So I watched the leaders’ debate the other night (the Canadian one, although I was PVRing the American one just in case something totally fabulous happened, and I wanted to watch it for myself afterwards). I must say I don’t feel like I really learned anything. It was all he said/he said/she said and I don’t know which one of them — if any — were telling the truth. Is the economy just fine, and we are all idiots for being all frantic about it? Or are we on the verge of serious problems here in Canada, problems that require action? Who can say.

I’m sure I do not want to vote Conservative because their position on too many social issues does not sit right with me. But of the others, I’m not sure which one is really best.

I don’t actually want to make a big political post here. Actually my point is to complain about the fact that no matter what I decide, it actually does not matter.

That’s because I live in the most conservative riding in Ontario.

It’s a sure bet that the incumbent here — a Conservative cabinet minister — will be reelected. He’s been our MP ever since I’ve lived here. I see his signs everywhere, many many more of his than all the other parties combined. On our street alone there are at least a dozen people proudly supporting the Conservative Party, and no one supporting anything else.

Also, I offer you this: mine is the only riding east of Manitoba to ever elect a Reform candidate. NOW YOU SEE. If anything, Harper is probably not right-wing enough for the likes of folks around here.

I can’t really explain why my neighbourhood is so ultra-conservative. Our riding encompasses a lot of rural and farmland, and during the Reform years, the gun control issue was really big around here — people wanted their guns. But people on my street don’t want guns. I hope. And I just can’t believe that the rural population in my riding is controlling the vote — surely they are a small percentage of the overall population in the area.

Nope, it’s my own friends and neighbours who are Conservative Party supporters.

I could rant about that but as I said above, I don’t want to make a big political post and piss people off. Everyone has their own opinion.

But it does make me feel like my vote is meaningless. All this agonizing I’m doing over who to vote for was rendered moot when I decided not to vote Conservative. It just doesn’t matter.

I still feel like I should vote, though. It’s my civic duty, and whatever. Meh.

I think what I’ll do is look at each non-Conservative candidate in my riding and figure out which one I think is the most qualified.

Or, I may just spoil my vote.

Same difference.

I was watching Jon and Kate Plus Eight this morning, and they were talking about their respective tattoos. Kate has two of them (one is just a fragment of a rose that was mostly removed during her tummy tuck surgery), and Jon has six.

They both emphasized over and over again how much they regretting getting them, and how stupid they feel about it now. Jon said that all of his tattoos symbolize things that he no longer believes in, and now when he looks at them all he can see his what an idiot he was in his youth. Kate said she is embarrassed whenever her kids ask about the Winnie-the-Pooh on her ankle, and that she is going to feel especially stupid when she’s an 80-year-old woman with Winnie-the-Pooh on her body.

When I was young I flirted with the idea of getting a small tattoo (didn’t we all?), but in the end, my mother’s dire warnings that I’d regret it someday kept me from going through with it. To this day, though, I don’t think I would really feel embarrassed if I had one. I definitely would have made a subtle choice — a small heart or star in a place that could easily be covered up if need be — so maybe that’s why I don’t think it would be such a big deal to be pushing forty with a tattoo. I definitely don’t think I’d feel like a poser or someone clinging to youth or anything like that.

Both of my younger sisters have tattoos, and they are both very pretty and I like them. I don’t think they are shameful in the least.

On the other hand I remember my Uncle Don telling me when I was young — this would be when he was at least 70 or so, I would say — that having his initials tattooed on his forearm was one of the stupidest things he’d ever done, and he made me promise never to get a tattoo myself, because it would mark me as an idiot for life.

So I guess what I’m saying is…do the majority of people who have tattoos really do regret it someday? Are there any middle-aged folk out there with tattoos who are actually happy about them?

Should I go get one now, just to prove what a badass mommy I am? I think I would totally rock the Treehouse logo on my butt, don’t you think?

A couple of weeks ago, LuckySevens called me up and asked if we would like to go with them to the Carp Fair. It’s an annual event, featuring all the usual fair-like stuff, even traditional fare like animal judging competitions and dog obedience shows. I said, sure thing, sign us up.

I imagined we’d spend the day riding the amusement rides and feeding the animals at the petting zoo. We’d get a hot dog for lunch, and a candy apple for dessert. We’d play a few games, win a cute stuffed animal or two, and then watch the horse races.

And guess what? You can have that dream.

But IT’LL COST YOU.

I cannot believe what it cost us to visit this quaint little country fair for three hours (our visit was sandwiched between Little Miss Sunshine’s naptimes).

We had to pay to get in. We had to pay for the rides, and holy mackerel, they were expensive — we figured out that each ride was costing us around $3.75, PER KID. We had to pay for food for the petting zoo animals. Don’t even get me started on how much it cost for those little baby doughnuts. Little warm, chocolately, morsels of pure joy. Why must you bring down my sugar buzz by costing so much that only two of my three children can now attend university?

