Metaphors and clichés that speak right to me

I did not watch the inauguration. I did not watch any of the ceremonies or parades either. In fact, I was rather amused at those at the gym who had the parade on their TV screens, as if watching bands and Bushes was a really good distraction against the tedium of the exercise equipment. It wasn’t for me – I read my book, occasionally looking up at the Food Channel, which unfortunately was showing me how to make low-cal thousand island salad dressing – approximately as mesmerizing as watching an inaugural parade.

But the stuff on the inauguration is everywhere (I’m not seeing as much interest in low-cal thousand island dressing). I am in the kitchen looking listlessly at the eggs I am about to scramble and since that is almost as uninteresting as watching the prep for the thousand island low-cal dressing, which, in turn is almost as uninteresting as an inaugural parade – all this lead me to turn on the TV (and to blogging – I’m all about multitasking) and there I have the Bushes and the bands – all of it, in full attire. (All I need is some low-cal thousand island salad dressing and I'll have a full troika of boringness.)

The Bush speech itself has references to captives being set free and going forward with confidence in the triumph of freedom etc etc. Nothing that would cause me to look up. But hark! Did I hear some words that are cliché–ish images and metaphors for concepts that I am all too familiar with? Here’s one – when the ship of communism sank. Wow. Can you imagine the ship, carrying all that communism sinking... Powerful. Secondly, to take the sentence further – when that ship sank, America apparently went on a sabbatical. Now, I know the term sabbatical doesn’t NECESSARILY have academic connotations, but at least in this house, when one says “sabbatical,” one means a year away doing Very Important Research, say in New York or something.

So, I am pleased that Bush is talking about issues that I nostalgically recall (ships with communism on board), or am currently involved with (people who are on sabbaticals). It’s cool to be in sync with your president.