I do tend to go off on rants quite often. I am a very liberal woman, with very liberal ideas. But, I do have to draw the line somewhere. One place I draw it is a lot of modern pop culture---the "High School Musical," Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brother shilling suits out there who are selling everything from pencils to clothes to our kids with this crap on them. And kids think they HAVE to have them!! OH MY GOD!!! I HAVE to see Miley Cyrus!!! Tickets are only $125!!!! Come on, Mom, Dad. I HAVE to go. EVERYBODY is going!

Well, my kids aren't going. My kids, thank whatever good sense all of us have together, have not fallen prey to all this hype. They have never had to have the latest fashions or the hottest new electronics or go to these ridiculous concerts. They have better sense, and taste than that. Just look at this picture....look at the lengths some morons will go to so that precious Pookie poo gets whatever she wants....well guess what Daddums.....the rest of the world will not be so kind. Some day Pookie will have to get a job and fend for herself. What will you have taught her? That the world will roll over and give her everything she wants. Welcome to the welfare state, Pookie.

Well, for all my pissing and moaning, I could never say all I want to quite as eloquently as Chez, so I will direct you here.....enjoy the venom and the truth.... http://www.deusexmalcontent.com/2008/04/kids-incorporated.html

With many thanks to PissBoy, a salute to one of my all-time favorite websites......got this to wear on TV, before CBS decided I wasn't good enough for them!!!!


If you haven't visited Pajiba, you don't know what you are missing. Not for the faint of heart......keep tongue firmly in cheek....

http://www.pajiba.com/

Ok, in my last post, I alluded to a local town that I thought had been named for the Klan. That was the lore in my family. A friend of mine has corrected me. Thanks, Mr. Snopes. You know who you are!

I want to also direct anyone reading this to the new Rush County Players blog, "If it ain't yours, don't touch it!" This will talk about our shows and what is going on with RCP, both on and off stage. We want to keep people informed.

As for me, I am still getting random comments everywhere I go. I have now been asked to head up Obama's campaign in Rush County. Very cool, but WHEN!!!!. I feel like Ado Annie....you know...."I'm just a girl who cain't say NO!" I am involved in so much STUFF right now!!!! But, my first priorities (besides the kids and work) have got to be RCP and the Amphitheatre committee. As a matter of fact, we have a committee meeting tomorrow night. I HAVE to talk to the Pork Producers, I HAVE to get letters out for donations, HAVE to find out about sumo suits.......crap!!! Way too friggin' much to do.....but you what? shhhhh don't tell anybody.......I love this. I always wanted to be involved, and I never got asked to do anything. I am so happy to be involved in my hometown. Yes, I know it is a black hole, sucking the life out of everyone and everything around....but, damn it, I want to make it the best black hole I can!!!! God, I sound like a member of the NWA (no, not THEM--- the Neighborhood Watch Association in "Hot Fuzz"!!!!)

I don't think there are any gypsies in my basement.....

Alrighty, where did I leave off? Oh, yeah, Muncie. Yup, home of Ball U. We were to attend a "Town Hall" with Sen. Obama on the Ball State campus and have a lunch, not a dinner, with him afterward. We would be staying in a hotel in Muncie (location undisclosed for security reasons).

Therefore.....my glamorous flight and stay in an out of town hotel and fancy schmancy dinner had turned into a drive up State Road 3 and a lunch. But, that's ok. I was still going to be dining, and having a chance to talk with, my choice for President. Still pretty cool for a little ol' girl from a little ol' hick town.

I overslept Friday, because I couldn't sleep. Too many things running thru my mind. Two of my best friends came over Thursday night to help put a gift pak together, consisting of various Rush County items (Wendell Willkie's book, a Rush County Players T-shirt and membership, stained glass ornaments, Colts paraphernalia, etc) which made me run late coloring my hair, which meant I didn't get my packing done, which meant I had to do that after work, even though I had to pick Steven up from track practice at 5......all after I worked all day Friday, too.

