Wednesday's Wisdom for Writing

   We skipped a week of these excerpts because we figured most would be up to their eyelids in cranberry sauce, turkey, dressing, and holiday guests and there would be little to no time for the sitting down and letting your thoughts move through your pencil onto page or for your putting of fingers to keyboard. But we do want to continue on with more words from John Steinbeck's, Journal of a Novel. I am learning more and more from these and from the ones that don't relate directly to writing, it is so interesting to sit inside the mind of someone who created so much and think for a brief moment about the thoughts they once thought. Hope you enjoy these.

"And on my way to bed I was torn out of my pattern. I never write out of hours. But I came in and wrote the dialogue of Sam'l Hamilton which is in today's work--it tore out so rapidly that the words are nearly unreadable. It is a completely passionate piece of writing." pg 100


"I have sharpened up a new 12 of pencils, fine long ones. This is a kind of indulgence. How I love a new pencil." pg. 100


"And now I have set down in my own hand the 16 verses of Cain and Abel and the story changes with flashing lights when you write it down. And I think I have a title at last, a beautiful title, EAST OF EDEN. And read the 16th verse to find it. And the Salinas Valley is surely East of Eden." pg. 104


"You can see that my handwriting is a little haywire yet. So I will have to dawdle until it settles down. Change of desk has something to do with it I guess. I have a little room to work in and it is mine exclusively and I can look at the ocean out of my window. It has a desk to work on--not a titling desk, but an ordinary one. I will soon get used to that, I think. the question is one of rhythm. After a break, it takes time to get it moving in waves again. But that is simply a matter of keeping at it." pg. 105


"One is never drained by work but only by idleness. Lack of work is the most enervating thing in the world" pg. 115.

"It is the fashion now in writing to have every man defeated. and I do not believe all men are destroyed. I can name a dozen who were not and they are the ones the world lives by. It is true of the spirit as it is of battles--the defeated are forgotten, only the winners come themselves into the race. And Samuel I am going to try to make into one of those pillars of fire by whom little and frightened men are guided through the darkness." pg. 115

Hope you enjoy,

   David

Happy Thanksgiving from Hines Terrace Herald

    We here at HTH know it has become ever so popular to hate the Thanksgiving holiday because it is in the way of the ever-increasing importance of the Christmas buying season and because it has become a little more politically incorrect with each passing year. However, it is our favorite holiday of the year and we look forward to it as soon as the last dish is put away and the last ounce of turkey is consumed by some other means besides the way it was intended to be. We also know our history from books not found on the New York Times Bestseller lists. (Oh, the joys of a primary source!) And so we would love to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday because we love the idea of setting aside a day to be thankful for all of God's many gifts, large and so small that they are sadly forgotten and overlooked, to us. We could not exist without them. The Thanksgiving holiday would not be complete without some quotes from William Bradford about why they came to America (and no, it wasn't to build an empire, nor was it to steal and kill the Native Americans) and why they chose to set aside the day of Thanksgiving.

   Before we get to those, we'd like to share one thought that is like most things here at HTH, not original, but really got us thinking and that is: "What if you woke up tomorrow and the only things that were in your possession were the things you thanked God for today?" We know somedays, we wouldn't be waking up to much. Since we read that a couple of years ago, we have attempted to move throughout each day thanking God for each and everything thing we do and have. It has made us increasingly aware of how richly blessed we are and has humbled us on many occasions about how good God has been to us and still continues to be. And now to Mr. Bradford, the first governor of the Plymouth Colony:

On why they left England and Amsterdam:

"all great & honourable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and must be both enterprised and overcome with answerable courages. It was granted ye dangers were great, but not desperate; the difficulties were many, but not invincible. For though their were many of them likely, yet they were not cartaine; it might be sundrie of ye things feared might never befale; others by providente care & ye use of good means, might in a great measure be prevented; and all of them, through ye help of God, by fortitude and patience, might either be borne, or overcome. True it was, that such atempts were not to be made and undertaken without good ground & reason; not rashly or lightly as many have done for curiositie or hope of gaine, &c. But their condition was not ordinarie; their ends were good & honourable; their calling lawfull, & urgente; and therfore they might expecte ye blessing of god in their proceding. Yea, though they should loose their lives in this action, yet might they have comforte in the same, and their endeavors would be honourable. They lived hear but as men in exile, & in a poore condition; and as great miseries might possibly befale them in this place, for ye 12. years of truce [the truce between Holland and Spain] were now out, & ther was nothing but beating of drumes, and preparing for warr, the events wherof are allway uncertaine."


