1.20.09: Obam-bastic. Hope Over Fear.

The new, beautiful faces of America.

I love it.

What a day to remember.

"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the fainthearted -- for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

Tag Team...Back again.

I must admit. I miss being on the road. I'm a little bit bored having been in SF for almost a month now (not counting all that holiday travel). We've been office bound, making what feels like endless phone calls. I don't think this job has helped with my Adult ADD. I'm just itching to get back out there, Squealy in hand, banners and all.

I cleaned out my car today, reorganized all the boxes, counted all the pens and filled up the water box. I'm ready to travel...with no travel plans for the next three weeks.

Sad.

I'm actually glad that I've been bitten with this recent revelation though. I've been dwelling in the past for awhile and really wondering if I'd made some right decisions.

Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy my job, I enjoy the city. I like my circumstances. Do I love them all the time? No. Is moving to a new city, meeting new people, learning the ropes of a challenging position a walk in the park all the time...Nope. Somedays I feel more alone then I ever have. Somedays I'm so excited to be waking up in one of America's favorite cities. Somedays I dread commuting. Somedays I can't wait to be waltzing down Market, a little reminiscent of Mary Tyler Moore's own city quest.

But I must say though, I miss last year a little more then I'd care to admit. More then I ever expected to.


But I think Edna said it best, "You can't look back darling. It only distracts from the now."

And I think she's right.

Stop the Presses: Good Movie Alert

Revolutionary Road: Staring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio...A reunion of Titanic proportions. Kathy Bates even has a minor roll in this one.

The movie looks at the idea of the American Dream. The dreams we have in ourselves, the dreams we have in our relationships and the severe inability to fulfill those dreams.

Winslet and DiCaprio are the image of the American Ideal. Beautiful, young, two kids and suburban house. The quintessential existence. But they had dreams of being different, of sticking out. Of being special. Of course, the film is based on the unraveling of their marriage, their lost dreams, their constant dreams of living a life based on challenging stereotypical ideas and the realization that those ideals are becoming one's own.

I have to admit, the movie was not a happy one. It was raw, it made me a bit depressed, but it was more reality put into two hours then I think I've ever experienced.

I swear, if Kate Winslet gets robbed this award season for like the millionth time...


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

This movie is different. It took me a long time to figure out what it reminded me of...but I got it. Big Fish meets Forrest Gump and has a love child.

The idea of time is a constant in this film. The idea we all struggle with of being able to turn back the clock. The idea that we come into this world dependent on others and for the most part, we leave this world the very same way.

It's a beautiful film. The cinematography is amazing, the colors, the images, the pure whimsy of the film is overpoweringly good.

And Brad Pitt...in the prime of his Benjamin Button life...is still hot.

Seriously, how did 2009 happen?

It's crazy how quickly time passes. It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating the fact that the entire world made it through Y2K with all our ATM cards and Computers still in tact. Thank god for the abundance of duct tape and plastic window coverings.

But that was an astonishing 9 years ago. As we enter this final year of Single-digit hood, I find myself looking back. This was a weird year. A year that I never dreamed of living...or experiencing.

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you hit a home run...Sometimes that damn ball just hits you right in the face.

I've had a little bit of both this year.

I rang it in (as usual) in Seattle. Gobbling up my sauerkraut and potatoes, the beginning of a year always brings a sense of refreshing newness.

A chance to get it right...again.

This year brought on a lot of changes...just like every year before it. But this one took a toll on me. It was an unsettling year, both private and professionally. One that challenged me, that made me look at the future though unstable glasses. One that made me harder, more critiquing, more scrutinizing.

It was also one that made me laugh uncontrollably, one that pushed me to grow, one that made me realize strengths and weaknesses, in myself, in the world, in other people. It allowed me to see the fear of wrong decisions, the power of making the right ones. The ability to change circumstances, the grief of loss, the loneliness of a crowded room and the joy of unopened adventures.

I expect 2009 to be just as rewarding.


I'm sitting in my favorite Island Starbucks, and it's super busy. But I finally got a table and set my laptop up. I'm here on a mission: To Complete the list of my yearly goals. Usually I just add my goals to the back of a journal I started years ago, but I left that in Seattle. So I had to go all technical and create a word doc.

This list turned out to be two pages of Goal Making Extraviganzia.

We'll see how it goes.

But for now, a virtual toast...Here's to you 2008 and all you're glory. And to 2009, may you be as fruitfully fun.

P.S: It seems that everyone has their own top ten lists---lists of the best, lists of the worst, lists of the yearly lists even.

I made a list of defining moments. In my head. It's a good list...too bad you all aren't in there to experience it.