Power (half) Hour

Barack's 30 minute infomercial last night was just what i needed. Like many around me, i have just about reached point of saturation with the campaign, and it's starting to give me that nauseous vomity sort of feeling. I'm sick of the negative ads, and even sicker of the strong undertone of racism as tues approaches; What i needed was for some good ole fashioned Obama style rhetoric. I needed him to inspire me to be proud to vote and be proud to support him. And i fell hook, line and sinker last night.

I hear people who express frustration as tues approaches, and are leaning towards not voting. My grandmother of 93, feels frustrated her state only carries 2 electoral votes, and has decided to not vote. My coworkers who are sick of all politicians and negative adverts, who will 'protest' by not voting. Others i've heard who are unaware of which nominee best stands for their political stance.

Women have voted for 88 years--within my grandmother's lifespan. The Voting Rights Act was passed a mere 43 years ago, allowing a vast increase in the african-american vote. It was only in 1971 that people 18-21 yrs old could vote, seeming only fair in that we were asking for their lives as they were drafted to vietnam. We are currently in 2 wars to 'create' a democratic state, including a voting process.

It seems crass to me that people can be so flippant about voting. Our fathers (and mothers) have fought hard to get the right to vote. It is not only our right, it is our responsibility. It is our responsibility to listen to the issues and pay attention and make an educated decision. It is a way to be pro-american and patriotic. To not vote is disrespectful to those who have fought so hard so that we can. I see voting as my license to complain about the current state of the union!

Race Wars

Here's what we need to do: Put obama in a bullet proof ball. Sort of like a hamster.

Although this plan was created by certified crazies that even the typical republican would condemn (they would, right?), i do fear for the safety of obama. I'm afraid an attempt to take his life would not only be a horrible tragedy, but it would also spark an awful race war.

...And it rhymes

I'm always loving what she says.

IT'S OFFICIAL!

I just found out I passed the lactation consultant certification exam. I'm an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)!

Family Values--Piper Palin

Uh-oh, oohh.

My time as a middle-schooler was not the best years of my life. I didn't care much about school, felt a lack of connection with my parents, felt like most people didn't like me for reasons i didn't understand. Although this is par for the course as a tweener, i had the added challenge of being the minority among a majority. It is only in hindsight that i see this was related to being korean-adopted, even though my 12 year old self would deny it (being korean, adopted, different in any way). My parents would gently ask me if i felt frustrated because i looked different than my classmates--at a time that i truly believed i was just another frustrated white 12 year old girl. I tried so hard to blend into my surroundings by getting perms, wearing the right clothes and listening to the right music--including New Kids on the Block--just like all the other 12 year olds.

And so when i heard NKOTB were touring again, i felt uneasy. Seeing all the now 30-something year old white women swoon for NKOTB brought it all back.

Then my brother won suite txts for me and a friend. And with reluctance, i went to their concert last night.

We started the night at the Liffy--my intentions were to get a good buzz going to be able to stomach these feelings of inadequacy from years ago come rushing back to me. It was bursting at the seems with 30 something yr old women, some dressed circa 1989, all a chatter with excitement. I looked around feeling 12 again.

Before the concert began, Jordan invited us to text them and the text would be shot up on the big screen while they got the stage ready. Typical texts said, "We've been waiting 15 years! We totally love yoU!!!!'" and "Jordan, will U marry me??? OMG!!!" We tried to text, "NKOTB wants you to vote Obama," but we were too old to figure out how the hell to text.

The concert was almost exactly the same as the one i saw at the met so many years ago. Same songs, same synchronized dancing, same wind blown open shirt solos. There was a random photo montage of very random people who have died on the big screen--including heath ledger (seriously. Random). And a very strange song with a very whorish woman dancing in the middle of their new kids circle with lots of tight crotch shots up on the big screen. And there was a moment when donnie (ah hem, my favorite) cried (shot: Tear streaming down cheek) because he was so overwhelmed by our...loudness.

At one point, one of them commented that a lot has changed in 15 years, and suggested perhaps 15 years was too long. To which, our small group yelled, "NOPE. We're good with 15 years." He then told the crowd that 2 things he has noticed in 15 years is that we can all drink now (seriously. Lots and LOTS of drunk women), and some of 'us' had bulging bellies we were rubbing. To this, one of our small group yelled, "ACTUALLY, we're just older and fatter now!!!" And then, he asked us to go home and give our husbands 15 years "worth of loving," you know, after having seen NKOTB tonight. Most of the crowd cheered at this suggestion; Our small group looked at each other in disgust.

With hesitation, i say overall a good time was had by all. I was surprised how the songs brought back some of the bad inadequate feelings i had in middle school, but some of the good as well (giggling with good friends).

Something about him....

After mccain's veep pick was announced, i overheard a conversation of 2 women talking about the election. One voiced her disgust with the whole process and all politicians and she didn't think she'd vote this year. The other talked about how the palin choice was unexpected and exciting and asked if the other had heard that she's a hockey mom....and she's a hockey mom. Then they said, "I have to say, there's something about obama. I just don't trust him." The other nodded in agreement and said, "I know what you mean! I don't either, I don't know what it is about him."

Since obama announced his presidential intentions, everyone has been talking about race. I scoffed at the idea that it made much difference. Initially, i thought obama being black just didn't matter to people of my generation. My parents, who remember the civil rights movement, and others of their age might be more aware of the fact he is black--like it or not.

