saraewood.com

I was working for Salon during the 2000 elections. It was a fun time - the Salon Politics site was in full swing. At the Salon Politics party in DC, I shared a taxi with a drunken Christopher Hitchens and later inadvertently invited myself up to Arianna Huffington’s place for drinks at 2 in the morning (she made the mistake of sitting next to me at dinner, graciously loaning me her coat when I got cold, deftly entertaining our table by engaging Stanley Crouch on what it means to be a Republican - she is not, he is - before allowing me and some of the other Salonistas up to her condo for “one last drink”).

What was not fun was election night. As the news room gathered around the tv to watch the votes roll in, the mood was eerie. I got home before the final tally and as I sat reloading the sites I was monitoring, I vowed to myself that I would leave the country if George W won.

I was pleased to be able to keep that promise to myself, sitting out the following 4 years and next election in France and sending money to any candidate I thought might have a fighting chance to beat the incumbent (I liked John Edwards back then too, ever since that profile the New Yorker ran in 2002). I watched all the debates from my office in Geneva with a funny mix of American and non-Americans where the unspoken rules were no one could heckle. It was hard. I was embarassed for myself and my country.

This time around I am back in the states and am already feeling anxious. I am obsessed with caucus, primary and polling data and leading up to February 5th is making me twitchy. From very early on, I have really liked Obama (possibly also from a New Yorker profile years ago?). I agree with those that say he is of the type of leader that only comes around once in a generation. I would feel proud with him in office. I even proclaimed my admiration in the most public of public ways in this day and age - I became his “fan” on facebook. I just wish he were a bit more progressive.

I have always had a soft spot for John Edwards. He is a smart and gentle Southern man that appeals to the Louisiana farm girl in me. Wouldn’t an Obama / Edwards ticket just kick some butt? Come on, admit it.

The on-line surveys tell me I should like Kucinich - but he, to borrow the phrase, didn’t have a snowballs’ chance in hell despite how cute his wife is.

But the one that I have not been able to stomach from the beginning is Hillary - and that is not only because her daughter Chelsea was a less than stellar intern at WHO before almost immediately going to McKinsey where she earns a rumored 500K (Seriously, not an impressive intern. But I suppose one doesn’t have to impress with actual work if you are part of the Clinton Clan.). Though I don’t think I’ll vow to leave the country if she wins.

Counting the days til Georgie is mister EX president…

And don’t just listen to me, here is better, more thoughtful reasoning for why one should support Obama - from the guy behind the very funny xkcd comic.

I am not one to throw terms like “firmware” around. I am not normally one that is into gadgets. But I now own an iPhone and I use it with some frequency. Lots of Apple hype this week because of MacWorld up the street (Seriously? Who goes to those things?). People acting stupid over the new laptop Air and whether solid state is worth all that moolah. People fawning over their new ads (yes, the one on the front page of the NYT online was creative). But also the iPhone software upgrade (1.1.3) came out and I stupidly allowed the upgrade - and now I hate my phone.

My phone is generally retarded now. Freezes on most screens - including the unlock function. Get an SMS and click “view” - it displays an empty page, the type pad hangs for a solid minute every 3rd word or so, the email application hasn’t figured out how to stay synced or download mail in less than 5 minutes, the address insertion is idiotic, you get the idea.

Totally bogus.

PS - This is a different gripe that goes something like - What gives? You pay 400 bucks for a phone that is not as sturdy as they claim (see nicks and scratches for proof) and have to pay 15 bucks for a screen protector (ie, a piece of plastic - 15 bucks. No shit.) to be told that you can’t make ringtones from music you ALREADY OWN unless you bought it from iTunes and then pay them additional money to use the music you ALREADY OWN.

Yes, you should see it. Great cast, great acting, well-written and cute plot. I’d see it again. Plus, the story that the writer was a stripper with a blog who wrote a screenplay that required no re-writes and was filmed almost verbatim is pretty awesome too.