OBAMA READS UNVETTED MAIL

I recently learned that Barack Obama, ever since day two of his presidency, reads 10 "unvetted" letters each day.

I hadn't heard about "un-vetted" things, till McCain picked Sarah Palin without having her thoroughly checked by his campaign managers. "Worknik," an online dictionary, says "unvetted" has been looked up recently, 494 times, and generally refers to an appraisal by a veterinarian. (I'm chuckling -- a vet might have warned us that Palin's bark is worse that her bite.)

A black binder "briefing book" arrives every evening at the White House before 8 p.m. President Obama takes it upstairs to begin his nightly reading. The book contains printouts of speeches, policy recommendations and scheduling notes -- also a purple folder, which Obama often reads first.

A memorandum is clipped to the purple folder. "Per your request, we have attached 10 pieces of unvetted correspondence addressed to you."

What it means to me is that the man, the guy, the confident, energetic Obama who ran for President despite all the negative comments -- it won't work, it'll never happen, it's impossible, you don't have a chance -- and ugly remarks, attacks on him as a Black, threats against him and his family -- the man in the White House is still the same strong, confident, energetic guy.

It's hard to believe; but it's ... well ... it's reassuring, affirming, to have this bit of news tucked away in my side pocket (along with pictures of T-shirts printed with Psalm 109.8, willing wearers to assassinate Obama and his family.)

It means Obama is un-wavering in his goals, despite a very difficult year. The things that would confuse me, depress me, make me question what I'm doing -- polls, and the poorly functioning, stalled Congress -- are not distracting him.

What the President did with Health Care Reform was what he decided he had to do.

I think it means that Obama is not thinking about himself, and a second term. He is focused on what he knows the country needs

My sister Doro, my housekeeper, is Black. (I call her "my sister" because she is my sister and friend.) I hear her, nowadays, repeating what she's heard from other Blacks and the television news -- "Obama isn't doing what he promised. He isn't helping us."

I've told her, firmly, strongly -- he is. Doro nods, but doesn't believe me. She can't see the changes, or feel them. Although almost everything in her home-life is subsidized by the city, state and federal government, she is uneducated, stuck in the way that her family, her friends, her neighbors, and their friends and neighbors are stuck.

Yes, Em, her white sister, has told her about the unvetted letters, and I will keep telling her about the other ways Barack Obama is helping us at home and abroad -- saying "Thank God, thank you, and all the Americans who voted for him -- we have a great leader, a man we can trust in the White House.

SPOONS

Putting winter clothes away, I found a scarf -- a favorite floaty, embroidered, blue one, that I've looked for dozens of times. I was sure it was lost and gone forever!

There it was, on the floor of the closet, not difficult to see!

I wore it -- you can't see it, but it was there around my neck, as we remembered what happened when we couldn't find one of our serving spoons.

STEVE JOBS

His Apple iPad is now in stores, being applauded, frowned at, wondered about, as people are standing in line, waiting to buy it.

The iPad hype is: "YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT. YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT."

I am a FROWNER. Sit back, and hear my little story.

I had my first "writing aid" machine in the early 70's when I was rising, not there, but ascending to the top, the pinnacle of my dancer-performer days.

On a transcontinental tour, I'd written a journal on a portable typewriter, as we drove from one performance to the next. The journal wasn't publishable, but a literary agent friend liked it, and said, "Em, you ought to write a novel."

Arranging performances for my Dance Drama Company, I'd discovered the Friden Flexowriter. (It had computer abilities before computers were in the marketplace.) It automatically typed my basic "selling" letter, but paused for inserts. I wrote to colleges -- sent out 3000 "personal" letters twice-a-year, inserting the college president's name and address, and possible dates for a performance there.

Thinking I might be a writer someday, looking into new technology to see if there was anything to help me with my 6000 "selling" letters, I fell in love with an Exxon Qyx typewriter -- it displayed what you typed in a box -- you could fix typos, save a corrected paragraph on it's 3-inch disk.

I bought 10 disks and started a novel. A month later, I traded the Qyx for Exxon's Vydec "Word Processor" -- a huge green monster with an 18" x 18" black screen that displayed a full page -- 46 lines!

"Dar- ling - you - ere - grow - ing - old... " I'm singing, remembering how wonderful it was -- to be able to write, edit, and save a entire chapter on an 8-inch Vydec disk! Because of the Vydec, I was able to write, polish, and sell 90 pages of a first novel, and get an advance from Bantam Books.

Then I saw the first IBM portable computer. It weighed 27 lbs., but I could take it with me on tour. The 5" x 7" brown screen with orange letters wasn't lovely, but it had a "hard drive" that could hold an entire novel. Wow! With a printer, and Word Perfect Version 01, I could cut, paste, and edit a book.

"Dar- ling - you - are - grow - ing - old.....silver - threads - among - the - gold ..." There I was in the early 80's, dancing, and on the verge of getting my first novel published.

Time marches on. Various faster, larger PC's have come and gone; it's a Word Perfect 14 now, on 3 computers that sit near my dear old Vydec desk -- a glamorous, expensive, curved 9 ft. slab of beige Formica, that surrounds me in a semi circle.

