Every Vote Counts

With the fire sale outside Norm Coleman's soon-to-be former office in the Capitol, and the news that Republican Sen. Judd Gregg is on the list for Commerce Secretary, it's starting to look like the Dems may be able to pull out a 60 seat majority in the Senate after all.

See, every vote does count (especially in Minnesota)!

Survivor's Guilt

I should have known when my hair wouldn't cooperate this morning and insisted on being parted on the right (instead of on the left like I've parted it every day of my life for as long as I can remember), that today wasn't going to be a normal day. Even when the coffee pot made hot water instead of coffee this morning, I still didn't get the hint. It wasn't until I arrived at work this morning to the news of layoffs that I realized how much life had changed in a mere 14 hours.

Luckily I'm still employed, but not everyone on my team was so lucky and I'm feeling an enormous amount of guilt right now. I know its irrational for me to feel guilty, but I can't help it. I feel for those that were sent home today and for their families. I want to tell management to cut my salary, take away my promotion, eliminate my benefits...do anything to keep these people employed - and at the same time I feel a certain sense of relief and gratefulness that I wasn't the one packing up my personal belongings and being escorted out of the building. I also feel a sense of foreboding and uncertainty. I made the cut today, but how long will my luck last. I guess all I can do is embrace the survivor's guilt, and be comforted in the fact that I'm not going to be spending my night trying to figure out where to line up for an unemployment check tomorrow.

Open Letter to Arlen Specter & John Cornyn

Dear Senators Specter and Cornyn,

WTF?

Sincerely,
Random Muser

Blogging on the Go?

Thought I'd try out the mobile blogging feature. Seems like it will work just fine. Oh technology, what did we ever do without thee?

Finally.

I finally was able to flip the last page of my "Bad President" desk calender this morning. At the bottom of every page was a countdown keeping track of how many days until Dubbya would be ousted from office. Today the bottom of the calendar page simply read, "It's finally over." That pretty much sums it up. It's finally over.

I woke up this morning and could feel the energy in the air - it was like waking up on Christmas morning as a kid...only way better. I'm filled with so much hope and optimism about our country. I realize that President Obama doesn't have a magic wand that he can wave and cure all of the ills imposed on us and the rest of the world by the white house's former occupant...but just knowing that there is an intelligent and thoughtful person in charge will make me sleep much better tonight.

Now I'm just waiting for the day when I can see/hear President Obama (I'll never get tired of saying that) without getting all weepy and emotional. I've been a hot mess the past couple of days with the non-stop inauguration coverage (the HBO special at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday nearly put me over the edge). I watched President Obama's inaugural address this morning at work, crowded into an office with 8 of my co-workers peering at the live video stream from NPR. I snapped the photo above with my phone, not that I really needed a photo, I'm certain I will always remember exactly where I was today at 11am. The rest of my evening will likely be spent glued to MSNBC with the dog in my lap fighting for space with the box of kleenex.
Happy Inauguration Day. It's finally here!

Stoogeon General

If you know me, you know I'm a big Obama fan. So it pains me when he makes a decision that I'm not entirely happy with (like this one). When I heard that Obama was considering Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General, I developed a sharp pain that emanated from behind my right eye through my ear and up my forehead. The pain is not unlike the pain I feel every time I hear fingernails on a chalkboard, or Sarah Palin's voice.

I don't have any problem with Dr. Gupta's qualifications. In fact, I sort of agree with Howard Dean that the job of Surgeon General is not unlike what Dr. Gupta currently does for CNN: explaining medical issues of public concern in a manner that the public can understand. My problem with Dr. Gupta stems from his on-air accusations that Michael Moore had "fudged his facts" in his movie Sicko. (If you haven't seen Sicko yet, then I urge you to open up a new window in your browser right now and add it to the top of your Netflix queue. Go ahead, I'll wait.)

In reality, Michael Moore had been entirely accurate and CNN was wrong on each and every one of the supposedly fudged facts. To their credit, CNN admitted after the fact that Dr. Gupta had been wrong, but the damage had already been done. If we're ever going to fix our ailing health care system, then we need people in respected positions (like Dr. Gupta) to stand up with those, like Michael Moore, and speak the truth about our broken system. Instead, Dr. Gupta called Michael Moore a liar and gave the public one more reason to not take Moore, or his message, seriously.

Also, I'm not really sure that the chief public health official (you know, the one in charge of telling us all to stop smoking and to lose weight) should really be showing our kids how to eat fire. Am I wrong here?

Knitting Problem.

I'm a knitter. There, I said it. I know it’s not a huge admission these days, in fact these days it seems anyone who is anyone is knitting. There are knitting clubs, podcasts, blogs, social-networking sites and even minor knitting celebrities, proving that being a bad-ass and a knitter are not mutually exclusive. Yet it was not that long ago that my love of knitting and all things crafty was my dirty little secret (kind of like my secret love of country music, but that shameful topic is best left for another day). No longer do I have to slink off to my LYS* behind large sunglasses hoping I don't run into anyone from my professional life. If Carrie Bradshaw can knit, so can I!

I'm not sure how or when one officially becomes a "knitter", but I suspect the transition happens right around the same time you start plotting all the places that you can knit surreptitiously. Ever sat in the back of a movie theater working away on your double-pointed needles? If so, you're a knitter. About a year ago, a co-worker/friend asked me to teach her how to knit. After a very quick tutorial in her office, she was off and running. Over the past year she's been knitting bears for the Mother Bear Project, hats for her kids and scarves for her siblings. I knew she'd become a full fledged knitter when she wondered aloud whether it would be appropriate to knit during meetings at work. Today she sent me the cartoon posted above. Do I think she has a knitting problem? Not yet.

I, on the other hand, have a knitting problem. Recently I've been in a knitting slump. It happens sometimes. When the number of half-finished projects that need finishing starts to exceed the list of new projects I’m dying to start, a sort of paralysis sets in and I find myself casting aside my beloved habit in favor of the stack of unread books on my nightstand or a new episode of Top Chef. Normally this isn't an issue, but I started a baby blanket for a friend who is due at the end of the month and I'm less than half way done. Maybe its the pressure of the holidays, or my new desire to not waste money (yes, you heard right, that particular desire is a new one for me), but for some reason I feel a particularly strong pressure to complete this blanket on time. Unfortunately, that pressure isn't translating into actual knitting.

The solution? A snow day. Mother nature's gift to knitters everywhere. I'm hoping for a White Christmas to kick my knitting butt into gear! Failing that, I think drinks are the solution. Lots and lots of drinks. After a couple of hot toddies I'll completely forget about any unrealistic knitting deadlines I may have set for myself. So, if you're feeling generous tonight during happy hour, raise a glass to the weather gods and ask them to send some snow my way.

*(that's "local yarn store" for the non-knitters)