Different worlds, different visions

Every once in a while I have days like this: an early morning seminar to conduct downtown at the Department of Justice and a late seminar to finish the day back at the Law School. Two Madisons, the Government/Courthouse on one side and the University on the other, staring, often glaring at each other, disconnected, both resenting decisions emanating from one sphere and affecting the other.

Which world voted for Kerry? Which for Edwards? I don’t think we have that one figured out yet. In fact, I read in one post-election survey (the Times maybe, but in all honesty I don’t remember) that fewer than a third of Wisconsinites voting for Edwards were “angry” at Bush, whereas fully 50% of those supporting Kerry were. What does that mean for the future months? What does that say about the Democratic constituents? I thought everyone was angry. Up here, in the “towers” of Bascom Hill, it seems that way. But we are so removed, sitting here on the other end of State Street, transfixed, glaring at the government, holding out hopes for change.

The Octopus: friend or foe?

A reader wrote to tell me that she is considering never washing her car at Octopus Car Wash again, due to her recent discoveries about the beastly nature of the animal. She was searching the Net for the Car Wash and came across this website, written by a person who once, too, was loyal to our friendly Octopus on old University Avenue. You wont regret reading it. It may save your life. Evil lurks inside that cute rounded head and the helpful arms wiping down your windows.

More on Bush’s meeting with Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

In the post below I noted the defining event of GWB’s day – a meeting with Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. I have since read reports of that encounter and I must say I misjudged the situation: apparently there weren’t any weighty issues to discuss, nor did the meeting require much preparation on the part of GWB. The rule is: when in doubt as to what to say to the Tunisian president, talk about gay marriage.

From CNN:

"I strongly believe marriage should be defined as between a man and a woman," Bush said during an Oval Office session with Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. "I am troubled by activist judges who are defining marriage."

Can you just imagine poor President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali during this? What message will he take back to his people in Tunisia? Maybe: “The President of the United States assures us that marriage should be defined as between man and woman. The policy implications for us remain unclear. We will study this message and let you know, once we come to an understanding of what this means for our country.”

Calendar boys

No, this isn’t heading where you’re thinking. I was simply curious what the candidates (the democratic pack of 5 + GWB) were up to today. Looking at their calendars is always illuminating, though today seems to be a slow day for most – not surprising, given the zeal of campaigning before yesterday’s important primary. But wait, were all campaigning? Perhaps the one on that list who has already secured a place on the (republican) ticket is especially busy, given that he does hold down what is thought to be a demanding job. Let’s take a look at where they’re at today (from CNN’s “Inside Politics” page):

Howard Dean
In Vermont -- Dean will hold an "event" in Burlington at 1 p.m. where sources say he'll announce he's no longer campaigning actively for president.

John Edwards
In Washington and New York -- Edwards has private events in Washington and New York and has nothing public scheduled.

John Kerry
In Ohio -- Kerry holds a town hall meeting on jobs and the economy in Dayton at 12:15 p.m. and holds a rally with Democrats in Columbus at 5:30 p.m.

Dennis Kucinich
In Ohio -- Kucinich has a discussion with students at the University of Dayton at 12 p.m. before participating in a labor event in Cincinnati at 7 p.m.

Al Sharpton
In Georgia -- Sharpton holds a news conference at 8 a.m. in Atlanta to announce his endorsement by several Georgia elected officials before attending a fund-raiser at 12 p.m. He attends a march with the United Brothers of Carpenters Union at 2:30 p.m. before attending a rally at Clark Atlanta University at 3 p.m. He attends a fund-raiser in Atlanta in the evening.

George W. Bush
In Washington -- President Bush meets with the President of Tunisia at 11:25 a.m. at the White House.

Well, that can be taxing, right? A brief, pre-lunch meeting with the leader of Tunisia? Much is at stake. Preparing for it, de-briefing afterwards, resting for the next day’s events – juggling all that takes time. And don’t forget travel – from one end of the White House to the next – we know how delays and weather conditions can mess with a tight schedule. Is it time for a “working vacation” in Texas yet?

One Wisconsin fish, dinner for 400

A reader reminded me that there is pleasure to be found in spending a winter week-end in northern Wisconsin (as opposed to, say, the desert). In the article she forwarded, I got a sense of the excitement that may be generated by a successful day of spear fishing. Really. (Did you know that the season is only two days long? It started on Saturday and finished on Sunday. If you’re enthused after reading the article and want to try your luck – you have to wait some 360 days to set out with your weapon.)