On the setting aside of the day of Thanksgiving:

"They begane now to gather in ye small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; fFor as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which yey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion. All ye somer ther was no want.  And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees).  And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c. Besids, they had about a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corn to yt proportion.  Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not fained,  but true reports."


And a declaration of praise:

"May not and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: “Our fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord, and he heard their voice, and looked on their adversity, etc.” Let them therefore praise the Lord, because he is good, and his mercies endure forever. Yea, let them which have been redeemed of the Lord, show how he hath delivered them from the hand of the oppressor. When they wandered in the desert wilderness out of the way, and found no city to dwell in, both hungry, and thirsty, their soul was overwhelmed in them. Let them confess before the Lord his loving kindness, and his wonderful works before the sons of men.”

Happy Thanksgiving,

    David

Ode to the Gilded Gingkoes of Hines Terrace

Ode to the Gilded Gingkoes of Hines Terrace

Ode to the great gilded gingkoes,

I lie in wait for thy succinct reign,

To spring forth out of thy green and wooded branched hideaways,

Into the light of daytime's caressing lumniary rays, 

Out of odd-triangled veined leaflets comes,

Small lines of ancient yellowed secrets of,

Emancipated iridescence rising languidly to the textured surface,

To be revealed when the arctic winds dismount,

Having driven the heated solstice to the other side of the equator,

Falling through the airy atmosphere,

Transiently folded and kept hushed and inert,

By thy intrepid and enameled hand,

Which for a fleeting and illuminated wink,
Rises and falls upon the hallowed lines of,
The piece of Earth where I draw my meager breath.

David

Wednesday's Wisdom for Writing

   Well...today is Wednesday and it is time once again to attempt to glean wisdom and knowledge from John Steinbeck's, Journal of a Novel. I hope you are getting something from these posts or that you find them entertaining in the least or find them challenging at the most. Here are the day's excerpts:

"Now the day progresses and I haven't put down a word yet, but it is coming and I almost ready. Almost! I have the tone now" pg. 72

"And an amazing number of pretty girls are passing by my window. I like pretty girls very much but I am old enough now so that I don't have to associate with them and that's a relief" pg. 72 (Funny, right?)

" Of course--that's the way it has to go. So simple when it finally comes to you. That's the way it is. You fight a story week after week and day by day and then it arranges itself in your hands." pg. 72

"I believe too that if you can know a man's plans, you know more about him than you can in any other way. Plans are daydreaming and this is an absolute measure of a man. Thus if I dwell heavily on plans, it is because I am trying to put down the whole man. What a strange life it is. Inspecting it for the purpose of setting it down on paper only illuminates its strangeness. There are strange things in people. I guess one of the things that sets us apart from other animals is our dreams and our plans" pg. 75

"This is the kind of a day I like. I can do a few sentences, then stop and enjoy them. Most days there is something else to be done afterwards, but this is Tuesday, if I don't finish until evening, it doesn't make a bit of difference. And how nice that is." pg. 77

"You know it is about time for me to throw out a flock of pencils. They are getting short and I detest short pencils." pg. 77

"The callus on my writing finger is very sore today. I may have to sandpaper it down. It is getting too big." pg 78 (Oddly cool and weird, right?)

"I am ready and the words are beginning to well up and come crawling down my pencil and drip on the paper. And I am filled with excitement as though this were a real birth." pg. 83

"But I learned long ago that you cannot tell how it will end by how you start. I just glanced up this page for instance. Look at the writing at the top--ragged and angular with pencils breaking in every line, measured as a laboratory rat and torn with nerves and fear. And just half an hour later it as smoothed out and changed considerably for the better." pg. 85

"But I'm very glad the book is not finished--I would hate to have it done. I don't like to think of the time when it is done. That will be a bad day for me. A real bad day." pg. 88

"The book dies a real death for me when I write the last word. I have little sorrow and then go on to a new book which is alive. The line of my books on the shelf are to me like very well embalmed corpses. They are neither alive nor mine. I have no sorrow for them because I have forgotten them, forgotten in its truest sense." pg. 90

"I worked over the week end on that other story and had to throw it away again. It takes me so long in planning to do the simplest thing. I don't know what will come of that." pg. 98

Happy reading and writing,

   David

The Wonders of Apple Cider Vinegar (Except the Taste)!

