My Baby is 21!!!!!!

Thanks!

Hope everyone had a wonder Thanksgiving. I know we all have things to be thankful for. Kristy came for the weekend and Bruz and Diana came for dinner...a great time was had by all.

Meet Sarah!

This is Sarah our Thanksgiving Turkey! Isn't she

beautiful? She was very good

Football? When will it be over?

I think we can forget UNC and GA playing in the Peach Bowl or whatever it is called now....cluck, cluck. Butch will not be seen in Chapel Hill this week. What is with NC State beating ECU, UNC, Duke (not hard), Wake Forest? Alabama v Florida...Go Bama...Roll Tide!!!! Tomorrow the Maui Classic or something like that. The Tarheels play Notre Dame, Texas and some other great B-Ball schools.

"Project Runway" alert

Forget the election, turkey slaughtering, and the weather....The 6th season of "Project Runway" is going to be delayed! Bravo evidently sold the show to Lifetime without checking with NBC Universal and natch there is a lawsuit. Whatever will some of you do? (I forgot, there is always the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders stupid thing, sorry Reagan) Emily and Brinkley got me hooked on the show only to find that the Pitt has no Bravo channel. So maybe Lifetime will win and the Pitt will have "REAL" culture...bravo!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/arts/television/19runway.html

Goodwin is good

Many years ago I read a biography of Lyndon Johnson written by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I believe it was the first after he left office. I was intrigued because it was a psycho-history of sorts. Doris (I feel that I can call her by her first name because Emily and I met her at breakfast in Concord Mass. one morning) had been a White House Fellow (not to be confused with intern) during Johnson's administration. She explained that she disliked LBJ and his misguided Vietnam policy but found him complex and interesting when she spent time on HIS ranch in Texas preparing for the book. I followed her career slogging through all aspects of FDR and Eleanor. I always recommended that students read her as she seemed to capture the "real" person and I felt she had a deep understanding for the topic she was writing about. It was very upsetting when she was accused of plagiarism or whatever...I cannot remember the exact circumstances, and was shunned by the media even PBS. Naturally I felt that this was part of the vast right wing conspiracy and continued to admire her work. Brinkley and I went to hear her lecture in Atlanta where she briefly addressed the scandal explaining her side which I accepted. Two years ago she published Team of Rivals dealing with Lincoln's Presidency. The main theme is that Lincoln surrounded himself with his political rivals when he became President in 1861. This takes a strong, confident individual; one who seeks opinions from all points of view. Now this concept may seem foreign as the current President wouldn't think about seeking advice from anyone that did not see the world as he does. Emily gave me the book and I read it with excitment because I love Lincoln. Now the book and Doris are in the limelight. She has been welcomed back into "pundit world" and can now be seen at any time of the day on various channels. Obama, who loves Lincoln, read the book and according to some is using it as a blueprint for constructing his administration. OMG I get chills when I think about all the historical things happening here. (I'm sure you all know what they are). One of Lincoln's most ardent enemies, William Seward , was expected to get the Republican nomination in 1860 adamantly opposed Abe even calling him an "ape" in public and did all sorts of nasty things behind his back (Lincoln's back that is). "Higher law" Seward they called him...God's law had already banned slavery and God's law would prevail. Lincoln appointed Seward as Secretary of State. Seward went on to purchase Alaska. Notice that I have not mentioned those two women.

I just realized that it is November 22nd. There was a time when every one paused and gave great thought to the date and the events of 1963. As time has passed we treat the day as any other. However, November 22nd still causes people my age to shudder a bit. Fifth period PE class, sitting on the floor of the gym, Fayetteville Senior High School, Fayetteville North Carolina, 1963....voice on intercom informs the school that the President of the United States has been shot in Dallas Texas.....a bit later the intercom informs us that the President has died. I do not remember a person speaking as I went through the halls to 6th period.

What a Turkey!

When you make a big deal about pardoning a turkey so it will not become someones Thanksgiving dinner, you might want to make sure they are not slaughtering turkeys behind you WHILE YOU ARE BEING FILMED. She could have been President.

See it here..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-kjM1asH/8 (watch the sarah palin video)

Turkey may be out of the question this Thursday.....goose anyone?

Weather in the Pitt

Snow flurries the other day and 28 degrees, a sunny, balmy 68 yesterday, snow on the ground this morning and now its sunny. Go figure...could it be God makin' us crazy because we are blue?

