Goings on

One of these days I'll share some Christmas pictures, but until I get around to that, I want to make sure I don't totally fall out of the blogging habit. Originally I was just going to whine and vent about the fact that this week, Lea's eating and sleeping habits have gone totally down the tubes, but that wouldn't have made anything better, so we'll leave it alone. Eventually she will start sleeping longer than one-hour stretches at night again, right? Her molars will come in, right? She will eat more than two tiny morsels of squash, right? Please?

Anyway...

Politics: I heard a speech by John Kerry today that was more moving than any speech he made while campaigning for himself. Probably because he was talking about Barack Obama, for whom he announced his endorsement. The internets are a-buzzing with speculation that Kerry's endorsement adds up to a "death sentence" for Obama, which is stupid and perplexing. Anyway, here's part of what Kerry said:

Some have suggested in this campaign that Barack is guilty of raising false hopes. So I ask you, I ask you, was it a false hope when Thomas Jefferson said that the United States should make available to every child in our nation a free public education? Was it a false hope when Franklin Roosevelt said that half of our senior citizens no longer had to live in poverty? Was it a false hope when Harry Truman said that every veteran of World War II was gonna go to college on the G.I. bill? Was it a false hope when John Kennedy said we're gonna go to the moon in a decade? My friends, the only charge that rings false in one that tells you not to hope for a better tomorrow! Don't- don't let anyone tell you to accept the downsizing of the American Dream, not in our America, not today, and not tomorrow, when Barack Obama is President of the United States.

As someone who has spent the last seven years trying to occasionally give our cringe-worthy President the benefit of the doubt by remembering that the real power belongs to the people he hires to help him make decisions, I am stunned to be able to imagine an America led by a President who I would actually want to set the tone for our nation-- to do more than surround himself with smart people-- to be the energy behind moving in a very new direction-- to define the presidency as a position of integrity and humility as well as strength. It is refreshing and exciting to remember Presidents who have done this, and I love it. I'm getting excited. I admit it. Hope, false hope, whatever. I like Obama, I like what he's doing to the campaign, and I am certain that the Democratic party is improved by paying attention to him.

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In other news, I have to decide whether or not to start working an 8-hours-per-week grantwriting job. I have an interview scheduled for Monday, but I'm feeling very conflicted by a number of issues, not the least of which is the nature of the job itself. I don't want to get into too much detail, but let's just say the employer doesn't seem to really know what he's asking me to do. (He offered no details about his expectations, for one, and the pay he offered is about one-quarter the going rate for a grantwriter with a little experience in a somewhat nearby big city. Sure, I have a very, very, VERY little experience, and this ain't the big city, but one-quarter?? Really?? Not that that's the main issue here, but it makes me think the guy hasn't really looked into what it means to hire a grantwriter.) In some cases, I think creating your own job can be a very good thing, but in this case it makes me nervous. Nice guy, good cause, but very likely total chaos in figuring out what the heck I'm doing. Not sure about that-- although I could work from home in my pajamas, any hours I want, and adding "grantwriting" to my resume might be worth it in the end... unless it leads to a potential future employer asking how much I made, and then here we go again with the miniscule pay. What to do...?

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We took Lea to the gigantic playground twice this week (like the one at East Ward Elementary school, D-towners). It was 65+ degrees, which is creepy big-picture-wise, but fun for the moment. I had been really worried about the beginning of her career as a walker coinciding with months of being cooped up inside. So it was a nice little bonus to get out and let her chase the big kids around and play the huge set of chimes and fall down in the wood chips and jump right back up with a grin. Of course, I didn't actually help build this particular playground, as I did at East Ward. And yes. Coating nails with a bar of soap so they are easier for the workers to drive in is helping.

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We're 3 episodes away from finishing (again) Season Two of Lost before we race through Season Three, in preparation for Season Four to begin three weeks from tonight. I freaking love this show. I sometimes love to hate this show when it makes no sense, but mostly I just love it. Of course, Season Four might be only six or eight episodes long, and that would be heartbreaking, but that's life. As long as someday, in my lifetime, they tie up all the loose ends, and I mean ALL the loose ends, including Adam and Eve, including exactly what the monster is, including a VERY precise history of the Dharma initiative, including how the crap Richard Alpert doesn't age, including how Desmond goes on his crazy time-loop journey. I need answers, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse! I need to believe that someday you will provide them. That is all.