I am supposed to check in to the hotel by 8 and I manage to get there just about 8.....still forgetting things at home. My key is waiting at the desk, and I drag my crap up to my room. I am STARVING by this time, and there is a Mancino's just up the street, so I decide to run over there for a bite. When I step out of my room, a woman steps out of hers just a couple doors down also. We look at each other and instantly recognize one another. She is Raissa Dorff, another "selectee" from New York. We introduce ourselves and hug. I find out the group is meeting in the lobby later to eat and talk. I was going to bring my Hawaiian pizza back to my room to eat and read Chez Pazienza's book "Dead Star Twilight," but I decide I need to meet the other diners.

I order my pie and decide to have a beer while I wait. That's when I run into Paul Deery, another "selectee" from Easton PA. He had basically the same idea, but is also bringing a six pack for later. Once my pizza arrives, I grab a six pack of Mike's Hard Cranberry Lemonade and head back. In the lobby, I meet Alisha Cordell from Raleigh, NC and Ben Cherry from Albuquerque, NM. We all hit it off really well. We sit, talk, drink, take pictures and generally act like we have known each other for ages. We seem to make a really good group. We may be randomly chosen, but we mesh very well. We also start to notice more and more security. Secret Service guys (and gals) in their "Men in Black" suits and earpieces. US Marshalls in their scary jumpsuits with serious looking guns and billy clubs. They wander around, looking in the hallways, peering out the doors, going out in front, talking to the front desk staff. After a while it dawns on us. The Senator is staying HERE! With US! Alisha and I decide to take up a position at the computer at the front of the lobby, so we can see out the window. Surely enough, about 10:30 PM, in rolls the motorcade. The Senator gets out, strolls into the lobby and takes time to speak to darn near everyone in sight. Very gracious and friendly, wonderful first impression. We have to wait 10 minutes to go up to our rooms, but when we do, there are Secret Service agents in front of his door at the end of the hall. All night, I hear SS patrolling the hall, and even one on the roof. Weird, like living in an episode of "24." If only Jack Bauer were there, it would have been perfect.....

The next morning, eating breakfast, after a long, sleepless night (thanks for keeping me company, Chez) we watch the staffers and press that accompany the Senator load up and get ready to move out. They have an amazing amount of luggage. It is all laid out on the floor, and one marshall scans it with a hand scanner, while another brings in "the bomb dog." Doggie sniff, doggie wag tail. No bomb. What is really odd is that in all this bag searching, NO ONE has ever even thought about looking at any of our bags, patting us down or anything. After the luggage goes out, they start to clear out their workroom......lots of snack food and pop comes out on luggage carts.....and lots, and lots, and LOTS of BEER!!! WOO-HOO!!! We are hopeful this is for our lunch!!!

Our staffer, Herbie, comes to get us. Herbie is best described by saying he IS Michael J. Fox's character from "Spin City." If you haven't seen it, look it up. It's him, I swear. We are loaded into the motorcade in the cold wind and pouring rain. Alisha, from North Carolina, and Ben, from New Mexico, are somewhat appalled by the weather. Paul, from Pennsylvania, Raissa, from New York and I tell them this is pretty much normal....Indiana weather is like a box of chocolates....some are good, but a lot of it sucks. They have blocked off the streets between the hotel and the auditorium, so we drive like a bat out of hell. Steve, our driver, a retired BSU prof., is obviously enjoying his job! We are all laughing hysterically at the absurdity of being in this speeding motorcade, just because we gave very minor contributions (our contributions total $165, I have been told).

