Tomorrow starts today!

We've done it! Thousands of letters of support have flooded in, and Senator John Edwards is running!

He says:
We know what we need to do. Changing our country means:
Providing moral leadership in the world -- starting with Iraq, where we should begin drawing down troops, not escalating the war
Strengthening our middle class and ending the shame of poverty
Guaranteeing health care for every single American
Leading the fight against global warming
Getting America and the world to break our addiction to oil

Today there's an Online Town Hall live from Des Moines, Iowa. Visit JohnEdwards.com to participate. The event begins at 6PM ET / 3PM PT.

See you there!

HBO saves TV's reputation

Okay, enough with the politics. Want to have some fun? I've been highly impressed by the HBO series I've seen. Carnivale, Deadwood, and Rome were all exemplary TV. Great characters, a bit of history, terrific acting, sets, costumes... each hour has the production values of a feature film. Finally - TV worth the time to watch it! Last night I started Six Feet Under and again, I applaud. I'm far too much of a cheapskate to actually subscribe, so I'm going to have to track down more of their work and pop it in the queue. Bravo!

Oops - he's WHO? And what YOU can do.

Someone screwed up, bigtime. Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert was tapped to speak at the 2006 White House Correspondent's Dinner. They were clearly unfamilar with his work, because the announcer pronounced the "t" in Report. My favorite part is the reaction shots. This is a perfect example of the flaws in our intelligence management: Colbert is one of the smartest enemies this administration faces, and they blindly invited him to their party. The coverup must have been sucessful, though, since this took place in April and it's the first I've heard of it.

My hero, John Edwards, is trying to assess if he has enough support to warrent running for President. He has asked for your emails: PLEASE let him know you are behind him, or are at least willing to give him a chance.

Christmas crafts

Since we had Christmas yesterday with the girls, I can now post their prezzies:

Maddie got a strange little green hedgehog sort of situation. She has a heart on the front of that sweater (red & orange yarn was spun by Holly) but my favorite part is her tail. There's a row of fuzz along the top.

Gillian scored a felted & flowered dog, modeled after her own long dog, Mitzi. See that yarn collar? Gillian spun that on my wheel. Okay, I did the pedals, but still it's pretty impressive. Her first spinning ever. *rubbing hands gleefully* She's only 10 but I've got her hooked already.

Before you guys ask, sorry, no, there aren't patterns available. I made them up as I went along.

6 Weird Things About Me

So I'm supposed to post Six Weird Things About Me. An interesting proposition, narrowing it down to just 6.

1) I am not above stealing cats and people to rescue them from an abusive / neglectful home.

2) I used to be a bodybuilder and am still far stronger than I look.

3) I can fly an airplane and my car is right hand drive.

4) I'm an excellent shot with a pistol.

5) I hate to cook. I'll gladly do dishes / knit / etc for you if you cook for me.

6) I poke holes in people and they like it.

We'll stop here and leave my sordid past where it belongs. ;)

Philly & Edwards (again)

The trip to Philadelphia went very well. I'll deliver more details once they solidify, but Matt was basically offered a great job. Yay! We had a stunning view from our hotel room, and the historical section was terrific. It's good to remember that the revolution was a crazy, treasonous uprising (which partially took place in these rooms!).

In the spirit of rebelling against an unfair goverment, please take the time to check out John Edwards. I sincerely believe he is the one guy who is honest and smart enough to bring the nation back together (red and blue states) and make us ALL proud to be Americans again. He's also charismatic enough to carry the election. PLEASE read his site. Watch his "Behind the Scenes" episodes. Learn about One Corps. He's our best hope. Get behind him and spread the word!

PS: After sending out a letter to many of my friends, I got this from David, a professional pilot:

I was flying Learjets back in 2003 before the Iowa caucuses and was assigned a trip to pick up John. This was before he was picked to be Kerry's running mate. Flew into a small uncontrolled airport east of Des Moines. John met me with a warm handshake and a smile. Very personable.

I wound up flying him to Washington-Dulles that afternoon, then in the evening to Roanoke, VA then finally to Ashville, NC. I remember when we landed in Dulles that he wanted a few minutes to "freshen up" before he went inside the FBO. He pulled out his suitcase, pulled out what looked like a small gift, combed his hair, then finally headed inside. I noticed in his suitcase he was carrying a pair of well-used (in a good way) running shoes and running shorts.

Halfway across the ramp, a little child came running out of the building. John crouched down, arms out wide and caught the little kid in an embrace. One of his. That's where the gift went. Nice guy. Family guy, too. It was a pleasure being his "limo" driver that day and evening.

SORRY!

Oops - I completely forgot I was supposed to be at Village Yarn & Tea today. I really did want to go! It's a good thing I was home, though, since we found a wonderful family to adopt Feathers. He'll have a fun and useful life on Bainbridge Island. Next week we are off to Philadelphia for Matt's interviews. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

A wonderful little poem

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
- Arnold Lobel

A true healer

I recently heard from my friend Karah Pino. As the picture implies, she is wild with zoinging energy (hey, she's the kind of girl you feel compelled to make up words for). She also runs deep with an extraordinarily sensitive and powerful soul, the kind you develop from surmounting impossible odds. She's an artist, a shaman, and an acupuncturist. Now she has a blog, and WOW is it worth reading. Start here. Readers in Portland, watch for her on the street. She's likely to be smiling, and she often wears orange.

John Edwards - our next President?

The Senator ran as VP with Kerry back in 2004, but I was so disgusted with politics at that point that I failed to pay attention. Back in college, I was extremely politically active. I attended appearances by both Reagan and Bush Sr. I shook Clinton's hand. I marched, I wrote letters, I recruited other activists. Then I got a job that introduced me more intimately to Capitol Hill. Everyone was so morally putrid, on both sides of the aisle, that I was completely disillusioned. For the past 10 years I've detached myself from the electoral process. I hate to admit it, but I didn't even vote last month.

Then I saw Senator Edwards on the Jon Stewart show a few weeks ago. I was enthralled with his wit and intelligence. More importantly, he was a real person. A genuine human being, not a dissembling mouthpiece. I went to his website and learned a bit more. He came to Seattle today on a book tour. All the proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity and other charities. He talked a bit about his book, then took political questions from the SRO crowd. I just about fell in love with this guy. His honesty and integrity simply shine. He's rekindled my belief. My bull**** detector is pretty finely honed, but it didn't go off once. Sitting in the audience I suddenly realized this must have been how people felt about Kennedy.

I wish I had money to contribute to his campaign. Given our current situation, I will instead volunteer once he declares. And I sure hope he does soon: America desperately needs a leader with his character.