150/366

I was surprised at how nostalgic I felt for that old church just blocks from home, where I could buy homemade cookies in the entryway, walk down the stairs to the basement where the quilts hung, fill in the circles on the ballot with a golf pencil, and leave with an "I Voted" sticker. Today I had to pick a line, declare my party out loud, silently confess I didn't do my homework and I had no idea how to choose so I wouldn't, and then reluctantly cast my ballot by touching a screen.

And they didn't even have stickers.

Admittedly, today I was a reluctant citizen at best.

Bipartisan offenders

Last night, among the five telemarketing calls we received, the only one to leave a message was Lee Terry, US Representative for the 2nd District of Nebraska, who told me, (I am NOT making this up...) "I was just calling seniors in the District tonight to talk about Social Security..."

Seniors? Social security? Sure, the grays are coming out, but SENIOR?

A few minutes ago, a few folks, in their "Vote November 4th" t-shirts, toting Obama signs, looking quite perky and ready to sway the 'hood, parked in front of my house, stood on my freshly repaved sidewalk, looked at their sheaf of papers, looked at my door, and then... split to walk in different directions.

Don'tcha want to talk to ME? Tell ME to vote? Tell ME about change we can believe in?

But, that's ok. I already voted. We're off to seek free donuts and coffee...

"because we've never had a savior on Capitol Hill"

"We don't live for politics. We don't base our confidence about the future on whoever gets elected." John Piper, on Election 2008

I recently heard this song by Derek Webb in concert. It's, perhaps, a little bit more cynical than I really am. I do believe that it's important to vote. I do believe that it's important to be informed and know what your stand on the issues are, and I do believe that it is important to vote those prinicples.

But, I do agree with Piper and with Webb, no elected official is going to be the solution to all of our problems. I'm holding onto the promise of eternity for that.

Here's the lyrics in case you don't catch them and you really want to know...

Words

The word geek in me is exposed...

Here's a link to a really neat graphic, showing word use frequency during speeches made at both Democratic and Republican party conventions.

(thanks and credit to Harrison Scott Key and the WORLD magazine blog...)

Mom of 5 and...

Who knew that a mom of 5 could generate so much excitement?


A day after I almost gave up the idea of voting, my interest has been renewed...

Yes we can

For the record, this in no way constitutes an endorsement.

But, I do appreciate this rhetoric. It is from Barack Obama's speech after the New Hampshire primary. It even inspired a music video.

For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn't try or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can.
It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land: Yes, we can, to justice and equality.
Yes, we can, to opportunity and prosperity. Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can repair this world. Yes, we can.
And so, tomorrow, as we take the campaign south and west, as we learn that the struggles of the textile workers in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas, that the hopes of the little girl who goes to the crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of L.A., we will remember that there is something happening in America, that we are not as divided as our politics suggest, that we are one people, we are one nation.
And, together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story, with three words that will ring from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea: Yes, we can.

I wish the Republican candidates could give better speeches...