DEMOCRATIC OFFICE OPENS IN DOWNTOWN KENNEBUNK, MAINE



This wooden sign was constructed by listener's Hubby, then lettered by listener,
because their daughter is Chair of the Democrats of the Kennebunks.
{You don't suppose they'll mind if they find out two Independents made the sign, do you?  LOL!}

It was especially gratifying to discover that the sign might well be seen by the Bushes.
This office is in addition to the office in Dock Square, Kennebunkport,
and is intended to be a presence until the Election.
It is located in what is normally the Ice Cream Scoop Shoppe!  
SWEET! ♥

We got to meet State Rep. Connor, who is up for reelection and whose name is on the sign.

Kudos to everyone who is working to unseat the Republican Administration!!


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New addition

This is our daughter's new pet. She named him Vladimir. Apparently she had no idea the name was connected to vampires, or a Russian leader. She was looking up names and just liked the sound of it.

Yesterday was a somewhat less than ideal time to add a new critter to our home, but it's something Daughter has been anticipating for a long time, and the opportunity presented itself.

Well, I've got work to do. Should get back to it, I guess. Syllabus isn't going to write itself.

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Electricity

Click here for the source of the image I used with this post. We DO have power now, but Demetrius has told me we shouldn't turn on our computers yet until the battery back-ups have time to charge. Thus, I'm posting this from my laptop and don't have full access to all the "bells and whistles" I do on my main computer.

Daughter was invited to sleep over at a friend's house, so Demetrius is dropping her off, and then will head to the store to do some grocery shopping. Thank you again to all of you who generously donated to help us restock after having to throw all that food away.

I do want to mention that there were pleasant aspects to all of this. A few evenings ago, Daughter offered to read to us from one of her favorite books. She's a bit self conscious about reading aloud, and keeps apologizing for little stumbles, but she has gotten more comfortable with practice. In general, this week has allowed us the opportunity to spend some fairly relaxed time together.

The hard part, though, is how far behind we are on so many things. Fall quarter starts next week for me (teaching), and we have a meeting coming up at Son's school that I'm going to need to do a lot of background work for. Demetrius needs to get our other car working again before my classes start mid-week.

So while we're thrilled to finally have power back on, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment of the sheer volume of "stuff" I have looming in front of me. I don't quite know where to start. For today, I decided just to get the things from the ice chest back into the fridge, post this update, and then kick back for a bit. Will start tackling some of the bigger projects tomorrow.

Click for the Columbus Dispatch's latest report on the work to restore power in central Ohio.

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Open Thread

more animals

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Update

Today's trip to the library was a bit frustrating, as I couldn't get my laptop connected to their wireless. At least I got it plugged in and mostly recharged. And Daughter got her internet fix on one of the computers in the teen nook.

Before going home, I did manage to get onto one of the library computers and access the internet long enough to take care of a few thing. One of those things was creating comment threads for Wednesday and Thursday.

Schools are closed again tomorrow, making three days in a row. No clue when they will be open again.

Off to bed now. Thank you all for the positive electricity vibes, and the well-wishing in general.

What I *can't* do at the moment is actually add the link to hepcomments.blogspot.com. But there's a link to that in the left sidebar of the main blog.

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♥ CONTINUING BLACKOUT THREAD ♥


Detail of a photo by listener of an Americana quilt
displayed at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont


Renee managed to set us up with a new Comments thread tonight
and left this update about the massive power outage in Ohio.
84 of 88 counties and about 2 million customers are affected!

Sure hope this is mended soon!
Power crews that were sent to help in the Gulf after Ike have had to be recalled!

Love and take care! ♥

COMMENTS

♥ BLACKOUT THREAD ♥


Photo by listener of a large quilt displayed at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont

Sending Loves to Renee & Demetrius and all people without electrical power
because we know they still have the real power. ♡

yIKEs!  Sure hope this is of short duration!  
Ohio.com says it could be a week before some have power restored.
(The Weather Channel reported a hurricane force 75mph wind gust in Columbus!)


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Howard Rocks The House In Portland Times Two!
by Nurse Teri

Governor Howard Dean breezed through Portland, Oregon last Friday, beginning his stay with a rousing rally at Lewis and Clark College.  I got to the rally and placed myself in line well ahead of the starting time of 1:00 pm. Unfortunately by the time the doors opened, several dozen Dean fans were turned away, but I was lucky enough to sit in an aisle seat in the second row. The first row was reserved for dignitaries and the press. All major news networks sent their local affiliate reporters and cameramen. The Oregonian and some smaller papers also had representation. I was quite happy to see all the press, because as we know the Governor gives a great speech and he tells the truth and nails every point he makes with facts.

