Weds, October 18, 2006


My date with Mrs. Bush

Tonight I had my picture taken with the First Lady, Laura Bush. A very surreal experience to be sure. There we about 200 or so of us preservation types at an invitation only White House reception. It was fun to watch the Secret Service guys do their surveillance schtick. They had to get sore necks and tired eyeballs from their constant scanning of the crowd. You could not use the potty after the first lady entered the building. Maybe some type of restriction on liquids... I don't really know.

Anyway, my group had their turn with Mrs. Bush. John Nau, the Chairman of the ACHP, and close personal friend of the first family, ushered us into Mrs. Bush's presence. We quickly made our introductions and had a quick photo taken. Total time, 2 minutes tops.

My impressions...Mrs Bush is a very attractive lady, a bit shorter than I would have imagined. She looked exactly like she looks on TV. She had a very soft handshake. I introduced myself as Brian Robinson from Savannah and she said that she was glad to meet me. As I was leaving I thanked her for inviting us and she seemed pleased. I have been to Madame Tussauds wax museum in London. My experience was not that different from having my picture quickly taken with the wax figures of Brad Pitt, Angie Jolie, and their new child. In-out-done. It was nice of Mrs. Bush to take the time to have her picture made with every one of us. She is quite the trooper. She really looks like a school teacher and I would not want to get on her bad side. I think she is a pretty tough woman and I am sure that she know how to wield a paddle. I am sure that she would never go on TV complaining about a vast left wing conspiracy against her husband. First, she has too much class, and second she has enough sense to know that the democrats (or republicans for that matter) can't even organize a bake sale, let alone an entire conspiracy dedicated to bringing down the Bush Administration. Never explain, never apologize...that is the royal motto.

It was very exciting and I enjoyed feeling like a preservation big shot for about two hours. Dick Moe and John Nau were in attendance as were several other dignitaries that I did not know. I was disappointed that she was not so smitten with me that she did not invite me up to her suite to allow me an opportunity to present her with my opinions on preservation, Iraq, etc. I had several witty comments prepared for just such an occasion. I guess that she did not want the other guests to feel less special. That is just the type of thoughtful person she is. Several extreme left wing types in our group pooh-poohed the entire experience but I did not see any of them stepping out of line when it was their turn to have their photo made. Cowards. If the first lady is on our side then I say jump on that train and ride. Heck, it will all have to be reassessed in 2 years anyway. Get it while the gettin' is good. I guess I am a bit of a HP trollop/courtesan. I will try to do better in coming days.

Fri October 20

I am currently strolling up and down Boubon Street looking at our cultural heritage on the skids. It is like one big frat party going on for about 3/8 mile. Larry Flint is well represented with three venues; "adult novelties"( like there is anything "novel' under the sun in that category) , regular "strippers" and "barely legal" strippers. Lots of beer being sold on the street, but the cheap crap always leaves me with a bad katzenjammer. I am going back to stand by the evangelicals in the street and attempt to convert folks to a less scantily clad method of using historic buildings. I hope to lead any new converts on an immediate and bloody crusade to rid the world
of subdivisions with houses designed with 2000 sq ft.front facing garages. Chatted up a beautician in a bar for about 2 hours and my head hurts from the lack of intellectual stimulation. She said she read Sci Fi but had never heard of Asimov, A.C. Clarke, Anderson, or Vonnegut. Lord help me Jesus, the harvest is great but the laborers so few.

BSR

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