DAZED AND CONFUSED

Some of you might be confused and perhaps bitter about the elation over the election of Obama. It has been a long time in the wilderness for liberals and it is very difficult to explain the frustration that we have felt especially during the eight years of GW Bush .

With the ascendancy of Ronald Reagan almost 30 years ago (and that's a long time) Americans began to gang up on one another and public discourse deteriorated. The evangelical, religious right gained power and draped their view of life on earth over the political landscape. Those who did not see things as they did were godless, unamerican, communist, terrorist, socialist (whatever their enemy happened to be at any given time). The conservative movement embraced these people and their leaders with the intent of using them to maintain their control. Wedge issues were employed by the Republican Party to further divide people, and the "southern strategy" introduced by Nixon in 1968 was refined and brought to new heights. (Willie Horton, Jesse Helms commercials in NC for example) Newt Gingrich moved to the head of the line by raising money for and pursuing the election of any Republican who would go along with his program. He used innuendo and false charges to defeat many excellent members of Congress. He made Congress a venue for yelling, accusing, deriding. Many moderate members left the House and Senate because good sense had vanished . More than anything, the end of the "fairness doctrine" put the final nail in the coffin of bi-partisanship. The advent of talk radio and Fox News made mean acceptable. It was okay to deride people who did not go along with the conservative agenda. Public education was ridiculed along with teachers. Any newspaper, magazine, network, or reporter, was accused of being biased if they in any way presented information that went against the conservative mantra. If the truth did not verify their point of view, they simply discounted the truth. Prejudice and hate, were glorified by Limbaugh, Boortz, O'Reilly, Hannity. Their followers never questioned what they said, they never looked into an issue to see if there was another side...they never went against anything these people said. There was liberal talk radio and there were liberal "screamers", but they never seemed to gain a following that could match that of the right. Any electoral method was legitimate if it lead to a republican victory. Redrawing congressional districts to ensure republican victory, making sure secretaries of state were partisan hacks to manipulate the outcome of elections, packing the courts with "judges" who would verify the "right" way. Local governments, school boards and county commissions, across the country became the breeding grounds for the conservative tsunami.

The political pendulum slowly moves from left to right and back again. It has swung back to the left evidenced not only by the election of Barack Obama and the increased Democratic majority in the Congress, but by the fading red and look of Blue up and down K Street, even big Pharma has moved left. Hopefully, this turn to the left will be more humane than the rightward shift in 1980. Hopefully, Obama will usher in an era of tolerance and progressive improvements. We will not be the country we were in the 1950's, (do we want to really be there anyway?) but we can be better than we have been in the last eight years.

General Musings

There were snow flurries in the Pitt yesterday and it is really cold. I can hear the fleas and mosquitoes dying a painful, freezing death...goodbye until the Spring.

Retired teachers in Georgia won a battle. We get to keep our COLA and our benefit will not be decreased 3% a year! If you know a teacher that you care about write, call, or email Sonny Perdue and tell him how important it is to keep these benefits in place. We all worked too hard and cared about the kids we taught so much. Please do not forget us. Keep up the good work, Judy.

Alaska has a Democratic Senator! That door slammed shut for Sarah Palin. Still watching Missouri ( has not been called), and Senate races in Georgia and Minnesota. Bill Clinton was campaigning for Jim Martin in GA. today, but I understand from Jim Galloway's (a former student of mine) blog in the AJC that he was very late and people froze while waiting. So Bill Clinton. I still think Charmless (spell check you know, try it) can be defeated. People just have to VOTE and make sure the shrew who is sec of state counts all of the ballots including all that are cast south of I 20.

oops they HAVE called Missouri for McCain...so goes the nation. I guess the country has gone back to 1956.

Our front yard was filled with deer when I came home from the Homeowners Board meeting tonight. I tried to get my camera out fast enough to get a picture...they did stand there for awhile looking at me, but by the time I found the camera and turned it on they naturally ran. It was as if they were taunting me...contort your body into a bizarre position reaching for the camera and groping around trying to get it turned on....getting the window down...focusing...(all in the dark mind you), now everyone run. I have seen these stories on TV about deer getting into people's homes and going crazy. I expect a knock on the door one day and a herd to come roaring in. Perhaps we could employ some of them on Christmas eve to be reindeer and scare Brinkley and Emily. We worked so hard when they were little to make them believe Santa and the reindeer had come, and all we had to do was move to the Pitt.