Howard began his appearance like a Rock Star. I was so lucky, because he came down the row I was sitting grabbing and shaking the students' hands AND as soon as he turned and recognized me, he grinned and gave me a hug. As far as I could tell, I was the only one to get a hug at this event. !  

As soon as he finished talking he was whisked away and wired up for interviews. Rather than hanging around, I went to Obama Headquarters where the Governor was scheduled to speak at 5:00 pm.



The audience was filled with 18-22 year old students and they cheered and stood for the Governor, and they listened and approved his every word. The Governor emphasized that this race is especially for their generation.



Haven't had enough Howard Dean yet?  
Here are more photos from Nurse Teri!












COMMENTS 

LOOK WHO WENT TO OREGON!


Watch this space for a report from Nurse Teri!

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No Do-overs, John McCain

There's a good reason why legislators aren't usually promoted into the executive. When people do nothing but write laws and review how they work, they get used to doing things over.

But, when the commander-in-chief sends our sons and daughters off to be killed in a foreign land, there's no undoing that. There's no do-over in Iraq, John McCain.

When one of our cities is allowed to drown and the residents have to flee for their lives, there's no do-over in New Orleans, either, George Bush.

When our children die at an early age from vaccines that aren't properly made, there's no do-over, FDA.

When our foods are infected with salmonella, there's not a do-over there, either.

John McCain has been allowed to do lots of things over--his marriages, his families, his planes, his careers and a host of failed bills. Which should tell us that, no matter how much experience he's got, it's not the kind to fit him to be a chief executive.

Monica Smith

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Separated at birth...?

TotallyLooksLike.com is one of the newer entries to the "I Can Has Cheezburger" family of web sites. We just knew someone would have to submit this one....


see famous look-a-like faces

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see more pwn and owned pictures

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Open thread

Anyone planning to watch the Sarah Palin interview tonight?

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The Importance of Toughness- at least to Republicans

One of the most intriguing parts of attending the DNC convention was the time spent on public buses. Traveling from the Motel 6 in the outskirts of Denver, gave us the unique opportunity to be with the locals. Next to my friend and me sat workers with sack lunches, students with backpacks and mothers with grocery bags. When I travel in other towns on vacation, I politely sit quietly and wait for my stop. Covered in Obama/Change buttons, it was obvious we were here for the convention.

We could barely sit down before someone would give us thumbs up or say Go Obama! Some would just shake their head or complain about the detoured bus route because of the convention. It wouldn’t take long to figure out who was a Republican. We discussed healthcare and the pros and cons of universal coverage with a lab tech. When a 20 year-old parroted the republican spin of no experience, we Illinoisans had to tell him of how proud we were of Obama’s accomplishments.

Still on a high following Obama’s speech, we loaded the bus on Friday morning. We sat near the front of the bus because we were unsure of the stop for the Presidential Museum. The bus driver seemed to be compelled to talk. He said he was exhausted because he drove a bus following last night’s events and didn’t finish until 2 AM.

He opened the bus door with his large forearm to let in a man balancing with the cane. He just had to talk about Obama. He prefaced his statements with, “I was raised as a Southern Baptist and my family has always been Republican. But that Bush is a stupid shit!” I knew I had my opening.

He explained that last night the buses were all parked outside the stadium. Loud speakers were placed so those that couldn’t get in could still listen to the convention. So the bus drivers, whether they wanted to or not, had to hear Obama. He admitted that he really hadn’t listened to Obama speak before but had heard some things about him (probably on Hannity’s program). But he added, “I think I like Obama.”

“Guess what the 2 issues are that make me a Republican?” As he waited for my guesses, he told the man with the strong Indian accent that his stop would be 2 more blocks.

“Guns and abortion” I guessed.

“You have one of them right—Abortion and gay marriage.”

“Did you hear Obama say that it’s all our goal to have less abortions?” I added, “Can you believe that there has been more abortions since Bush has been in office than when Clinton was president?”

He braked at the red light and turned and looked at me in disbelief.

I moved on to his second Republican spin point. “As a liberal, I have to admit I wish Obama would say he was for Gay marriage. Did you hear him say that gays should have equal rights under the law?” I added a personal story to give emphasis to Obama’s statement. “My sister’s gay friend was in intensive care in the hospital. The hospital wouldn’t let her gay partner visit because only family members were allowed.”

His mouth opened but recovered to say, “I didn’t know that!”

The driver cranked the large steering wheel to the left as I turned the conversation back to Obama. “What did you like about Obama last night?”