    

     We here at Hines Terrace Herald know the election is over and we couldn't be happier to not have to watch or listen to another hate-filled add full of half-truths that is candidly endorsed by the candidate or listen to another acquaintance who has suddenly acquired their PhD in Political Science from Stanford with a specialization in items they've gleaned from the internet, talk radio, and NPR. We will, however, miss the funny signage from candidates with names like , "Bubba", "Bubbers", "Ron Lawless", "Skipper" and "Schmuck" that want so badly to run for office that they are willing to have their names blown up to font 3000, put on a sign, and put on every free space of ground in the county. Some of us here at HTH are saddened and overwhelmed by the results of the election, while some us are excited about the expansion of government services and products because they were titled, "handouts" and this person likes when everything is done for him and hopes that continues his whole life. And while the election is behind us now and it is time to move on and move forward, we couldn't help putting our great hulking editorial weight behind an endorsement for another glowing product: Apple Cider Vinegar. 

    I have had acid reflux or something very close to it for a very long time and have found myself in the constant cycle of taking Prilosec, carrying around Tums, and about 100 other items to calm the acid in my poor little stomach. And all of that does an ok job, but sometimes it just doesn't work. Sometimes....nothing works! And if you have acid reflux or GERD, you know the scenario. It is a constant cycle of medicine and being depressed about your body letting you down once again. So, this past year, I have been searching for something to be my cure-all. I had long grown tired of paying for all the promises of a normal digestion process and I have also been worrying about what all those items are doing to me internally. I have read and heard that Prilosec dissolves the lining of your stomach. Is that what we really want? I know I don't. And so I began my little quest to find something that was effective and yet affordable. I had tried eating differently, but there were days that a glass of water gave me heartburn. I tried eating at different times. I canceled items from my diet. I took digestive supplements. I went gluten-free for 6 weeks and I lost 8 pounds and had more energy, but still had heartburn. I sucked on lemons. I staggered taking the medicine (Prilosec) and the vitamins. Nothing seemed to work till I walked into a local health food store one day and told them of my quandary. They showed me two items. I bought one. The wrong one. It was for calming the acid in my body. It was expensive and tasted terrible. It had a whole side full of promises. The product should run for office because it broke them all. And then I gave up. I went back on Prilosec, carried my Tums, and the other 1000 other products. It was just my burden to bare. Some people are fighting terrible things like Dementia or Cancer. All I've got is some hellacious heartburn that keeps me up about 2-3 nights a week. What did I have to gripe about. Then...

   Then I remembered through some sort of sleep-deprived fog that there had been a second product sitting in the "digestion aid" section of the health food store. I had foolishly said no. And that product was apple cider vinegar. I went downstairs, rummaged through the pantry, found the apple cider vinegar, poured a little in a cup, mixed it with some cold water, drank it down, and shivered like I'd seen a ghost, and tried not to throw up. And then something almost miraculous happened. My throat opened up and then I suddenly didn't have any heartburn or acid racing up my throat. It was wonderful. I would have shouted with full-throated glee if it hadn't been 3:30 in the morning and my son had just fallen back to sleep. The next day, I looked up apple cider vinegar to see if it was okay to consume it and discovered that some people drink it three times a day and consider it to be a necessary part of life. I figured they were just trying to sell a product and then the night came again and brought with it heartburn and I once again drank the cup of apple cider vinegar and sat back in full astonishment. The stuff really worked. It was nasty. It was terrible, but for 10 seconds of taste discomfort, I could sleep ALL night! I was hooked. The next day I went to the health food store and purchased a 32 oz. bottle of Bragg's Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. It was a wise and good investment. 