In case you don’t have time to link, let me just tell you that Lake Winnebago had a winning moment this season. A spear fisherman (of Polish background no less!) caught a 188 pound sturgeon. There are fish like that swimming in Wisconsin lakes? And we send innocent children and dogs to mingle in the water with them? The fisherman, an able bodied 47-year old jailer from the Sheriff’s Office, who is probably used to handling some rough types, could hardly control his catch. Tranquil lake waters indeed! Who knows what remains un-speared down there. Maybe an overweight cousin from the same Wisconsin fish family? Frightening.

Having lived here for 25years, am I a true Wisconsinite?

I heard from one of my Polish readers today. He sent me a clipping of a newspaper article depicting a photograph that is identical to one I had purchased from an artist-photographer when I was last in Poland (December). It is actually quite nice in a muted and dreamy style of fuzzy contours and soft and faded blacks. I bought it by happenstance, following the most improbable set of circumstances, on the eve of my departure. And, to make things even more tricky, I could not fit it into my suitcase, so that I was forced to take kitchen sheers to it and chop the matting down to a size that could be accommodated in my bag.

Konrad Pustola, the 27 year old photographer, speaks of a Warsaw that follows him in his dreams (he lives there still). He digs into childhood memories for inspirations, taking photos on days when the pace slows down (Sundays) and the city becomes lazy, immobile, still. I wish I could link to the story, but I appear to be incapable of creating the connection.

After the flurry of political drama here in Wisconsin, this article, the photo, the recollection of scenes immortalized by Konrad – all are a perfect antidote. Sure, it may be important to cross oceans and set up homesteads in unfamiliar places, but it is also helpful in a soothing kind of way to return and take another look at the images (as depicted by a new generation of talented artists) that are left behind.

Avoiding the phone

The ringing phone makes my heart sink. Inevitably it is going to be one of the following: a taped message from a democratic candidates, or, worse, a live voice asking if I needed a ride to my polling place (what demographic list are we on anyway?? I am NOT a member of AARP!), or, inevitably, my mother asking if I voted for Dean. Only the first on this list of possibilities is not a strain. I feel terribly guilty when Kerry’s or Dean’s loyal campaign staffer offers me a ride because I have to say that I have already voted and then there is this dead silence as s/he comes to understand that I did not vote for their guy. I wish someone from Edwards’ office would call (they have not today, which is wise on their part – they read my blog yesterday, waited til midnight, and knew that they had my vote), so that I could be jubilant and say YES! I was with you all the way (or at least all the way this week)!

I would let the machine pick up the phone, but that just leads to confusion, because if it is a recorded message, then it is mangled by my prerecorded announcement and it is hard to understand who is calling or what they want. For instance, when I got back from work, I listened to something like this:

“... (beep) Bush. We need your support. Our country needs to move ahead with the economic plan that will give every American a chance at a good education, a decent job, and a safe world to live in.. blah blah.”

I really do not think I got a call from Bush. I am not on any mailing list that could have generated a Republican message, and anyway, to the best of my knowledge, GWB isn’t campaigning through grass roots phone calls at the moment. Too plebeian. But whoever left the recording did not anticipate that the first words would be cut. In denouncing Bush, they became Bush. What a warped twist of fate.

Neighbors

I met a neighbor at the polling place and naturally asked him how he was voting. People will lie rather than say “none of your business.” But he seemed honest in telling me he was voting for Edwards. He said he really liked Kucinich, but since he saw himself as a strategic voter, he’d go with Edwards. I reminded him that in the last presidential elections he had a Nader lawn sign, which was about as un-strategic as you can get. He explained that actually, in the end, he changed his mind and voted for Gore. He also admitted that while he was supporting Nader, he hadn’t realized how bad GWB would be.

Two interesting points to consider from that:

1. people’s lawn signs aren’t indicative of much. Of course, I’m not sure I understand the purpose behind lawn signs anyway. Yes, I usually stick one in the ground to irritate my Republican neighbors, which I admit isn’t a very neighbor-friendly approach to things. And, too, I know it’s the American way, and immigrants tend to conform to the peculiar habits of their host country. But still, do the signs have persuasive value? Walking to Grainger Hall on campus, I noticed a chalked statement on the sidewalk saying “Vote Dean.” It is really pathetic if you decide to vote for Dean based on a sidewalk chalk scribble.

