REZ LIFE

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Tis the Season...

...for elections!

We recently received letters in the mail telling us that we must join either the Republican or Democratic party to participate in the upcoming primary elections in Arizona. We are both registered independents or "no party". I used to be a registered Republican, but as an avid outdoorsman I found it best to distance myself from them a little. Support for the second amendment does not make a party "pro-outdoors". I won't even touch the weightier issues right now.
Anyway, I was wondering if any of you out there could weigh in with some valuable insight. First of all we were appalled at this rule that would force us to join one of these parties to be able to vote. We value the right to vote in our great country, especially in light of so many people throughout the world bearing the brunt of the consequences of political unrest. Democracy in the US may not be perfect but it does seem to work better than say Pakistan or Nepal. We also found that Arizona is not alone with this rule but many states force voters to choose a party for the primaries. Our question is why. Is there rationale for this? Please help us understand.

This is a big concern for us because one of our favorite candidates is a Democrat, and we are not overly excited to register as Democrats.
Who do you all like? Go ahead and make an intelligent case for your favorite.
I'm leaning toward Obama. Is it worth joining the Democrats to vote for who I think is authentic, intelligent, and capable. I know you might argue that he lacks experience, but couldn't this be a good thing in light of the experience of Rumsfield and Cheaney?
I'm also starting to like Huckabee more and more. Is it worth joining the Republicans to vote for a guy who seems to be down-to-earth and unafraid to tackle issues of faith?
Romney has the most hair, so he will probably win.
We appreciate any insights anyone has about the always entertaining season of elections.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

In Honor of a Vagabond

His life is the open road.
He has no permanent abode.

He student-taught on the rez in the 2000th year.
He's been known to frequent San Felipe's for a beer.

He once strolled through Frisco in a tight pink shirt.
He can just as easily imitate Jeremiah Johnson on the mountain dirt.

He taught English for a year in South Korea.
He once wooed a Mexican girl named Maria.

He belts out the lyrics of Haggard and Cash.
He believes the current political scene is all trash.

Math is his main game.
Students he teaches are never the same.

He's living on coffee and dreams.
He's trying to show that inner city LA is not as it seems.

His book is about to come out.
It will be entertaining without a doubt.

This wandering man is Dan.
He is living some of the secret dreams of everyman.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

We hope that you all are having a joyful Christmas.


We organized a Christmas Eve candlelight service. This was our first choir experience. Isn't the pink oh so stylish?