprised I'm still standing. I spent all of June in Lubbock doing research, then when I came back I found out I had three emergencies.

First, the good news was that my dissertation manuscript was approved for publication by Texas A&M University press. After about a year of waiting, then suddenly they want me to get revisions done by the end of September. Of course that didn't happen.

The next "emergency" was a problem with a $400,000 grant we wrote. University of Houston-Downtown joined in a national community college project to track problems with college students and find ways of helping them do better (SACCD is part of this program). Anyway, the grant money had been held up until we answered some questions, and we had to get these in by the end of August.

Third, I turned in a chapter for a book some people were putting together on 20th century Texas history. I did a chapter on the development of public schools. This was back in October. I heard nothing. In March, the editors told me everything was hunky-dory. Suddenly, in July, I get an emergency email stating that a reviewer didn't like my chapter as it was. Could I get revisions back in 2 weeks. I did it in a few days, then they sent it to another reviewer, and again problems. I told them I didn't want to hold up publication because while I could make revisions, they were quickly getting to the end of the deadline. Finally we found a reader who liked my chapter.

Then last month, one of our dogs got a bloody nose in the middle of the night one Friday. We ended up having to take her to an emergency pet clinic (which cost us an arm and a leg). Of course, the vet suggested that it was probably cancer in the nose, and we'd have to put the dog down. Then, she called later to say that the dog had diabetes. That is probably what caused the nosebleed, as there has been no more talk about cancer. So we decided we needed to check her blood, so we bought a kit. We soon realized that we don't know how to prick her finger....since she doesn't have one. So we decided playing around and checked ourselves. My sugar level was nearly 300mgs. EEEKKK. I want to the doctor, and found out I have diabetes.

I wasn't really surprised since I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia in high school and the doctor told me then that it would probably turn into diabetes at some point. Well, it did. So I'm taking medication now to control my sugar level. It's lower, although not where it needs to be.

So my dog saved my life.

Lady Bird Johnson

Wednesday morning I was at the LBJ Library in Austin. I meant to ask about Lady Bird’s health. She had been sick for a while, and suffered a stroke in 2002. She had lost her sight, and most recently her ability to speak. A few weeks ago she was back in the hospital due to a fever, so I did want to see how she was. I didn’t get a chance to, and then learned Thursday that she passed away.

I met Lady Bird, Bill Moyers, Jack Valenti, Liz Carpenter and other members of Lyndon Johnson’s inner-circle while I was an undergraduate. As an undergraduate history major and as a graduate student, I did most of my research on Johnson, and spent quite a bit of time at the Library. I see Liz Carpenter every year at the Texas history convention I go to and always asked her about Lady Bird. I only met Lady Bird once, and only briefly, but she exuded warmth and kindness.

The Johnsons were products of a time when the Democratic Party was on top. They followed the Kennedy’s, and although many people did not expect much from LBJ, he changed America. He fought discrimination and racism, promoted education, and sought to end poverty. He was also a Cold Warrior, and his efforts to continue the battle against Communism-for better or worse-were influenced by a generation that saw the horrors of dictatorial governments during World War II and wanted to prevent them. It was at the same time, the best years of the Democratic Party, and some of the worst.

Lady Bird was one of the last living legacies of that period, and a strong woman in her own right. As State Senator Rodney Ellis said yesterday, Lady Bird was a strong influence at a time when women weren’t expected to play an active role in presidential politics, yet she was one of the first to make the preservation of the environment an important issue, and fight against littering.

Since then, we Americans and those of us who call ourselves Democrats have backed off from the idealism of the 1960—the idea that as a nation we COULD end poverty and human suffering; the idea that affirmative action was a way of fighting discrimination and injustice; that we needed a level playing field to start from so that people could have a more equal opportunity to succeed or fail….but at least they had the opportunity! We have become more conservative in our approach because we think that will attract more voters. I don’t think the Johnsons would have approved. When LBJ signed Civil Rights legislation into law, he KNEW it would lose the party voters—but he did it because he knew it was RIGHT and he convinced Senators and Representatives and Southern governors that they should do the RIGHT THING…not because it was politically popular, but because it would benefit Americans. Surely he made mistakes. He was no saint. But, LBJ was a STATESMAN.

We need those in our party today.

Spurred into Action!

Ok, I'm realizing that it's been a year since my last few posts. Truth is I've got several blogs (don't ask why) and my Blogger sites have been neglected. The the news today has me in a tiff.

I would have hoped that with all the Paris Hilton foolishness, we wouldn't hear from her for a while. Especially after the spectacle she made of herself crying like a 3-year old when she's going to jail. Granted jail is no laughing matter, but she's in Hollywood jail.

Anyway, what do I see this morning: The news reports that Paris Hilton called Barbara Walters and admitted that she used to "act dumb" but now this time in jail....BUT NOT ANY MORE!

"Now, I would like to make a difference. ... God has given me this new chance."

PARIS: SHUT THE HELL UP!!! CAN YOU NOT GO 2 DAYS WITHOUT MEDIA COVERAGE?

Moreover, is this the typical jail experience or what?

--She's found God.
--She's repentant.
--She's turning her life around.

And she's been in jail, what? 3 days?

When is she getting the jailhouse tattoo?

Who are you voting for?

This is a great site about people getting involved in voting....as the catch phrase goes, "if you're not voting, then who are you electing?"



www.payattention.org.


I love the list of candidates, including Bag of Leaves, Tacky Ceramic Rooster, and Frozen Peas.