2. I should not let my hostilities toward Nader-ites fester for so long. My neighbor is right: at the time of the elections, no one suspected how much damage GWB could do. Only in the last three years have we come to understand that long-term strategic voting, of the sort where you cast your vote so that you’ll have influenced the elections four years from now, is foolish, as we may not survive for so long under a particularly trigger-happy administration.

Youth scramble for Dean

Driving in to work today, I saw, at the edge of Campus Drive, a lamp post with a stack of Dean lawn signs adorning it all the way to the top. You know Dean has youthful supporters when you see something like that. I would NEVER EVER climb up a lamppost (how do you even do that?) to put up a sign for a political candidate, even if it meant an automatic handful of votes for that person. I know Wisconsin has a lot of tall men with names like Olaf and Lars, but this feat would have required a whole stack of them—one on top of the next. I’m thinking Dean is going to pick up some votes here after all. [Good. I can call my mother in California tonight and continue to placate her by saying agreeable things about her favorite, Dean (see yesterday’s post). Then, when she finally begins to recognize that it is over for Howard, I can capitalize on her vulnerable emotional state and start sending books and bribes so that she’ll switch her allegiance to the trailing John. The art of corrupt politics, duly recorded on a blog.]

Comments from someone who came to see the carpet (purchased from truck standing on the periphery of the largest-gem-show-in-the-world):

“It is the most beautiful trapezoid I have ever seen!”

me: “it is not a trapezoid: if you regard any very long rectangle from one end, it will form the illusion of a trapezoid”

“How come it doesn’t have those long threads at both ends like most Persian rugs have?”

me: “I asked that too. It’s because people have complained that the ends get sucked in by the vacuum cleaner.”

“If anything gets sucked in around here, it is perhaps you. You took the entire carpet as a carry-on?? They didn’t make you check it in?

me: “hey, you’re talking about a very special carpet from Afghanistan: I would not hand it over to just anyone.”

“Beautiful trapezoid. Absolutely exquisite.”

Family update

My mother called (from Berkeley) while I was away in the desert. She wanted to know 1. where I was and 2. if I had gotten her gift (=bribe) with the note urging that I vote for Dean. I was glad not to field that call because there really wasn’t an adequate answer as to why I was in Arizona and not in Berkeley California (so long as I was taking the time to be away from where I properly should be: at home attending to obligations). And as for Dean – if I wait until after the vote to discuss this with her, I can be evasive and not quite admit that Howard did not in the end get my support . But I first have to see if he gets at least one vote, otherwise she’ll catch me at my own game. I suppose Dean will almost certainly get at least one vote, but what with campaign staffers and chairmen dropping like flies, you just can’t count on it.

Bugs

A reader asked if I had encountered any odd looking bugs while in the desert (this past week-end: see posts below). Well of course. Where people go, so go the insects. Or is it: where insects go, so go the people? In any event, one specimen that crossed my path looked especially peculiar: it was almost translucent, with a body composed of many segments. I looked at photos online since my return and I have to conclude that it was not a scorpion. I fully expected to encounter a scorpion, since everyone said that scorpions are part of the landscape of southern Arizona, but In all honesty, I don’t think I saw a single one. As I said earlier: Polish speaking human beings? Yes. Scorpions? No. The desert was full of such odd surprises.

So it’s John?

I’ve been back in Wisconsin less than two hours and already I have picked up a handful of calls from John, Howard, John, and Dennis (it seems we are on first name basis: the calls are all very back-slappin’ friendly). I was almost convinced that Howard deserved an “I feel sort of sorry for you” vote, but a friend just talked me out of that line of reasoning, reminding me that “feel sorry for you” voting could have given us some unsavory leaders in the past.

Having eliminated Howard, my attention turns to the Johns. There is no doubt that I know more about the politics of the straggler John rather than the front-runner John – which is in itself interesting. My friend, who luckily was in a giving advice mode (though she offered no bribes, which was discouraging), reminded me that “military record” did not in the past swing voters (recall Clinton’s success), and would probably not be enough to pull Kerry forward. She also painted a very realistic picture of a debate where Kerry’s New England’s stiffness rubs everyone the wrong way. Finally, she made me admit that there were a great many voters who actually believed that GWB was a pleasing and sympathetic speaker (in an “aw, shucks” kind of way), and so it was vitally important to position someone who himself could be charismatic enough to off-set that sheepish little grin that seems to melt the hearts and minds of many.

Let me just say that my lines are open til at least midnight tonight. I could still be persuaded to abandon John the straggler, though less so with each minute.