Thank goodness we have a kid with food allergies. We’d packed all our own snacks and food because we knew there wouldn’t be anything for the Captain to eat there. Otherwise, we’d easily have gone over $100 on the day.

I did not realize that a little trip out to the local fair was going to eat up our family vacation fund for the year.

Next year…assuming we go again…we’re definitely going to focus on the free stuff (the animals, the horse show) and leave the midway to the end. Then we’ll let everyone go on ONE RIDE ONLY before we claim that the Little Miss needs her nap, and we must be off. Yikes!

We have a tooth! Repeat, we have a tooth! It’s the one at the front on the bottom right. My Little Miss Sunshine is growing up!

At 14 months, two weeks, she definitely holds the family record. Now, how many days (or weeks, or months) will it be until tooth #2?

Heather Armstrong at Dooce posted a clip on her website yesterday of Sarah Palin talking to Katie Couric about her foreign policy credentials. Palin’s main point seems to be that since she is sandwiched between Alaska and Canada, she is used to dealing with other countries, even though she hasn’t ever actually had official dealings with the federal governments of either country. Heather, a Democrat, asked any Palin supporters out there who were willing to comment to come forward and talk about why they’d consider voting for such a woman.

I’ve read a couple hundred comments so far, and there hasn’t been much Palin support.

What there has been, however, is dozens and dozens of thoughtless, insulting, and borderline crazy comments from so-called Democrats. I’m not American, so I’m not there, I’m not in it, and maybe I don’t have the same passion as these people. It seems to me, however, that the Democrats in America are never going to succeed because their party is full of idiots on the internet who do not know how to engage in debate such that they aren’t acting like elitist snobs who have no respect for other points of view.

There are many people on Heather’s blog with smart, interesting things to say. But there are even more who say things like, “Palin is the antichrist” or “I just ralphed a little in my mouth listening to this clip” and “if McCaine [sic] and Palin are elected, I’m moving to Canada.” These statements are not helpful. These statements are not going to convince undecided voters to come on over to your side. Instead, they just make the Democrats seem like the cool kids’ table at junior high — uncool Republicans will be sneered at as they walk by.

Sure, Heather Armstrong is really smart and cool and famous, and we all want to impress her by agreeing with her completely — even slavishly — in her comments. And I suppose the blog of a stated Democrat isn’t exactly the place to find Republican points of view. But seeing as how Heather specifically asked for conservative thoughts and ideas, you would think that her readers could pull it together enough to make the comments on that post, at least, welcoming to other points of view. Instead, most of them just confirmed the Republican idea that Democrats are more interested in being in the popular kids’ club, than interested in talking about policies and platforms.

Up here in Canada, we’re having a general election, too. I’m an undecided voter. I don’t want to hear anyone — candidates or their supporters — tell me non-useful things like, “He’s stupid and scary, and if you can’t see that, you’re an idiot.” There’s a lot of that kind of fear-mongering and mud-slinging going on, which is completely unhelpful to me. I want to know why the other party isn’t good for Canada. I want your reasons to be thoughtful and well-stated and true. I don’t want name-calling and a lot of back-patting about how your supporters are so much smarter than everyone else.

The Republicans don’t seem to have as big of an internet presence as the Democrats — at least among the websites I read — but the few things I have read from the conservative point of view are well phrased attacks on Obama. They aren’t always true, they aren’t always logical, but they do try to make a point, a point that will give voters something to think about, something to believe. So many of the anti-McCain and (especially) anti-Palin commentary is just a matter of making fun of them, as if their failings are so incredibly obvious that anyone who can’t see it is a dolt. That may be true, but it’s not productive to the process to act like your opinion is the only one that matters.

If you’re an Obama supporter and you want to sway some of those Republican votes, it’s time to start stepping up with some strong, effective arguments. Sure, show me a clip of Palin saying that proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience — but don’t just play it for comedy. Take it seriously. Tell me how McCain’s age and health issues mean that this woman might actually be in a room with representatives from the Middle East one day, with no experience on how to handle them. Tell me how in times of war or crises like 9/11, she’ll be completely reliant on advisors that we do not know the names of and haven’t elected. Tell me how just because Palin reminds you of your daughter or sister or librarian or next-door-neighbour does not qualify her for one of the most important jobs in the country. Tell me that it’s critical that the guy in charge be smart and experienced. Tell me that being a well-spoken college graduate does not mean that you are out-of-touch with the wants and needs of everyday Americans.

The race is close, Democrats — this is your chance to really make a difference. Don’t be stupid. Don’t blow it.