“He is really smart! He had good ideas for America and he talked tough to McCain. Yeah that is what I liked the best. He talked tough to McCain."
______
Out of the mouths of Republicans—everyone wants toughness Obama campaign. Democrats want toughness and even Republicans respect toughness. Time to go to it.

Large Hadron Collider

I still don't quite get what it does, but people seem to be talking about the Large Hadron Collider today, so here's a rap about it.



See also: CERN's Large Hadron Collider started -- are we still here? (updated with video)

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Pop or soda?

...or Coke or other? Someone made a map.


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NURSE TERI'S ADVENTURES IN DENVER

As promised, here is my report from the DNC Convention. I arrived on Tuesday, August 26th. Each day had its own set of highlights, andtoday I met my hostess, a nurse activist, and her husband, 4 year old son and 6 year old daughter. School was just starting and it was a lot of fun to see the first grader routine in action. After settling in and having a lovely dinner, it was off to my first event, Democracy for America's party! Many of you will recognize Jim Dean, a gracious host and leader extraordinaire!! We just missed seeing Representative Jeff Merkley and the Oregon contingent of delegates. Rep. Merkley is running for the US Senate here in Oregon and was in Denver awaiting his big night on the convention stage.
Please check out his website http://jeffmerkley.com for more information about his campaign.



Then it was off to bed for a quick 5 hours of sleep (that would have been more, but I got confused with my time zones, and accidentally set the alarm for 5 am, LOL. For those of you who know me personally, you will recognize my ineptness with numbers.

August 27th proved to be a huge day with a lot of walking. My hostess and I made a dash into downtown Denver, parking the car in Sunken Gardens Park for an afternoon rally. Parking was impossible next to the Pepsi Center, and we needed to head to the Hyatt for a SEIU Nurse Alliance breakfast meeting. It was awesome hearing the great work nurses representing Colorado, Iowa, New York, Washington DC, Oregon, and Wisconsin are doing to improve healthcare access/affordability for all Americans. I was honored to be included at an SEIU healthcare event that featured four governors, many US Senators, members of Congress, and special guests. Below is a picture of me with SEIU President Andy Stern and my hostess.



After the healthcare event, we walked quickly to the park, and set up tables and booths for the healthcare rally. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-9) stopped by and had a round table with several dozen nurses. I had an opportunity to share the Office of the National Nurse initiative http://nationalnurse.org with dozens of rally participants and also was interviewed six times for radio stations, newspapers, and journals.



Of course, the highlight of the week was being able to attend Barack Obama's acceptance speech at Mile High Stadium, and they aren't kidding about the mile high part.  We stood in line for over two hours so by the time we reached the stadium, I wasn't paying attention to all the escalators we rode to reach our section.  When we walked out to the seats, and up several more rows, it gave the feeling we were about to fall off a cliff.  Thankfully, I was in between two very understanding nurses who both assured me that I had not wasted my ticket and that eventually I would be able to look forward and down, instead of sideways and up.  One of the best speeches of the night (besides Obama's) was that of Governor Bill Richardson who had the place rocking and rolling almost as much as Cheryl Crow and Stevie Wonder.  



After the end of the convention, all 84,000 of us poured into downtown Denver. It was truly a celebration and I am so grateful I was able to take part.

COMMENTS

QUITE THE VIEW!



Watch this space for Nurse Teri's report from Denver!
(It's in draft, but so are other posts.  Coming soon!)

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Teh cute--it buuuurns!

For some reason, that line popped into my head as I saw the sheer magnitude of cuteness for sale at a local Japanese gift store. Influenced, I guess, by Son's recent interest into leetspeak.

Anyway, I took some pictures...



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More on the Underground Railroad house

Just said this to Bill in the comments, but will go ahead and post it on the front page as well...

...the weird thing about the house is that I almost failed to find it. After unsuccessful attempts to find a hidden geocache, I decided to shift gears towards a more attainable goal. Houses aren't usually hidden. Mostly they have addresses right on them.

And this one did, nice and big. But out of order.

When I was looking for 2828 Sunbury, I came first to 2826. Right after that was 2832. Both houses looked decidedly modern, and there was no tiny house hiding between them that I could discern. I went back to my car, and did a search for the Margaret Agler House on my phone. Thought maybe the person who listed it on the Waymarking site could have gotten the address wrong. But every reference I saw had the same address.

Weird. So I got into my car and headed toward home. A couple houses later, and there it was--out of numerical sequence.


I quickly pulled over and took a couple pictures before heading home.

