Thursday, October 24, 2019

An Open Letter to Congressman Duncan Hunter (CA-50)

I recently found a post that contained the names of the people who interrupted yesterday's proceedings within the SCIF being used to question people involved in the current matter of Ukraine.  One of the names I found there was a representative of California, and because of that, I felt like I had a responsibility to reach out and let them know how I felt about their behavior.  While I have similar concerns with the other representatives who were there to interrupt the investigation, because Duncan Hunter lives here in California, I felt a more personal connection and wanted to write him a letter expressing my feelings about what he'd done.

No.  He isn't my current representative, and for that reason, I wasn't able to send him this letter (though I did try through his website: https://hunter.house.gov/contact#form_3F4F3585-C4B4-4800-9512-142CD7E3CF86 ).  Apparently he only accepts contact from within his own distract, (I certainly can't fault him for that.)  So, I had to resort to publishing my thoughts here.  This was not something I wanted nor intended to do; I had hoped to simply leave these thoughts in an e-mail to him and his team and leave the matter a private discourse between us both--assuming he was willing to offer a reply to my obvious criticism; (he might not have thought it warranted a reply, after all, though I did check the box asking for one.)

Still, he represents California; he stands as a pillar of who we, as Californians, are.  Certainly the concerns of his district are paramount, but in this particular instance, while he may have been representing the beliefs and concerns of a majority of his constituents, he was also acting in concert with the Republican Party--a national organization that has a greater reach outside of just his district here in California.  And for that reason, as a citizen of this country, and as a resident of California, I believe it's important to speak to my fellow Californian, because, in a way, I feel his actions spoke for me.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Dipping a Foot into the Deep End

You know how they say that you should do something that scares you every day?  Well, I may not do that -every- day, but lately I've been looking at myself and trying to find the things that actually make me happy.  It's not that I don't know how to be happy, of course, but what is it in life that actually makes me happy?

Being with John, of course--that's easy and a given, but everything else is sort of a mixed bag.  Even reading, which I love, isn't always easy.  For example, I've started reading The Library Book, but trying to get back to it has been...daunting.