Brinner

My dinner the other night consisted of two vegetarian spring rolls, two organic pork sausages, and a short stack of silver dollar pancakes.

It all somehow seemed like a good idea at the time. Turns out it was.

Announcer for the Apocalypse

I realized recently that Shay Stevens - on-air news announcer for NPR - will be the one to announce the arrival of the apocalypse for a large number of people.

Once that flashed through my head, I now can't hear her opening ("I'm Shay Stevens") without immediately thinking, "And this is the apocalypse."

I'm not really feeling that dark about things, it's just that I realized that if I ever actually hear about a global catastrophe - as opposed to experiencing it firsthand and therefore not needing any commentary - the chances are extremely high that Shay will be delivering the news.

I wonder if she's had that though, too.

Weird.

An actually non-partisan political blog entry

I recently stumbled across two different places where you can complete a survey on various issues, and then your responses are compared to the positions of the major presidential candidates.
I'll admit I was actually suprised in some ways by the results, and found it an interesting exercise.

Whatever issues are most important, or whomever you plan to vote for, I think it's valuable for all voters to know why we're voting the way we do.

And, if you're feeling bold, drop in a comment about what you think about the surveys, the results, and such.

Survey 1 - http://kuow.org/elections/selectacandidate.php

Survey 2 - http://2008election.procon.org/viewresource.asp?resourceID=1564

all of the sprain, none of the glory

In the first 5 minutes of my (90 minute) soccer game sunday, I was jogging up field while watching the play on the far side... play changed direction, and so did I.

My right ankle, however, wasn't aware of these new plans, so I rolled my ankle out, and while trying to correct quickly, rolled it in, which tweaked my knee a little, too.

No glory, no contact with another player, heck - not even fatigue. Just dumbness.

It'll be fine in a week or two, and I've injured my ankles far worse. Of course, since our team was down a player, I really didn't want to stop playing, so I was mostly a warm body for the remaining 85 minutes, but with occasional flashes of above-mediocrity.

At least I got a cherry slurpee on the way home. So that made everything better for a while.


Also, I think I'm developing a massage habit - I've had a pro massage each of the last two weekends, and I can only imagine that it would be a stellar idea for this coming weekend, too.

6 years and counting

It's been 6 years today since Paul and I exchanged promises to be the best partners for each other that we can. I think Paul has succeeded wildly.
And, while I think he'd say he has no complaints about my overall performance in this category, I always feel like there's more I can do. He is somehow magically patient with my learning curve. And I - I am very very lucky.

I realize there's nothing I can say about this love that isn't sappy, hasn't been said in a cheesy love song, and hasn't been true for others more skilled in prose than I. But that wouldn't make it any less true.

It doesn't feel like 6 years at all. It feels like maybe 1-2, like he's still my totally hot, fun boyfriend. Maybe we'll both grow up someday, but at this rate, it seems unlikely. There are worse fates.

To commemorate that fact that it was our wedding anniversary and that we didn't have a cake due this weekend and didn't have any other huge projects hanging over our heads, we took saturday and just spent totally unplanned time together. That's not quite true, the day started with one planned event: I got us both massages to celebrate. Then, we kinda wandered through the (sunny beautiful) day doing whatever came next. We laughed a lot and talked a lot and ate well and just enjoyed each other's company.

I hope this fine weekend finds you well and feeling blessed.

Work, politics, power for the sake of power

Those of you who I've talked to in the last month already know this, but Paul and I are trying to devise a better way to strike a sustainable work-life balance.

The good news: we're both on the same page, agreeing that working all day and then coming home and working on cakes until 12, 1, or 2 in the morning and then doing it all over again for a week straight totally ain't going to cut it.

Before we recently talked about it, I was kinda afraid he would think I was trying to abandon this business, or him, or something like that. But it's just that I want to also have a life (see friends, exercise, not have a disaster in the kitchen and living room and not-yet-unpacked boxes everywhere else). Paul's with me on that, and I'm so relieved we both hit this point at the same time.

Anyway, I certainly welcome creative ways to approach the whole thing, if anyone has been sitting out there with an "It's so obvious, you just have to do this..." thought in their head.


On the political front, I'm pleased as punch that McCain picked Palin:
Obama is a candidate with national experience (as well as state and local, thank you) whose first executive decision was to choose a statesman with extensive experience and long-standing relationships with international leaders....

While McCain's first executive decision was to choose a polarizing figure who has no national experience, no international rapport to bring to the table, and who may be - based only on the known medical history of her candidate - far less than one heartbeat away from being commander in chief. I could not have imagined a better way to weaken the ticket.
But fortunately, I didn't have to: McCain campaign manager Rick Davis declared recently (seriously)

"This election is not about issues," said Davis. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."

Not only is that deeply disrespectful of the people - on both sides - who recognize the weight of their vote and who really are working hard to educate themselves and their communities, but it's an explicit surrender to a campaign of image: style over substance.
Agree with McCain or not, I expect far far more of a leader of his stature.


Conversely, this is the first election when I don't want to see the 'other guy' just smeared; I kinda like McCain because I don't believe he's actually a horrible guy. But patriot does not = capable executive leader, no matter the years of service or prior experience. I have no doubt I'd be one of the worst presidents possible, but I still am deeply grateful for this country, and I plan to keep working to make it even better in the small ways that indivdual citizens can. Leave it better than how I found it.

Obama chose a running mate with an eye towards effective governance of this complex and unique country, while it appears from every angle that McCain chose a running mate with an eye towards getting elected.*

Regardless of party, personality, or ancestry, I know I trust someone who wants to get elected to make things better more than I'll ever trust someone who just wants the job for the sake of having it.




*For the record, I really disliked the following prior Democratic candidates: Kerry, Edwards, Clinton, and many of their peers in the field either because of their policies or backgrounds...
All by way of saying I'm not a knee-jerk democrat. My loyalty isn't automatic, and I will vote for the better guy/gal in any election regardless of party.