Forgetting to obey the law

I was so impressed with the fact that my flight was taking off on schedule (the one from Chicago to Madison, which has an on-time departure rate of 2%) that I completely forgot to turn off my cell phone while on the plane. I am actually fairly certain that we weren’t reminded to do so, because I usually do half-listen to the front of the cabin instructions, just in case we are being told something important, like to bail out instantly, or that the plane has no functional lavatory. Still, after all that fuss in the Sunday Times about the rudeness of travelers and mutinies in airports and on trains and planes, I was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that if the phone would ring, 30 or 40 passengers could very well pounce on me with anger at my flagrant disrespect for the law.

To shut it down in mid-air would be a dead give away that I had failed to do so earlier, especially since Verizon plays a little jingle as it’s being turned off. There was nothing to do but remain confident that the law of probabilities would come through for me in such rough times. I gambled that since only about three people have my cell number, the chances of any of them calling during the 29 minute flight were slight.

I sweated it out, the phone remained silent, and I did not confuse the navigational system, because we did land in Madison. On time.

P.S. Two years ago I listened to an NPR interview with a guy who was a telecommunications expert. He claimed that there actually is no evidence that the use of cell phones during flights would have any impact on the navigational system or equipment. He speculated that the government had probably struck a deal with the airlines, who wanted to promote the use of their own in-flight phones rather than have customers pull out their cells. I always think of that interview when the flight attendant tells us that we are surely going to do great damage to the sophisticated navigational equipment if we use our electrical or cellular instruments. Of course, today I didn’t think about this at all, having been one of those spaced-out travelers who forgot that she even had a cell phone.

Snakeskin jaspers and meteorites

This is the week-end of the Tucson Gem exposition. There is only one such exposition ever anywhere in the entire world, I am told. That means that I just had to check it out. People travel from Germany and Hong Kong to view minerals and stones, so I can certainly travel the 10 miles or so from the desert to take a look.

What turned out to be, however, even more interesting than the convention center's big show (yes, of VERY expensive stones-- even though there are lots of free ones in the canyon -- see yesterday's post) was the off-off-off Broadway of gem shows -- the one in tents and warehouses at the edge of town. Now that was worth the hike! Australian opal mixed in with Pakistani onyx, Peruvian minerals, meteorites, Snakeskin jasper -- more names than even yesterday's litany of cacti species. And let me not forget the Indian (from India) patchwork quilts and Afghani carpets.

I bought a carpet woven in Afghanistan-- it seemed fitting to do so at Tucson's biggest-in-the-world gem show. The man was selling it from the back of his truck. His pal had some more in a tent not too far away, as you head toward the desert. The land around me and the weather seemed much like I imagine Afghanistan to be (I am quite uninformed and so I could be off by several zones, but I think it's a fair guess). The seller explained to me how the old man who had made the carpet was dead now, but his son had taken over and was making fine carpets -- maybe he'll bring some next year to Tucson. The other seller, the one in the tent, told me that he had a regular customer in Wisconsin: he asked me if I knew where Madison was. The skeptics may scoff at my naivete ('how do you know it's real'?), but I really have no doubt that it is quite authentic. And, even more importantly, it is very beautiful.

Back home tomorrow, carpet under my arm, rocks, cacti and mountain lions on my mind, and some good photos taken of all but the mountain lions -- couldn't get one to stand still long enough (or maybe it was only a pack rat?).

Thanks, Florida and Texas lawyer pals and Arizona desert friends, for taking in a northerner for a while.

regrets

I saw a newspaper lying around -- it was yesterday's paper, tossed to the side, about to be trashed forever. I couldn't help myself - I picked it up. It was innocent on my part: I'd never read a copy of the Arizona Star before. I wanted to see its tone, maybe find some interesting story about desert life (though I felt certain that there would not be desert news per se: the sun goes up, shines brilliantly, goes down. The end of another day).

The news was of the type you'd find anywhere: a Valentine Day's story of some improbable love, a heroic local rescue of someone's pet, an accident here, a robbery there.

I was about to toss the whole thing away when the words "Madison, Wisconsin" caught my attention. I read it, but wish I hadn't.

Is it true, then, that a reporter in Madison asked Kerry if he had had an extramarital affair? Were there rumors circulating to that effect? A day without news should have been a week withouth news if this is what the media is playing with now.

It is not surprising that Kerry would deny this (assuming, for argument's sake that it is a valid rumor). If a scream percipitated Dean's slide, what would an admission of this sort do to Kerry? But what is discouraging is the insatiable desire to pursue these types of questions. After all. do we fully understand at this point all that each candidate can offer? What policies they stand behind? What implementation tools and strategies they propose to use if elected? Have we weighed these against the three and a half grueling years of GWB? No? Well, shouldn't we get on with that project?