    Since I purchased the bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar, I have been amazed at all the aliments that it is supposed to help with. There are places and sources that claim it will help you with everything from diabetes to obesity. Some sources, like the "ever-truthful" WebMD makes note that many of the claims made about the wonders of apple cider vinegar have not been studied with evidence to prove if they are indeed truthful or just claims. All I really know or care about for the moment is that it has really helped with my heartburn. I am not completely cured in anyway, but since I have purchased my bottle of vinegar (for $6) I have only taken 4 Prilosec tablets which cost about a $1 a piece. In a monetary sense, I have saved myself around $32 dollars, or if you want to be nit-picky about things, I guess I have actually only saved $26. I will add that I have now begun to sleep well on many nights because I will muscle down my little, terrible concoction of apple cider vinegar and cold water and then I won't have to worry about being woken up by acid racing up the back of my throat. (I know WTMI!). I will also say that it has been around a full month and I have not gone through my first bottle. And apple cider vinegar is from apples. I know where they grow them and that an apple is supposed to go into my body and my body knows what to do with it. I am not fully sure what some of the ingredients that are in Prilosec actually are or how they make berry-flavored Tums without actually using berry juice and I feel pretty good about saying that those items were never meant to enter my body and my body can deal with them, but doesn't want to have to. It's like the over-talked about idea of a zombie apocalypse,  we don't want to live through that, but are pretty sure we would know what to do. 

    I plan on continuing my apple cider vinegar regiment. I hate the taste, but I hate heartburn or GERD so much worse. If you have heartburn or GERD, I would give it a try. I would suggest buying an organic and unfiltered vinegar, so you can get the full affects. And if you do try it, I hope it gives you some comfort when you, like me, are standing in your kitchen over the sink at 4 am with hellacious heartburn and all you really want to do is be able to climb back into bed so you won't be miserable at work or treat your family members poorly because you have acid racing up the back of your throat and they don't know or really understand. 

David

   

How to Get Ready to Run 3.1 Miles in Just 30 Days

   We, the good ole' folks at Hines Terrace Herald, are going into unknown territory and hoping for the best.  No, we aren't going to give you a good quality blog post for a change for those whose minds instantly went there, but rather we are hosting our very own 5k race. And we are chartering new ground here because we aren't charging a cent for it! If you want to think of us as going rogue or being the"Jack Bauer's" of the racing community, we'd like that very much. Our little race is named the First Annual Hot Cocoa Invitational 5k and if you click on the link, you can find all the info. about it, sitting right there at the end of your fingertips. Now, please don't confuse us with the very large racing series that is the, Hot Chocolate 15k/5k: America's Sweetest Race, that is hitting the country in 7 large cities and charging a cool $45 to run 3 miles or $65 to run 9.3 miles. We ARE NOT them and they ARE NOT us! If you think we are the same, you will be greatly disappointed. There are some similarities and there are some very large differences. We both will have a race. We will both have hot cocoa waiting at the end. We both may have an official timing apparatus. We will have a bonfire. They won't. They will have a chocolate fountain. We won't. We will both have water and Gatorade to drink. We will be showing a Christmas movie. They won't. They will have bands. We may be blaring Christmas music from our TV courtesy of Mel's Pandora station. They will probably have several live bands. We will offer one bathroom. They will probably have 100 porta-johns. Their race will cost you a lot of money. Our race is free (I think, but we'd all better check the fine print). If you get hurt at that race, you could probably sue them and not have to work for as long as Guiding Light was on tv. If you get hurt at our race, it wouldn't do to sue us because you currently have more money on the floor of your car than we have stashed away. And lastly, we'll have this guy. And they won't!

   So...now you have a race to get ready for. The next step is now you need to train. And finding the right type of plan is key. If you are a beginner, the plan I will highlight is perfect for you. If you get paid to run and you walk around and are known as an" elite runner" or a "professional runner" or one of the constant contributors to the forums at letsrun.com, then the plan I am highlighting will either insult you or cause you to fly into great rage at how running has been turned over to ever disgusting "hobby jogger" who has the audacity to run for fun! Gasp! How dare they! I believe there are two important keys to training and the first is a good set of shoes and the second is to never try to make your body do too much too soon. It will rebel and it will not be nice or merciful. It is also important to follow the plan so that you look like this on race day

and not like this

And we here at HTH want your training to look like this

and not like this

  So...let's get to the plan and away from the silly pics, right? Well, here it is. This training schedule is a run/walk to continuous running program. Each week, you'll  increase your running distance and the time you spend running. After thirty days of consistent training, you should be able to run the whole 3.1 mile distance without taking a walking break. However, if you do have to take a walking break during your race that is more than fine and Olympian Jeff Galloway would encourage it. He does. Here is the plan we here at HTH are getting behind:

Week 1:

