So, here's my first blog as a former journalist and currently confused single parent. It's an interesting day to begin, a day after the killing of Osama bin Ladan, a week after my 41st birthday and two months after I've relocated to Seattle, the city of my misspent youth. I left here a long time ago, maybe it was 1999, and I've been to many places since. But I've always wanted to return, not because I've been trying to recapture my youth but because I love this fucking city. I mean some days it's just a city like any other, in fact worse. It's rainy. It can be cold. And even though you are surrounded by beautiful mountains and waters, it's useless because your visibility is only 10 feet in front of you. But then there are days when the skies open up and I can see it all, and I just say "Goddamn, what a beautiful city." But this blog is in no way a love letter to the Pacific Northwest. In fact, I am way too much of a curmudgeon for love letters of any sort. I imagine I will rant about politics, parenting, bullshit and of course advertising --- the absolute bane of my existence. This constant needling, constant intrusion into your psyche, constant attempt to separate you from your money and of course separate you from any feeling of esteem or satisfaction. This little gadget will slice and dice. Are you fat? Be A Better Mom! Restless leg syndrome! The bullshit we endure, no wonder Americans have this tendency to buy crap we will never use or need.

But I regress..

Bin Ladan's dead. Well good riddance. I don't celebrate because we killed a man. But I sure as hell don't have any sympathy for the man. My facebook page is currently suffering from an identity crisis because of this. Some of my friends are getting drunk, partying in front of the White House and posting things like "Ding Dong the witch is dead." Others are saying things like "political assassination aside." It seems President Obama has this annoying talent of separating the realists from the "bat shit crazy" on both sides. Well my take is this. Bin Ladan's gone and this might just be enough "justice" for us to get the hell out of Afghanistan, entirely out of Iraq and never ever tread over in that crazy-assed part of the world again. Give me a chance to explain. Bush took us over there and it was a huge-assed mistake. But no President, including Obama, was politically allowed to entirely leave partly due to 9/11 and partly due to this American obsession with winning, with walking away from the table empty-handed. In killing Bin Ladan, we can walk away guilt or more importantly shame free.

Today, one of the military's brass said this: and this is of course a paraphrase: The mood in the Mideast has changed in the last eight years, it has become more about individualism and civil liberties. So maybe the Al Qaeda will think Bin Ladan's dead. Militarism is old news. And the new way to move forward will be through these people first political and peaceful uprsings: i.e Egypt...

Well that is the most optimistic thing I've heard coming from our government since Bush declared Mission Accomplished all those many years ago. But hey, I don't necessarily think it's unrealistic optimism. In fact, it seems way more realistic than some of the ridiculous b.s. floating on the far far left such as "political assassination." Anyway, here's my new blog. I promised it will improve.