historic moment

I watched Barak Obama's acceptance speech last night. I encouraged my son to watch as well. Because, whether you are a Democrat, a Republican or an Independent, last night was history unfolding. A watershed moment in the story of America. An African-American man, accepting his party's nomination for the highest office in the country!

We have come far, but there is a long way to go. It needs to not be a wish, but a truth, when a parent tells their child -- yes baby, you can grow up and be President. It needs to be true when that child is a girl, is disabled, is poor, is gay, is muslim, is jewish. When we can't see an impediment, but only possiblity, we will have truly arrived.

let's hear it for hillary

Let's hear it for Hillary. Her historic motion on the floor of the DNC, where she made the motion to nominate Barack Obama by acclamation, was a classy move. She did not get what she wanted out of this race, but she took what she was dealt and handled everything with dignity, grace and courage. Far better in defeat, Hillary rose to the occasion and earned her place in the history books.

The cynical might say she was saving her own political future, but I think she was sincere. If she can't be the one in office, she really will do everything to see that the next best choice (in her eyes) does win. I think Hillary cares deeply about the future of America. And she really is fearful of what a McCain presidency could bring. Four more years to drive the economy down, increase the gap between rich and poor, and lower our stature in the world even further.

I hope that people heard the words this week, and took them to heart. No how, no way, no McCain!

Proud to be a Democrat!

Last night I watched the very moving tribute to Teddy Kennedy, and this morning I was able to finally see Michelle Obama's speech from the DNC. I am so very very proud to be a Democrat today. Kennedy' accomplishments outweigh his personal issues by a large margin. He has been a force for positive change in this world, and he should be proud of what he has managed to achieve.

And Michelle Obama? What an incredible woman. She is educated, articulate, poised, accomplished. I think she hit a home run with her speech last night. She humanized the candidate, and gave us a window into their lives.

The Dream does live on!

politics as usual

I am disappointed. I thought that with Obama and McCain running, we would have a relatively clean campaign. More focused on the issues, less on personalities. No smears or swift-boating.

I was wrong. It looks like the next few months will be nasty as hell, as we gear up for November elections. It bothers me, mostly because I care a great deal about the outcome. I want Obama to win. I really truly do. I don't just think he would be a better president than McCain -- I think he would be a great president. I admire him. I think he's the right man for our time.

And so it bugs me when there are personal attacks on him. I don't want his patriotism constantly in question. Nor would I care if he was a Muslim. When did being Muslim become a bad thing, anyway? How insulting is that to Americans who are Muslim that it is used almost as a swear word in politics? and why all the attacks on Michelle Obama? is it because she is educated? successful? good-looking? loves her husband and children? WTF?? We'd be lucky to have her in the White House, in any capacity.

So, I hope people will weed out the facts from the fiction, the truth buried in the mire... so we can get the President we should have, and not the one we deserve.

26 YEARS!!!

Today is our 26th anniversary. On August 14, 1982, my husband and I got married. We were young, stupid, a little scared, and terribly terribly lucky. We somehow got it right, despite all the odds against us. And it just gets better every year.

maybe I shouldn't read about food

I am about a third of the way through The Omnivore's Dilemma. I've read enough of it to know it will be an infuence on me. I should explain that when I was 8 I read The Jungle and didn't eat hot dogs for over 12 years as a result. A few years ago, I read Fast Food Nation, and you guessed it, have virtually given up fast food. I say virtually, because there are times when the universe conspires to make sure that's absolutely all that's available to you.

Books still have that power, that with the right alchemical combination of words, they can change you. I don't think it's a bad thing, mind you. I probably needed to ditch hot dogs and fast food.

Sometimes, though, there are unintended consequences. I had a hard time eating an ear of corn the other day. It somehow had taken on an evil tinge for me. A beautiful, fresh ear from the farmer's market... and then I slapped some butter on the sucker and took out my revenge for it ruining the planet.

the pot and the kettle

George Bush admonished China yesterday about its lack of freedoms, and its treatment of political dissidents. WTF???? Did the man forget Guantanomo Bay? Mister Secret Wiretaps is telling other countries to loosen up?

China has a repressive government, and it does need to move forward with more rights for its citizens. I just thing George Bush has absolutely NO CREDIBILITY WHATSOEVER when addressing these issues. And the world does not love hypocrites... I'm sure his comments will play really really well in the middle east.

And it will be interesting to see how he is received at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games, after insulting his hosts.

a new leaf -- again

We are back from Boston (and Cambridge). We had a good week. Lots of interesting stuff at the Web 2.0 conference, a good visit with friends, and the man-child had a wonderful time being independent and all grown-up at camp.

Now we are back to reality. It should be interesting. Back on the exercise and diet wagon. And on a budget, seriously. We suck at this, but I think we are motivated enough this time to make it work.

I'm back to making menus for the week. It keeps us eating fairly well, and cuts our food budget significantly. This week the menu is pork with many flavoured sauce (stir fry pork with broccoli and tofu in a brown sauce), chicken with red beans and rice, chili cheese dogs (low cal version with turkey chili, lowfat cheese, lowfat dogs for me), chicken fajitas, and fish and scallop chowder (fat free milk, flour and creamed corn make the soup base instead of heavy cream, butter and flour).

I've got low fat tuna salad on 9 grain bread, cherries, and weightwatchers cheese for lunches... the tuna salad is pretty good: tuna packed in water, finely grated carrot, celery, finely chopped green pepper, chopped dill pickle, hard boiled egg, soy mayo and yellow mustard. Ends up being about a third veggies.

and breakfast is either kashi go lean with almonds and banana, or oatmeal with blueberries and almonds.

Exercise is walking this week, and then wii fit added to the mix next week, and hopefully some core work the week after. I want to get the exercise routine firmly established before school starts in September.

Wish me luck!