Friday, January 4, 2008

Caucuses (Cauci?)

It was fun to listen to NPR today and hear the analysis of last evening's caucus results. I think my favorite quote was the panelist who said that she expected Obama to "clip" Clinton, but "he ended up clobbering her." I was a bit surprised that it was a relatively big win for Obama--I thought the top three would be a little closer. I'm glad he won. It should make things a lot more interesting. One of the things I got for Ken for Christmas was Obama's first book, Dreams From My Father, in which he writes about his background and upbringing. It was amazing today to hear several people call in and say that they are Republicans who will vote for Obama. Ken and I don't agree with many of Obama's fiscal ideas, but I definitely find him inspiring, and I believe his message of change and inclusiveness (whether it's political parties, race, gender, religion...what have you) is resonating with quite a few people. I loved what he said about how we're not red states, we're not blue states, we're the United States. Very nice.

Good win for Huckabee, too. Even if you don't care for the guy (and I have my reservations about him), I think it says something for those who don't have the big bucks. Watch out for McCain in New Hampshire, though....

I think the most exciting thing is how many people turned out in Iowa, and how engaged people are with this election. Regardless of how you feel or how you vote, having an informed and engaged public is a very good thing, and it's great to see. Read, learn, study, and vote!

My buddy Greg and I had a good laugh today. He came up to me and said he had this image of Hillary sitting in a darkened room, Bill easing open the door and asking, "You okay, Honey?" and Hillary shouting "SHUT UP!" and Bill ducking back out. I just died laughing, and said I was thinking along the same lines, but mine was more Wizard of Oz-ish, with Hillary saying, "I hate you, Iowa! And your little dog, too!" We really got into it, and Greg said maybe you'd see a spider crawl across her face...I asked him to do the horror movie sound, that one that goes "sh-sh-sh-sh-ha-ha-ha-ha"...he mimicked her trashing the room, throwing things against the walls...we had quite a good time with it!

I finished the book I was reading, The Wheel of Darkness--what a great read! I think I actually gasped when I read the ending. Apparently we are not done with Agent Pendergast and Constance Greene. I can hardly wait for the next one. I've started the next book in our book club, which should be a fairly quick read: The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain. I just started it today, but read several chapters at lunch. I'm enjoying it quite a bit so far--published in 1934, it has that dark, film noir quality, and I can just hear the narrator intoning, "When she walked into the room, I could tell that she was the kind of woman who...." That sort of thing. I like it!

Somewhere between here and Missouri and back, I managed to catch a cold. My stepfather-in-law seemed to be coming down with a cold while we were there, but I could just as easily have caught it on the plane. Ken and I were kind of laughing (in a horrified way) about how it makes us cringe when anyone coughs or sneezes on a plane. I can just picture those little rhinoviruses circulating throughout the plane, landing all over things, waiting for me to touch them...ugh! I usually try to not take cold medicine and just let it runs its course, but I took some DayQuil when I got home from work, just so I could have a few blessed hours without a runny nose. I have to work this weekend, so I might have to take some while I'm at work, too. If I can make it through the weekend, I've got Monday and Tuesday off, so then I can recuperate.

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