Walking into the auditorium is like walking into a rock concert. It is packed to the rafters with cheering fans. Huge homemade signs hang everywhere. All variety of Obama T-shirts are all over the place. Every color of face, all ages.....its a great sight to see. The Senator is introduced to a standing, cheering, screaming, singing crowd. He acknowledges everyone, asks them all to please sit, and commences to speak directly to the hearts and minds of this crowd for the next 2 hours. He has answers to the questions they ask, including a 10 year old boy, speaks without notes (although I am sure a LOT of preparation goes into his speeches) and really moves people. Black, white, Hispanic....I have never seen such a diverse crowd so moved. I have never seen older white men throw their hands in the air like a black grandmother at a revival. One older white man, gnarled with arthritis, struggles to stand and cheer with each point made. Two girls stand to ask questions about family farms. One girl points to her parents beside her...they are 3rd generation family farmers....in Indiana.....at a rally for a black Democratic Presidential candidate. If you are not from Indiana or the Midwest, I just don't know if I can convey to you how huge this is. This is an are that was so entrenched in the KKK not that many years back that a nearby town is named for it. Black populations in the smaller towns around where I live are still amazingly low. This is ...... unbelievable.

Following the question and answer period, we are hustled out of the crowd and into the inner sanctum of the auditorium, passing numerous guards and deputies. Alisha asks each of them if they are voting for Obama and tries to convert each one who is undecided. Again, we are never searched or questioned. We are with a charming young lady named Katie, who is a campaign staffer. She "lives on the road." We end up deep in the bowels of the auditorium (in the severe storm shelter area!) where we are introduced to Arun, who is in charge of the "new media" team. He will be videotaping our meal. The table is being set and looks wonderful. Simple, yet delicious. There is a table for us to set out our things to be signed, and another where we can set any gifts we have brought. I set down my very carefully prepared gift, and my few meager items to be signed.....the sign, bumper sticker and bumper that was in my room when I checked in and my 3 black T-shirts. Of course, the cool silver Sharpie I bought for him to use to sign them with is still on my kitchen table. I am hoping they will have one. Everyone else has brought numerous copies of his books, photos of family members, or other items to be signed. Not me......damn!

After quite a bit of wandering around the room nervously, we are suddenly inundated by press. TV cameras, still cameras, boom mics, people with little notebooks.....I am waiting for Rosalind Russell or Cary Grant to rush in, snapping gum and one liners. They will stay with us for the first few minutes of our meal, then they will leave us with just the Senator's media team. Moments later, he arrives. We all stand, shake his hand, and introduce ourselves. Our seats had been chosen for us....by whom I don't know, but I owe them a kiss. I am seated at his right hand. He asks us all to sit and relax, while he grabs the tray of sandwiches and starts to serve them to us!!! Raissa, who, as are most actresses in NY, is also a waitress, says she needs a picture of this for work! Finally, he sits down. He tells us to please eat, that he definitely will, because he is starving, and not to worry if we get lettuce in our teeth, because they can edit that out.

We go around the table and introduce ourselves and tell a little about ourselves. I am last, so don't get to talk as long. I won't go into detail on that, but it bugs me now. We talked a lot about education....how standardized testing at the beginning of the school year is wrong, cutting arts programs is detrimental, and how we have to help improve the schools. But, we all also agreed, without strong parental backing, all the better schools in the world won't help. We also talked about making college more affordable, as well as assisting everyone in getting affordable healthcare. We talked about a controlled way to get out of the Iraq war, how important it is, in a global community, to have communications with not just our friends, but with our enemies, too. We talked about improving the economy. I noticed a black bracelet he wore on his right wrist, and saw the name of a soldier on it, a date and Iraq, but wasn't sure what it was. I have since looked it up and found out it was given to him in February by the mother of a soldier who was killed. That says a lot to me.

I have told several people.....you can fake being personable and charming and honest and caring and so on in a big crowd. It is a lot harder to do in a small crowd, sitting 2 feet from someone for an hour and a half. He is not faking it. He was wearing no makeup.....not a big deal, but I do theatre, and for someone to have just come off of the stage under all those lights to not be wearing makeup is pretty daring. He seemed genuinely interested in what we had to say, even to the point of kicking back in his chair to listen, talk and relax a little, very unselfconsciously picking cucumber slices out of the salad bowl and nibbling while we talked. He did not seem to be thinking of the next 25 things on his calendars, but really concentrated on us. We did ask him how he intended to stay in touch with people like us if (when) he is elected, and he has a plan to do that. I would love to see that implemented. Our voices get lost all too quickly after the inauguration.