Just now, as I was downloading the pictures I took with the camera on my phone, I discovered for the first time that the current owner of the house was standing there in the doorway, watching me taking pictures. That startled me a bit when I first realized--but I imagine I'm not the first person to come by and take pictures of his historic house.


Here's something from an article I found about the Underground Railroad in Ohio...

Locations throughout Franklin County can boast of their participation within the Underground Railroad.

Several buildings standing today served as stations. These buildings include Second Baptist Church, the Kelton House Museum and Gardens, Margaret Agler House and Southwick-Good Funeral Chapel, located at 3100 N. High St.

“I think the operation of the Underground Railroad is a very important part of American History,” said William Good, owner of Southwick-Good Funeral Chapel. “We’re proud to be a part of it.”

A thought occurs to me. The people who made the Underground Railroad possible were probably not by and large government officials. I'm guessing they were more like, oh, just to take a stab in the dark...community organizers.

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Open thread

I found the Waymarking site as a link from the Geocaching site

From the FAQ

Waymarking is a way to mark unique locations on the planet and give them a voice. While GPS technology allows us to pinpoint any location on the planet, mark the location, and share it with others, Waymarking is the toolset for categorizing and adding unique information for that location.

So, I searched for waymarks near my zip code, and found this:

Built in the 1840s, the house contains a cistern that still runs clear water through it and a secret room off an upstairs bathroom. It was known as the "white house on the bend of the creek."

Here's the picture I took


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Still cache-less

...at least at the moment. On Labor Day, though, I got close to a spot that was supposed to have a geocache.



In fact, when I was standing right here...



...my little GPS readout thingy claimed that I was "0 feet" from the coordinates. Pretty sure that didn't mean "that which you seek is within you". But I couldn't find anything right away, and it was getting beastly hot out. So I just planned to come back at some point with Demetrius--and maybe the kids too if I can interest them.

And then this week we had some car issues, so I haven't made it back yet. Maybe this weekend I can finally find a tangible cache. I'm actually kind of jazzed just to have gotten the GPS stuff to work on my Blackberry.

But I didn't want to end the week without at least one success, so I turned to Waymarking. More on that in a bit...

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SAVE THE WHALES!
...and the polar bears, and the ecosystems, and human sanity!
Need one more reason?  Have a look, aren't they beautiful?




Photos by listener's niece, Dianna, on her recent visit to Alaska.
Dianna is a marine biologist, a licensed sea captain, and founder of:
www.blueoceansociety.org

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Denver Democratic Experience part 4

The entire city was energized with anticipation of hearing Obama’s acceptance speech. The citizens of Denver should be because they were getting half of the 75,000 tickets. We stuck our hologram ticket in the clear sleeve of our lanyard. We were going to the big event.

We climbed on the shuttle bus that dropped us off over a mile away from the Invesco Center. We joined a line that snaked around the center. We talked with the people in front and behind us. They all had stories similar to ours. There were water bottles in tanks of ice water and porty potties every few block lengths. The volunteers were cheerful and encouraged us through the long slow moving progression. A large tent was set up for security which all of us understood and appreciated.

Once again we trekked up the long winding ramps to our 5th level seating. This time we ended up about 10 rows from the top. This was the real nose bleed section and Bobbie even proved it by getting her own real nose bleed!
The sun still had another several hours to sunset and the Colorado sun showed us how hot it could be. Someone had gotten into the bags of posters and handed out the “Change” posters that we used as sunshields. Each of the 80,000+ attendees was given an American flag to wave, it was a great cheering tool.

One by one my favorite politicians talked. They were all about ¼ inch high with their back to us but the large screens and good sound system made us feel right up front. The top tier gave us a good perspective of the historical impact of the event. Thousands and thousands of people cheering, waving flags, stomping feet and standing up with enthusiasm and hope for a renewed America. It was not just a rock concert. The stadium was filled with people from all across the country. We had all worked hard for change and a better America. We were people that were inspired by leaders who could guide us in the direction that America needed to go.

Howard Dean-who first told Democrats they needed to be Democrats, was followed by Bill Richardson-who understood early on that Obama was the one to lead us. Al Gore received a long standing ovation by appreciative Democrats. Dick Durbin proudly introduced IL’s Junior Senator.

After the sunset, Barack entered the stage with a long shadow behind him. He had words of toughness for McCain, detailed thoughts of his plan of action and closed with words of inspiration and hope. He once again exceeded our expectations. In closing, he was joined by his beautiful first family and then Biden and his family. They held hands and raised their arms up in appreciation for the audience’s strong support.