Today, thrill is in the air, because of .Steve Jobs. "HOW HE WILL REVOLUTIONIZE READING, WATCHING, COMPUTING, GAMING AND SILICON VALLEY is on the cover of Newsweek. Steve Jobs' face (slightly reminiscent of Charlton Heston's "Moses"), is the cover of Time. Both magazines contain respectful, admiring biographies of Jobs, the innovator.

But the computer machines I used -- Flexowriter, Qyx, Vydec, IBM existed before the young Jobs was working in his garage, inventing the Mac. (No wonder, I'm prickly about the hullabaloo over "innovative" Steve.)

Yes, "... you - are - grow - ing - old... " I sing, aware that Apple's Steve Jobs and Microsoft's Bill Gates are also growing old.

Our Mac Os X Leopard annoys me -- there's no "right" click, and if you want to delete a line you have to backspace. Yes, we can make movies, and create music on it, but editing, cutting, pasting is much faster and easier on a PC.

And I don't like the hymns of praise all over the media, the braggadocio of "APPLE DOESN'T ASK PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT, IT TELLS THEM WHAT THEY'RE GOING TO WANT NEXT."

It's fascistic! Sure, the Apple guys are glowing, thrilled, proud -- they feel they're introducing the home computer to millions of homes that never could afford them. But that's baloney. A basic iPad costs $500 (plus tax); and at that price, it is NOT able to do what a computer -- my cheap $600 one, or my $1400 expensive one, or our $2000 Mac -- can do.

"THINK REALLY DIFFERENT" says Newsweek. "THE IPAD WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU USE COMPUTERS, READ BOOKS, AND WATCH TV, AS LONG AS YOU'RE WILLING TO DO IT THE STEVE JOBS WAY."

I object! I say NO! And I'm not alone -- there are other guys, young and old, who do not want to be forced into the Steve Jobs or the, Bill Gate style, or the style of any of their brilliant brainy buddies such as Paul Allen or Steve Wozniak.

Okay, so with your iPad you can turn the page, read back-lit, bright, easy to read published things, and download tons of apps-apps-apps. And it can be your be-all-end-all, beloved, one-and-only tool, but remember, Apple and Jobs are in the money-making biz.

Yes ..."Dar- ling - you - ere - grow - ing ... out of date, but beware, folks -- don't rush out and grab this shiny new Apple before its ripe.

KRISTIE ALLEY

I loved her in the TV show "Cheers," loved her in "Look Who's Talkimg, "the movie she did with John Travolta, and "Veronica's Closet," the television show she did about high fashion.

(I remember wild, wonderful outfits she wore, her marvelous, different colored hairdos, remembering the ease with which she went from comedy to believable real tears.)

Kristie Alley has a "Helen of Troy" something about her -- she's a face and a spirit that's launched a thousand ships/projects/fans. And never really fails -- when she was the spokeswoman for Jennie Craig and got replaced, I figured "too bad for Jennie -- Kristie's on to other things.

But ...

I avoid her Scientology connection. We had a seriously ailing actress friend who was being "cleared" by a Scientologist, and she kept giving the Church most of her earnings instead of consulting an MD. Also, other friends, claiming ecstatically that they've found themselves through Scientology, pressed us, "You ought to come to a meeting!"

What we've heard and read about L. Ron Hubbard inspired us to keep away.

So Kristie's relationship to her religion I brush aside, as I do with some of her outrageous actions that have been publicized, about her marriages, divorces, and emotional ups and downs.

I'm a fan. She's fascinating, and unpredictable. Whenever I hear her name, I want to know what's the latest news -- what's she's doing now?

Hurray, I thought as I tuned in the "Larry King" show, and there she was, chatting about her new television show, "Big Life," and "Organic Liaison," her weight loss program.

I cringed a little. "Organic" is attached to many foods that aren't particularly healthy, though it implies that everything about the food is pure and good for you. And "liaison" suggests a close relationship, connection, rapport.

Off to YouTube.com I went, to see Episode One, of "Big Life."

There she was -- very large, voluptuous, in a lavender satin gown with her bosom overflowing the gown's lavender bra-cups -- blond Kristie Alley, in her down-to-earth, way that makes you feel she's a personal friend -- explaining that "Organic Liaison" was a sure-fire way of gaining good health, and achieving weight loss.

I couldn't nod.

Was it the script? She delivered it perfectly, but the speech, the promo was glossy excessive, like a dozen other products that are sold after midnight, when air time is cheaper. And the table with her products -- lavender, pink and blue be-ribboned bottles and flagons -- "drink me" potions that she said would help you curb your appetite, lose weight, sleep and feel better about everything." .
.. it was right out of Alice in Wonderland ...

Episode One of "Big Life:" Kristie, blubbery fat, in a homebody's smock, was caring for her pets, rambling on about her diet/weight travails. It was in three parts. I turned it off after part one. It was boring...

I watched some of Episode Two. It was boring.

Well ... I'm a fan and a fan is a fan. Kristie-Helen of Troy-Alley will more than likely surprise us with who-knows-what -- she's magical, inventive, creative, and not done with trying a new something on top and over the top that'll grab us, get us laughing and crying and applauding.