After we finished eating, we all got pictures taken with him, as a group and individually. He took time to sign everything everyone brought....with the exception of my black shirts. No one had a silver Sharpie. He felt bad about it, and asked me if it was ok if he took them with him, he signed them and he could mail them back to me. Um, yeah, sure! What am I going to say? NO????? Are you freaking kidding me? PLEASE!!! So, he did. His "people" came to get him, so all of us ladies hugged him goodbye (HE KISSED MY CHEEK!) and he was off.

So, thus ended a great day. I didn't go into a lot of detail about what we talked about, but let me assure you.....his answers were sound. I was completely convinced that he is 100% for real. He seems to be a very compassionate man, who really cares about people, and this country.

And let me address one more thing......that whole "bitter" comment. Those of you who know me know that I live in a very small town, pop. approx. 6000, primarily a farming community. As I said earlier, this is a real God and country, bleed Republican red kind of place. And you know what? People here ARE bitter. Jobs are gone. One factory in town just left for Mexico, another in a neighboring town, too. Another factory on strike. Another factory on hold. Super Wal-Mart decided not to come here. 5 0r 6 businesses closed just since the first of the year. I also work at a church. Giving is way down. Attendance is fluctuating madly. Calls for assistance and for someone to talk to are skyrocketing. We have a fairly decent size Hispanic population, and aside from them and the few blacks in town, mostly they hate everyone who isn't like them. Oh, and to paraphrase a line from "Hot Fuzz" "every farmer and their mum" owns a gun. So you know what? In the experience of someone who lives out here, in the small towns, in Middle America, HE IS RIGHT. Hillary and McCain can say he is being elitist or whatever, but that tells me they have not listened to a damn thing anyone has told them during this whole long campaign. Well, that's good to know. Guess we shouldn't listen to you, either.

MUNCIE, Ind. (Associate Press)-- A Rushville woman who had lunch Saturday with Sen. Barack Obama and four other donors to his presidential campaign said the meeting was surreal but one of the highlights of her life.
Bonnie Locchetta, a single mother of three, sat next to the Illinois senator as they ate sandwiches at the Worthen Arena Lounge at Ball State University with four other "low-dollar" donors to his campaign.
"It was definitely one of the top 10 (moments) in my life. Absolutely," Locchetta said.
Two days after Locchetta donated $25 to Obama's campaign along with a short note, she learned she had been chosen to eat a meal with him as part of the Dinner/Lunch with Obama program.
Four other people were flown in Friday from New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New York for Obama's morning speech and then lunch.
The five have contributed a combined $165 to Obama's campaign.
Locchetta, who is the office manager at Main Street Christian Church in Rushville, had donated $25 -- her first campaign contribution to a presidential candidate.
Obama arrived a few minutes after the five were seated, shook hands and quickly urged the diners to relax. He picked up trays of sandwiches from the center of the table and served each of his guests.
"I promise you that I will be eating, because I'm starving," Obama said.
The menu was simple -- a selection of salads, chicken or portobello mushroom sandwiches or hamburgers, with brownies for dessert. Cans of soft drinks were on the table, as were bottles of water and jugs of iced tea.
During the lunch, the five guests took turns telling Obama a bit about their lives, and asked him some questions. After about an hour, it was all over.
"It's surreal," Locchetta said. "It was funny. Once he came in, it was just like sitting down and talking with someone that you've known for a long time. He seems very genuine. It was much better than I expected. He's a very down-to-earth guy."


Well, that's the official version. Of course, I had to go thru and correct the spelling of my name, cause nobody EVER gets that right, but it was much, more more than what they could squeeze into this little article. It was much, much cooler and much, much more....important.