What i've come to realize as the weeks have gone by is that obama being black might make a bigger difference that i had initially thought. People generally know it's not right to be racist. But have these two women i overheard ever trusted a black man? Do they know any black men? The bradley effect ("I'm not racist. I'll vote for the right guy. Hell if i vote for a black man, though.")has been referenced to suggest the election will be closer than expected.

The debate last night was good. They had time to debate and point out the weaknesses in each other's plans. Unfortunately, mccain spent much of the time on attack and had some low blows (who the hell cared about ayers??) and instead of drastically changing the direction of his campaign, he appeared angry and desperate. And talk about biting the tongue--obama's response to "Do you think she's qualified?" was cordial and respectful.

My brother has a very funny (er, scary) post about a conspiracy theory re: obama.

Funny Things Said

After wiping the 3.75 yr old's butt after she took a dump, i told her, "Wash your hands really good." She says, "Why?" I replied, "Because there are germs in poop." She exclaimed, "And sometimes there are nuts too!"

Later that day, she was playing with her baby sister and the baby was taking her things. She said, "No, baby. Don't touch that, baby. Baby! BABY! CHEESES!" I looked at her and told her to calm down....and what does "cheeses" mean? She told me that's what you say when you get a little frustrated.

Respect?

McCain has lead a finger pointing, blame-game, 'hate him' campaign for some time. He has encouraged his followers to be angy at the opponent for many months. In light of the widening gap in the polls, he has finally asked his mccainiacs to settle down a little. Recently, when mccaine or palin speaks of obama, people have yelled out "Terrorist," or "Liar!" or even the N word. How can mccain be surprised? Now he's asking these worked up mccain supporters to respect obama?

At a rally held here in MN, mccain interrupted a woman who called obama an arab. Mccain corrected the woman saying, "No ma'am. Obama is a decent family man." Um. Is this opposite of being an arab? How can being arab be equivilant to being a terrorist or liar? It frightens me that we have created this fear of cultural differences.

The sh*t throwing in the last few weeks of the campaign isn't pretty, and it certainly hasn't brought out the best in the candidates, but the bigger ugly is what it's brought out in americans.

We are way beyond asking for respect.

Debatable

The debate was rehashing campaign speeches without any real debate. The only interesting part was when they were allowed to discuss taxes because there could be some back and forth. Why not put these candidates head-to-head in a real discussion where they can pick at each other's proposal and find the holes and argue why their proposal is better. It was good that obama pointed out why shopping for insurance plans beyond state lines would be bad. I want more of that type of discussion. Here's what i want. I want obama and mccain in a cage, last man out wins. Ok, i'm just kidding, but you get my point.

Did anyone else get a little freaked out by that lady behind obama? The one with the eyes, smirking? Very distracting.

State of the Union

I'm looking forward to the debate tonight. I'm happy to hear obama is pulling ahead in the polls and only recently have i allowed myself to truly think (and hope?) that he may become our next president. Palin really is the nail in mccain's coffin. I'm not exactly sure what her pull is--and i'm afraid it might be a reflection of people who don't know much about politics and the dire state of our country right now. Why would they want "someone just like them?" Wouldn't you want someone smarter than you? As a matter of fact, i'm unsure of why there isn't a 'minimum requirement' of education and experience to apply for the job (and the job of president as well).

And don't even get me started on the fact that she is so anti choice and anti-sex education--yet has a knocked up unmarried daughter. You want to preach 'values,' and spout that you don't need sex ed in schools because that is a conversation for the home--and look what happens?? And now you're forcing these teenagers to get married (is it better to marry shot-gun style than be divorced?). And, by the way, this conversation doesn't need to talk about abortion--let's just talk about education and how to avoid abortion. I think we can all agree to that (but apparently not).

I'm really trying to understand the economic debacle. What i don't understand is why the senate tacked on these random earmarks to get the house to pass it. One of the analysts on news hour called it a "pinata of ridiculousness." It's a shame that this is the way wellstone's mental health parity act gets signed into law. It doesn't really celebrate the passing of this bill. It all feels sort of like a sad poker game.

What We've Been Up To

The above picture is from tucson, az on mt lemmon. We took a family vacation to see my parents for a week. It was unlike a typical family vacation we would do. We typically over schedule our vacations with lots of activities and museums, blow through nap times and fall into an exhausted heap at the end of the day; My husband and i would pretend to go to sleep at 7pm until the children fall asleep--then we'd watch tv at a very low level while eating take out food. No, tucson was different. My parents' house was comfortable, easy going and the best part is they had a pool. They also volunteered to babysit the children so we could go eat surprisingly good sushi food (in the middle of a desert!) instead of eating take out in hushed voices.


The above photo is at the pie shop on top of mt lemmon. Really good pie.



And here is the pool with my daugther exhibiting her straddle jump.

Speaking of straddle jumps, my daughter (let's call her AMS?) started gymnastics at my alma mater, which, while at university, i participated in the gymnastics team for one year. Very strange experience--although the gym is in a new building since i was there, it's headed up by the same coach and one of the coaches was on the team when i was on the team. Brings back memories.

Speaking of memories, we went to the cabin last weekend to winterize it. AMS was playing with an old tape recorder i had as a kid that had the original recordable tape inside. We taught her how to play, rewind and record on the tape. As we listened to her new recordings, you could hear my old recordings of songs from the radio (feliz navidad, blue christmas) and chirps of my own child-sized voice. We have done plenty of video recordings of the kids, but somehow the cassette recording of AMS (and me) singing seems more real.