Speaking of the Homeowners Board meeting...OMG

My First Game in the Dean Dome!

TARHEELS v Kentucky. Can you tell that we were on the very back row, in the highest seats? Great view and you could stand up the entire game and lean against the wall. Tarheels won and it was great to see them play in person. Thanks Bruz! The people around us were very spirited (thin air) and did all the Carolina things, like spelling Carolina with their arms. It must take at least a 1250 (or whatever the new score would be) on the SAT to be able to do that so fast.

Hansborough did not play, but he looked cute on the bench all in black. (actually a black speck from my vantage point). The other Tyler broke his wrist and is out for the season. One of those mean Kentucky boys did something bad to him...it was under the goal at the opposite end of our perch so I am not sure what the bad boy actually did. The Dean Dome erupted into a very loud chorus of boos reminisent of the boos heard when the bad Duke boy hurt Tyler the elder. Kentucky used to be one of my favorite teams but after I watched Glory Road they dropped off the list. If you haven't seen the movie watch it, you too will not like Kentucky. The team that beat them in the NCAA finals is today UTEP. They just might end up on my list.

I am almost ready to make my predictions for the sweet 16...I know some of you cannot wait.

Tarheel Basketball is here!!!!!!!

Today is the official start of college basketball! Life can now begin.

We Have Moved On

I have been trying to write a post about the significance of the election and why it is so important to those of us who supported Obama....but I could not seem to strike the appropriate cord. But alas, Frank Rich did this morning. Read his thoughts...they are mine, I just could not get them to sound like he does.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/opinion/09rich.html?hp


It was another banner Saturday for the Serkedakis family...ECU, UGA, UNC, and #1 Alabama all won! Patiently waiting for basketball.

My friend Archie Cross

Some of you have heard me speak about my new friend Archie Cross. He lives on Firetower Road near our house. Katrina and I met him one morning as we were walking up the hill and he was coming down in his electric wheel chair. We spoke, introduced ourselves, he said I could remember his name..."just think of the old rugged cross" he said, and we went on our way. Each morning we ran into Archie and our conversations got longer. I discovered that he drove his chair to the Food Lion every morning to get what he needed to prepare dinner for he and his wife. He told me that his wife worked in Raleigh and he wanted everything to be perfect every day when she got home. I met one of his granddaughters one Sunday morning riding on his lap heading for church. We chat about the weather, the Firetower neighborhood, the horse that roams up and down the road. Rex, the dog that looks just like Katrina, the "bottle house" up the road (that's a whole different story). Whenever I see him He yells out "Jane...Katrina". He is always smiling and always leaves you with "have a blessed day!" I have come to look forward to passing him every day and it keeps me walking UP the road.

Archie had an Obama sign in his yard as did a number of his neighbors...Firetower is a Black neighborhood. This morning when we stopped to talk I asked him if he was pleased with the election. His face lit up and he proclaimed "oh yes, it is wonderful". I told him that I too was very glad and we exchanged thoughts about the significance of the election. All of a sudden I noticed that Archie had tears in his eyes as he spoke. He did not think he would live to see a Black person elected President and he had great hope for the future. I know each day in Archie's life is a blessed one and he always makes my day better. It is a new era and I have great hope for the future.

I live in a BLUE STATE!!!

The AP has just announced that North Carolina's electoral votes will go to Obama. The first woman governor was elected, Bev Perdue. Kay Hagan will replace Liddy Dole.

The day after....

What an election! 64% of eligible voters voted, more than any election in a century. Remember that a century ago women could not vote nationally and Blacks were disenfranchaised by "Jim Crow" laws. People have spoken. Crowds came out in Chapel Hill in droves and they closed off Franklin Street. Parties everywhere, even in Pittsboro at the General Store. NC still has not been called, but Obama has the edge.

There seems to be some funny stuff going on in Georgia...make sure ALL the votes are counted.

It's over

At 11:00 on Nov 4th 2008 Obama won the Presidency!!!!! "I feel the earth move under my feet..."

Getting Close NC Blue?

OMG Ohio! Waiting for NC, VA, Indiana...come on people.