So, as I said before, I made my puny little $25 contribution, wrote a note about how, even though the pundits say I am "Hillary's constituency" I am most definitely NOT, and the next day I get a phone call interview from a campaign staffer. He asks me some questions, says he likes what I have to say, and that he will let me know in the next 24-48 hours if I have been selected. Turns out to be more like 10 hours. The next morning at work, I get another call telling me I am the first "selectee" to be dining with Sen. Obama. My jaw hit the floor. Almost immediately, the phone started to ring. By the time I got home from work, I had messages from the AP, our local Fox, NBC and CBS affiliates, as well as the AP and the local Obama campaign headquarters. I set about returning phone calls and setting up an interview schedule for the next day. Luckily, it was spring break, my kids were home to baby sit their nephew and my bosses were out of town, so my being out of the office for the afternoon was not a big deal.

I did a mini-press junket the next day, hitting 3 local affiliates and doing a phone-in with MSNBC ( I did AP over the phone the night before). I finally get home to relax, and get a call from the other local affiliate, the one who ignored me all day. I even told them, I just drove by your station 3 times today. They said, oh, that's ok, we'll just come to your house. We'll be there in an hour and a half.

WHAT???? I had just changed into comfy sweats and wanted nothing more than to numb my brain with the inanity that is American Idol. Instead, I screamed at the kids and we started panic cleaning. Crap is thrown into closets, shoved into bedrooms, dishes are washed and put away, the cats are vacuumed....One of my best friends, a writer for our local paper, comes over to interview me also, and gets to watch part of the madness. My boyfriend comes in, sees what is going on, takes care of some of his stuff, and high-tails it out of there. Finally, they arrive, do the interview, pull the kids in also, and are really disarmingly great.

Now, the wait begins. Every day, people are calling or emailing and asking, "Do you know? When is your dinner? Have they contacted you yet?" A girl from CBS in NY calls almost daily trying to line me up for the Early Show. I am compulsively checking my email every 5 minutes. Days go by with nothing....I made my contribution on March 24, got the initial call on the 25, the final call on the 26 and press madness began.....now, nothing......

Finally, on Sunday, April 6, an email, stating their would be 4 more "selectees" named on Monday, and that our dinner would probably be on Saturday, April 12, and that it might be in Indiana. Holy crap! I went shopping, of course (still have to take some things back, by the way...) And, then, I waited some more. Found out the names and backstories of those I would be eating with, but still not where or when. That didn't come in its final form until Thursday, April 10. Yup, not only in Indiana, but in Muncie. Everybody else got to fly in, but not me. I get to drive up the road. WEEEEEEE! Oh, well.

This is pretty long, so I will break this into a 2 part blog----how exciting!!!! Back shortly!

Yup, it's me. You have probably seen my name sometime lately, at least in the last 2 weeks....I just did a search, and this is what I found on Yahoo.......1 - 10 of about 34,800 for bonnie locchetta

ME????? Over 34,000 things on Yahoo about ME?????? Well, that's what happens when you luck out and get to meet the person who may be the next leader of the USA. I donated a measly $25 to Barack Obama's campaign website, and lo and behold.....I get chosen to have dinner with him! Me, little miss nobody from nowhere.

I go to the hotel tonite. Originally, the campaign was gonna fly me somewhere and put me up in a hotel somewhere and I was soooo excited about the prospect of traveling, but now the other 4 people who also get this opportunity from across the country have to come to my backyard, so that is kind of cool. I have to show them that famous "Hoosier Hospitality." I will do my level best. We all get to go to a "Town Hall" meeting with him tomorrow at Ball State, then to our dinner, where we will have a chance to sit down and really talk to him. Is that the craziest thing you have ever heard? 5 regular joes sitting down and talking mano a mano to this guy who is trying to become President, telling him about our lives and concerns. I think it's pretty damn cool.

I will have a full report, hopefully complete with photos, next week.

Ok, people.....I started off all nicey, nicey....but now I am gonna get on my soapbox. You will soon figure out, if you read this for very long, I am a soap-box standing kind of person. I need to go to Speaker's Corner in London, stand out there and yell about all the things that PISS ME OFF!!!