I read that subsequently, Kerry was asked: "is there anything that you want to tell us that's going to come up?" Do I understand this question to be asking -- is there anything incriminating that we can't quite lay our finger on now, but you'd like to share anyway, just in case we eventually learn about it? I'll let you imagine Kerry's brilliant reply [hint: it starts with the letter ""n"].

mountain lions??

What good is a sign that warns you of recent sightings of mountain lions? If you're in a canyon, and a mountain lion runs into you by accident, or you into him, what earthly protection is there for you?

The day proceeds without any reading of political headlines, and without a single lawyer joke. We leave that to the rest of the world. My partners in this desert madness took me instead into a canyon studded with cacti. So many new names to remember -- I wont even begin to demonstrate here how little knowledge of desert plantlife I have retained.

I have only two quick little recollections for now: the first is of the moment after that long hike EVEN DEEPER into the desert (it's not enough that I can be attacked by these plants at night if I am not careful), when finally I could stretch out on a flat rock and look up at a relentlessly blue sky: priceless. Especially the lying down part. Rocks and canyons and steep inclines go together.

My second recollection is of waiting for the little truck thing to come and take us deeper into the canyon. A couple of other folks were heading in the same direction and so we stood there together, strangers, bound by a common desire to see a million more cacti and perhaps an odd bird or two. I kid you not-- these folks were speaking Polish. I promise, I don't seek this out, it follows me all over the world. Even in the desert, I WILL find the one Pole who also decided at this moment to risk testing the will of the stray bobcat or the mountain lion. How odd to never escape your heritage in this way.

Sun's up in the canyon

..and the Internet is still working, whaddaya know..

It was to be a week-end with no politics -- what do coyotes know about democratic candidates after all -- but I can't quite leave it behind, even if I am not reading any headlines.

I am here with three lawyer types (and one more who comes in and out), or, more accurately, freinds (sorry, no spell-check to catch mistypes in the canyon) who once studied law with me. One of them actually lives in the desert. This morning, for instance, I woke up to dangerous looking cacti specimens that I could touch if I stretched long enough.

But politics joined the rising sun that came up very very slowly (bored with making an appearance every single day?) over the mountains. Our discussion was about whom we don't like more: candidate X, Y, or Z. Is it always like this? Eliminating the bad rather than pursuing the noble?

I am the only one in this group that still lives up north year round. This is the first time that I got greeted with -- so, what IS Wisconsin thinking these days? We are on the map!

a late note from a disoriented traveler

On my flight to the desert (see post below signaling the great journey) I met a prof of physics. He was extraordinarily good about explaining the laws of the universe to me. By 'universe' I mean everything you could imagine (for example he explained why it is bad for chidren to read Harry Potter, and why the kid behind me was crying so hard), rather than a universe of the black infinity that is beyond imagining. Recognizing his gift of explaining, I decided to ask a question which has always bothered me about the sciences: why is physics so difficult to comprehend?

By the time we were almost landing in Denver (a necessary stop on the way to the desert) I understood that the world is really divided into those who think like physicists, and those who do not. My seat mate teaches the 'physics for poets' class at UW and so he tells me that he works with a roomfull of students who cannot cross that great divide. They cannot make themselves think like physicists.

The reason I found this prof's explanation so interesting is that it filled the two hour flight in a congenial way, and, more importantly it sounded so very familiar. We, at the law school, offer the same incantation. The world is divided into two groups: those who think like lawyers, and those who do not. Not having the luxury of teaching "law for poets," and knowing that we have three years before we have to let loose the next batch of so-called lawyers, we take our job of teaching them to think like lawyers quite seriously.

I am not sure I could ever explain what the physics prof told me about a physics mindset. It was supremely complicated. And truthfully, I, like his class, never really managed to cross the great divide: I never fully comprehended the world of physics. But flying in the clear starry night, somewhere over Iowa or Kansas, it was fitting that we should be talking physics, possibly the only time in my entire life, in a knowledgeable sort of way.

Taking to the desert

Don't even think of rechecking this blog until very very late on Saturday. The Arizona desert, where I will be spending the next three days is inhospitable to the Internet until the night descends. Thus I am at the mercy of the cacti and the creatures that rule the arid land. Cold at night, warm during the day, confusing to a Wisconsin person who thinks of winter as uniformly, painfully cold. Off I go.