ELECTION DAY 2008

Two hours and counting until results from Virginia, Georgia, Indiana, and Kentucky start coming in. It is cold, wet, and rainy in NC. Chris Matthews just said that he felt that people were voting for HOPE. I think he is right. People have to know that things will get better. Siler City was interesting all day. I was at both precincts and there were very few voters. A huge portion of Chatham County voted early. Pat and I are getting ready to head to Chapel Hill to check out the "parties". We will let you know how it went. I wish we were at Manuel's. Whatever side wins we will survive.

this is nerve-wracking

I cannot watch tv anymore....Obama is not a socialist. A socialist wants the government to own the major means of production, distribution, and selling. When has anyone heard him say he was going to do this. The closest thing to socialism I have heard lately comes from the REPUBLICAN secretary of the treasury.

Joe "the plumber" is not a licensed plumber, he owes taxes, he makes about $40,000 a year, and there is no way he planned to buy a company. Why do reps keep talking about him. THIS IS A JOKE.

FiveThirtyEight, http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/ , just covered GA. Anything is possible.

Brinkley just got home from Bev Perdue campaigning...looks good but who knows. Kay Hagan is most likely going to beat Liddy Dole for the Senate. Wicker, the Republican Senate candidate in Mississippi has published sample ballots with his picture next to Obama, These have been distributed in areas of Mississippi with significant black populations. That's classy don't you think?

Tomorrow cannot come fast enough.

The world could change tomorrow

For those of us who have suffered through the Bush presidency, it is almost over. The blatent abuse of power, the disdain for ordinary people, the greed, the mutilation of the Constitution, will leave scars that will not disappear on 01.20.09. It will take years to heal our economy and revive the Constitution. We can begin tomorrow. Hope everyone has voted or will vote tomorrow. It will be one of the largest, if not the largest, number of AMERICANS to turn out to vote. Everyone who shows up must get the opportunity to vote and everyone of us must demand that this happen.

I will be in Siler City at one of the polls handing out sample ballots. If you watched enough Andy Griffith Shows you may remember that they often went to or talked about Siler City.

This has been the most exciting and inspirational election that I have ever lived through. Those who know me well know that I always get excited every 4 years...but there has never been anything to rival this. It is ironic that this is the election that I wasn't teaching.

The "real" McCain?

My thoughts on McCain....I remain puzzled by the pundits constantly referring to the "real" John McCain....the McCain they knew in 2000. McCain did take an independent stance in 2000. He lambasted the conservative religious right, he supported campaign finance reform much to the disdain of his party. He gave every person with a press pass access to the BUS...he joked and laughed. The press loved him. Republicans despised him. (if you are a Rep remember what you said in 2001)
The Bush campaign used horrific campaign tactics to wipe him out in the South Carolina primary in 2000. One would think that he would have disavowed the Republican Party. Was the 2000 McCain the REAL McCain? He went on to embrace the religious right. Visiting their bastions and meeting with their leaders. He embraced George Bush and all of the misguided policies that ensued. He became a cheerleader for Bush/Cheney. I could not understand why he abandoned his independent position and what I thought was the waive of the future (a third party that would be independent of the Reps and Dems). I was astonished that someone could change so quickly. Perhaps the McCain that the press keeps pining for never existed. The McCain we have is the McCain that has always been...an opportunistic politician that will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. When he put Sarah Palin on the ticket any respect that I had for him evaporated. Being 72 years old and having had four bouts with melanoma you would think he would have given great care to the choice of the person who could well become the President of MY United States. But no, instead he treated it as a political trick...a gotcha. His campaign has pandered to the worst in our society. He is not the person people thought he was in 2000, never has been and never will be. (Emily, I agree with you about SNL, it was very sad and not funny.)

Sorry about the Bulldogs for all you UGA fans. Alabama will be #1!!!! Pat thinks UNC and UGA could play in the Peach Bowl.

Its over and guess who wins.....

The University of Virginia sponsors a national youth mock election...the outcome? OBAMA! Walton High School in suburban Atlanta (where our children went) voted overwhelmingly for Obama. These mock elections ALWAYS pick the winner. Kids are reflecting their parents feelings. So we can relax Tuesday will be a breeze.

Georgia Senate race still in question... runoff very likely. Kentucky and Mississippi look grim, but newly registered voters and the huge turnout may not register in the polls. I am still sticking to my predictions.