So, what am I on about today, you ask? What the hell is up with this girl getting beaten up in Florida? Apparently, a bunch of other girls, the evil breed referred to as CHEERLEADERS plotted to beat up another girl who DARED to say something about one of them on, like, oh my GAWD, her MySpace, while videotaping the whole thing on 5 cameras that were set up and 2 other handheld cameras? And, I guess there were kids keeping watch outside, and yet other kids at school knew it was going to happen?????

This poor girl walks in, completely unaware of the beat down that awaits her, and BOOM! They start it. They start punching, slapping, what have you. I have not seen the whole tape, but from what I have read, at one point they bounced her head off the wall so hard she blacked out. They let her lay on the sofa until she woke up and started in on her again! On the tape I have seen on the news, the girl being beaten doesn't even fight back. Now, granted, they said the portion being shown is after she came to, but still......in one scene, there is a broom behind her. Those little wenches best be glad they didn't come after me or my redhead. We'd be busting some cheerleader skulls with that broom or anything else we could get our grubby little paws on.

Now this poor girl is in the hospital, with lost vision, lost hearing and a sense of fear that may never go away. Her attackers? They laughed when they were arrested. They joked they wouldn't be able to go to the beach over spring break and were concerned that they wouldn't be able to make it to cheerleading practice. No remorse, no shock, no shame, no sadness. They acted as if they were picked up for littering.

The injured girl's parents have been on TV, blaming YouTube and MySpace for posting violent videos. Their blustering attorney has been shouting about violent videos games, TV shows and movies. Here is where I start to get a little wound.......

First of all, as I said....if a bunch of pussy cheerleaders were to start beating on me for no reason, they'd be in for the surprise of their lives. I may be old, but I ain't dead, and I am taking some down wi' me. Second, I grew up watching violence. Ever seen Roadrunner cartoons? Damn coyote gets smashed, blown up, hit in the face, run over, stabbed, shot....did I leave anything out? My dad watched westerns....more violence. My brother-in-law, kung fu movies. I watch violent movies now, and so do my kids. Hell, my 13 year old son watched "The Departed" the other day. He plays video games, but knows better than to get or play anything like Grand Theft Auto. We watch all kinds of stuff on-line. If you REALLY want to see violence out there, it's out there. You can block websites, channels, whatever, all day long, but if a kid wants to see it, they will see it. At a friends house. At school. Late at night when you are asleep. That kid is gonna have to live in the real world eventually. Shouldn't you just teach them how to deal with this instead of protecting them from everything? If you try to protect you child from everything, you might as well keep them in a bubble. And, if you have seen that movie with Jake Gyllenhaal, you know how that turns out.....

I blame the other kids and their parents. In my opinion, they need to have their butts kicked. All of them, kids and parents. Did these parents not teach their kids anything? Respect? Common sense? Empathy? Pain tolerance? Do these kids not care about anything but their tans and hair and cheerleading? One more reason, in my opinion, cheerleaders should be run off cliffs like lemmings.

Now, if the sheriff will just give me 5 minutes with these kids and that broom.....

So, I guess I should finally say something, hmm? All my Pajiba buds have these going on, so I am late to the game as usual. Well, here I am.

Lots going on lately. I have a 3 month old grandson, Jayden. He is a doll. His parents are airheads, in that adorable way that young 20-somethings who know absolutely everything are...grrrrrrrr. More on that later.

16 year old daughter is going to prom with her best (guy) friend -YAY! But, we are not big shoppers, so she is discovering that this is a bigger hassle than expected.

13 year old son is throwing discus and shot put. Few things are funnier than watching 7th graders try to throw discus and not hit cars, other kids, the school, etc.

Then, there's me. I am going to eat, HOPEFULLY Saturday this week (April 12) with Barack Obama. I promise to post a full report. And, believe me, I promise to get much, much more detailed in the future. Right now, I just wanted to post SOMETHING. I have had this thing forever and just never done anything with it. As Arnie says, I will be back.