Day 1: Run 10 minutes, walk 1 min – repeat 2 times 

Day 2: Rest or cross-train 

Day 3: Run 12 minutes, walk 1 min – repeat 2 times 

Day 4: Rest 

Day 5: Run 13 minutes, walk 1 min – repeat 2 times 

Day 6: Rest or cross-train 

Day 7: Rest 

Week 2:

Day 1: Run 15 minutes, walk 1 min - repeat 2 times 

Day 2: Rest or cross-train 

Day 3: Run 17 minutes, walk 1 min, run 7 min 

Day 4: Rest 

Day 5: Run 19 minutes, walk 1 min, run 7 min 

Day 6: Rest or cross-train

Day 7: Rest 

Week 3: 

Day 1: Run 20 minutes, walk 1 min, run 6 min 

Day 2: Rest or cross-train 

Day 3: Run 24 minutes 

Day 4: Rest 

Day 5: Run 26 minutes 

Day 6: Rest or cross-train 

Day 7: Rest 

Week 4:

Day 1: Run 28 minutes 

Day 2: Rest or cross-train 

Day 3: Run 30 minutes 

Day 4: Rest 

Day 5: Run 20 minutes 

Day 6: Rest 

Day 7: Race! Run 3.1 miles 

   We don't promise a World Record out of this training schedule, but we do promise that if you follow it, it will get you across the finish line like Billy Mills

and into the arms of a nice piping hot cup of homemade hot cocoa and maybe even a napkin full of sweet treats. And that is what our race is really going to be about or at least that's what we're hoping.

Happy reading, training, running, and hopefully in 30 days, racing,

David

Thursday's Wisdom for Writing

    I moved my Wednesday post to Thursday for this week due to the election. I wanted the results (of which I don't know at this time) to be able to sink in without much or any comments coming from us at HTH. I will say that today's excerpts from Steinbeck's, Journal of a Novel, seem very applicable to our current state of affairs.This shouldn't surprise me, but it always seems to. Truth when spoken clearly is timeless. Or better put by our favorite Miss O'Connor,  “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” I hope that you, the loyal reader, are enjoying these excerpts and that they are helping you in either your writing life or in your thoughts. I know I am still gleaning so much from them. Well, without further adieu , let us delve back into Mr. Steinbeck.

"Reflection is no bad thing although I must say in this time it is not a popular pastime." pg. 60

"If a man has too pat a style, his reader can after a little time keep ahead of him. I mean the reader will know what is coming by how it is done." pg. 62

"I did not get far from the book. I have thought of little else. It's strange how one can become so obsessed that there is always the double thing--the book and whatever else is going on and both running parallel. I guess it has to be that way." pg. 64-65

"Since you told me what the girl said about wanting to get on with the story and not stop for comment, I have thought a good deal about that. It is going to be one of the most constant criticisms of this book. People are insistent to get on with their lives too and not to think about them." pg. 65

(This next one is long. Take the time to read it. Maybe even read it twice.)

"You have said and Harold has often said that a big book is more important and has more authority than a short book. There are exceptions of course but it is very nearly always true. I have tried to find a reasonable explanation for this and at last have come up with my theory, to wit: The human mind, particularly in the present, is troubled and fogged and bee-stung with a thousand little details from taxes to war worry to the price of meat. All these usually get together and result in a man's fighting with his wife because  that is the easiest channel of relief from inner unrest. Now--we must think of a book as a wedge driven into a man's personal life. A short book would be in and out quickly. And it is possible for such a wedge to open the mind and do its work before it is withdrawn leaving quivering nerves and cut tissue. A long book, on the other hand, drives in very slowly and if only in point of time remains for a while. Instead of cutting and leaving, it allows the mind to rearrange itself to fit around the wedge. Let's carry this analogy a little farther. When the quick wedge is withdrawn, the tendency of the mind is quickly to heal itself exactly as it was before the attack. With the long book perhaps the healing has been warped around the shape of wedge so that when the wedge is finally withdrawn and the book set down, the mind cannot be quite what is was before." pg. 66-67

"I am learning how specialized I am and also that the degree of specialization is also the degree of limitations. Let me give you an example of what I mean. Let me give you an example of what I mean. When I work on a book to this extent and with this concentration, it means that I am living another life." pg. 67

"It has been a good day of work with no harm in it. I have sat long over the desk and the pencil felt good in my hand" pg. 68

