Civics 101

This past week I received in the mail my renewal notice for my membership in the ACLU.  It seemed to be an appropriate week for this as this was the week that letters were sent out from the federal government informing all federal employees of a ban on reading any of the information put out by Wikileaks.  Employees were not only banned from reading this on government-issued computers, which, while silly, would seem fair, but also banned from reading such information on private computers in private homes.  And the Air Force, not yet content, blocked The New York Times from its computers, because this august paper printed some of the leaked material.

Mind you, I am not condoning what Assange did.  Releasing classified information just because one can, without any thought of consequences or appropriateness is hardly cheer-worthy.  And, though I've read a fair bit about this information, I've not read the releases themselves, nor do I wish to; my guess is that much of what I'd read would prove soporific, interspersed, perhaps, with a tantalizing tidbit or two.

The content itself isn't what interests me.  This material has been published in numerous publications, in whole or part, publications read widely and available to huge portions of the world population.  But our government, the same government which rails against government-sponsored censorship elsewhere and which erects monuments to freedom, has, in effect, told a significant part of the populace not to read the newspaper and varied thoughtful magazines, or at least those parts of such materials that contain leaked information.  Apart from the absurdity of this ban (if I pull up The New York Times on my computer and some of this information is on the front page, but I avert my eyes, am I guilty of breaking the ban just because the page was in front of me?), the larger question looms.  While I was busy trying to avoid banned material, did I manage to miss the repeal of the First Amendment?

partying

This past weekend I had a holiday party.  I've thrown a holiday party many times so I have it down to something of a science:  Decorate the house the weekend after Thanksgiving, shop the weekend before the party (liquor store and sundries on Sat., food stores on Sun.), have the house cleaned the week before and spend every evening that week cooking.  By Sat., I have a little last minute food prep, I polish silver, set out all glasses, plates, etc., and take a long nap.  A half-hour before the party begins, I have all the food out and sit down with a glass of wine for 15 minutes before lighting the candles.

If this sounds like a lot of work, it is, but it's also tremendous fun.  This year, my friend David came over one night and helped me make rum balls and vegetarian enchiladas.  We rarely get to see each other so this was a night filled with laughter and great stories ... and oh yes - cooking.  Then my friend Holly came over another night to help me make rugelach and pickled shrimp.  The cooking flew by as we shared stories from the heart and competed to see who has been the goofiest in love.

The party itself is a blur of treasured friends dressed to the nines and promises to get together more often in the new year.  Although many of the people there knew none of the other guests, or only one other person, the conversation approached dangerous decibel levels in no time.  I don't expect people who met here to become fast friends (though that happened last year), but I do expect that next year they'll be thrilled to see each other again.

One day at lunch recently, some of my work friends and I decided to "put on a show" and I suggested that it be performed at my party.  One woman sang, another danced an Indian dance with her husband, a trio played guitar and dulcimer and we ended with a skit about Festivus.  I knew my work friends would thoroughly enjoy performing (there was great enthusiasm at our lunchtime rehearsals) but as the date grew near, I began to worry that the rest of my friends would find this hokey or boring.  Silly me!  There was rousing applause after each "act" and when I looked out at the faces of those watching us perform they were filled with joy and delight.

Often, by the day of the party, I'm a little tired and sometimes I wonder why I do this.  Then I watch all these people whom I love so dearly delight in each others' company, gobble up the mounds of food I prepared, and hear them talk about how happy they are to have an occasion to wear long gowns and shove their husbands into tuxes, and I wonder why I would ever stop doing this.

The day following the party, a friend sent me an e-mail thanking me for "an awesome party".  I responded with total honesty when I told her that the reason the party was awesome is that I have awesome friends - friends who are bright and fun and interested in all the good and bad and wackiness this world has to offer.  To all my guests, past and future, thank YOU.

Happy Yule

Spent the day cooking, cooking, and drinking wine.  Okay, just the evening, not the whole day.

Susan with the ATWT stars

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