"Then I forced the work and it was as false and labored and foolish as anything I have ever seen. I tried to kid myself that it only seemed bad, but it really was bad. So out it goes. and what do you suppose could have caused it? I just don't know." pg. 71

Happy reading and writing,

  David

Some Election Day Thoughts

"Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belongs wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him." --Daniel 2:21-23

"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgement." --Romans 13:1-2

        Elections always conjure up the best in people and countries and the worst in both people and countries. I will not attempt to add to this year's election doublespeak, but simply want to say what appears in the Bible over 100 times and that is: DO NOT FEAR. I think we as Christians can take great comfort that each of the above verses where written by men who lived under governments (the Babylonians and the Roman Empire) that make anything that the American government has done look like we have a Theocracy in comparison. I have felt for a very long time that whether you are a conservative or a liberal, you deal heavily in fear. We quickly forget the history that has preceded us or the fact that our country has endured much harder times or much more trying issues than now or at least as tough as now. We must not speak, think, or live in a constant state of historical snobbery. We are not the first to feel the weight of trying to do good in a world that is evil. We are not the first to wish for truth to triumph over lies. We are not the first to wish for freedom over tyranny. We must not fear. We must not coware. We must not shy away. We must not attempt to defend what is right or attempt to define what is right. God needs no defender. God needs no counselor. He is not scared of or unprepared for the future. He will not be surprised about the election results. He is simply not surprised. I would say this is a great comfort and an even greater peace. 

    I would also caution against thinking that this election is the, "most important election in your lifetime", or "that all politics is about hate and fear mongering nowadays". We must not forget that the campaigns of the early 1800's used much of the rhetoric that is used today and called divisive. Politics are competitions and in every competitions there are winners, losers, and sides to be taken, opinions to be had, and lines drawn in proverbial sands. We must also not forget that we are not too far removed from senators beating each other to death inside the hallowed, ruling chambers or challenging each other to duels where one of the members actually died. So...a few lies being aired on nightly television may not be right or may be a little or very unsettling for either side, but it is nothing new. And the topics are always the same. We have been griping or fighting taxes since before the country began. There has always been a country trying to knock us over or squash our power or make us frightful. Are we so removed from our fear of the USSR, or Vietnam, or from Germany, or from Japan, or from England chasing our soldiers down and burning our capital? I don't feel like we are. There will always be a country that is gunning for us. Isn't that how all of life works? You acquire a target on your back the minute you become a leader. Have we not been trying to define terms like marriage and family since the 1950's or really before? Have we not been holding onto and fighting for the values, rights, and laws contained in the Bill of Rights, since they were signed in 1792? Haven't we been arguing on being in debt since we borrowed the money from France to begin this great experiment called America? Do we not remember that the it was just 50 years ago that many in this country were trying to say that one color was more important or their lives where more or less valuable than others? Is that so different from our fight for all life? I would feel very comfortable in saying that there isn't one topic that is being argued during the current election that has not been, in its most basic sense, argued and fought over in every election we've ever had. 

    I would say every election is important. We are a relatively young country and to me, it seems we are still trying to say what we are. We are a country like no other one in the world. We are not a monarchy, an oligarchy, a theocracy, or an aristocracy. We are a representative republic that is represented by our own people. If you really think about it. That is the most crazy idea of all. We let our own everyday people rule us and that is decided by our own everyday people. We are the great experiment and what we are studying is being tried everyday. Some days it works like nothing has ever worked or will ever work again. Some days it doesn't work and fails us and the world around us, but there is nothing better. Yes, today's election is very important, but it is no more important than the last 43 presidential elections. And the outcome should not make us wonder either. Are we not voting for someone who is a mirror image of what our country is into office? Is it really surprising to anyone that the same people who have chosen to be blind and irresponsible consumers and users of almost every thing else in their lives have also become blind and irresponsible consumers of politics and their own freedoms? 

“I apprehend no danger to our country from a foreign foe . . . Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the instruments of their own undoing. Make them intelligent, and they will be vigilant; give them the means of detecting the wrong, and they will apply the remedy.” ― Daniel Webster

“Democracy... while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide.” 
― John Adams

“The proper function of a government is to make it easy for the people to do good, and difficult for them to do evil. ” 
― Daniel Webster

Do not fear and do not give up the ship,

  David