The convention closing has always looked like so much fun and I had a long time goal to be a participant. I was close this time but obviously balloons could not drop down in the middle of the stadium. I was way up at the top how could I possibly be a part of this? Obama wanted to include all the people not just a few select Democrats. So Obama chose a stadium to give his acceptance speech.

Out of nowhere, confetti started falling on the attendees on the floor level. I thought high nice. Then the confetti started rising higher and higher, making it up to top rows—white stars, and red and blue rectangles fell on our heads. WE WERE all a part of this monumental event, every one of us. Firework after firework shot above our heads expressing the way we felt inside. Obama wanted to thank and include the everyday people. He got it, it was not about him but about all of us.

COMMENTS

Denver Experience part 3

The most pleasant surprise of the convention was that there are tons of things to do for non-delegate attendees. Caucuses were held at the convention center for each sub-group and anyone can attend these meeting for free. I fit into rural, senior, and women groups. Bobbie’s daughter, Suzie, slipped into the GLBT, Black and NY delegation meetings. Jessie Jackson, and Hillary stopped in these events and their talks were more spontaneous and relaxed than at the nighttime convention.

I am a MSNBC viewer so when we found the outdoor stage for that TV station we knew our favorite pundits had to be close. Late on Tuesday night Keith Olbermann came down to the bottom level to greet and talk to us fans. Getting a good picture was impossible but I did get a picture of his cool black limo driving away. My favorite female commentator Rachel Maddow, just had to be around somewhere but I didn’t recognized her at first. She casually left the stage with 2 staffers, walking through the remaining small crowd. Knowing Maddow’s eccentric personality I shouldn’t have been surprised to see here dressed in a green-stripped polo shirt, horned rimmed glasses and red tennis shoes. She answered questions and held a mini discussion about the convention.

We frequently ran into the same volunteers as we rode the bus to and from town. Every one of them was excited because they had snagged tickets for Obama’s Thursday night event- everyone, that is,except for the three of us. When we got off the bus a volunteer gave us a card with an updated schedule for tonight’s event- Howard Dean, Bill Richardson, Al Gore, Dick Durbin and Barack Obama- all my favorite male politicians. This was starting to get painful. We tried not to let our mood sink but we were sooo close but no tickets. We checked our phones for messages, nothing.


We did have reservations for the IL Democratic Women’s luncheon that I knew would have both well-known female politicians and friends. Our bus never came, probably due to the reroute around the Invesco Center. But our angels sent a woman to us who had been driving VIPS in a black SUV. She shouted out the window asking if we needed a ride. She dropped us off directly outside the Marriot where our luncheon was held. Our good luck continues when we happened to walk directly by Durbin’s staffer sitting at a table with a stack of tickets. She casually asked if we still needed some for tonight’s event. We couldn’t believe that ----WE were going to Obama’s acceptance speech!

It was great to see friendly faces at the luncheon including several state politicians. We all knew that the event would have to be shortened so we could stand in line to get into the convention. The speakers abbreviated their talk until Lisa Madigan, IL’s attorney general, was at the podium. Several impatient attendees just got up and left but I did enjoy her long review about Obama’s great record in the IL Senate. At the end of her dragged out speech she brightened up as you looked at the back of the room and stated, “Now I know you will not be disappointed because I want to introduce OUR senator, Barack Obama”

In he walked with his big toothy grin, followed by 3 secret service guards. We learned later that this unscheduled stop, did not require heightened security. He stated, “I thought I would just stop by and practice my speech for tonight.” He thanked us for all the good work we, especially the women of IL, have done for the party and him. After his brief talk he took his time to shake hands and take pictures with him. Like a true groupie, I stood on top of a chair the whole time and just watched and listened. Suzie came back thrilled. She got a hug from Obama. If our experience would have ended here, we would have been satisfied.

If you want to check out us women going crazy when Obama showed up at our luncheon go to minute 2 of this video

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#26444864


Fun things to do in Denver
1. Sit in the middle of the 16th Street mall and eat vendor ice cream
2. Visit the Tattered Book Store at the north end of 16th Street
3. Take a ride on the light rails, it is a fast smooth ride
4. Ride the buses and enjoy the friendliness of the locals

COMMENTS

Denver Experience Part 2

Volunteering has always been the way for “regular” democrats to be included in important events. So last winter Bobbie and I signed up to volunteer at the convention. When they emailed us back and told us we could help direct traffic, I could just picture us wearing neon vests and waving flashlights. We decided to fore go this and use our traditional method of helping with our local state party, and Monday’s volunteering did not go unappreciated by Sarah, Durbin’s right hand woman. Tuesday she called to say she had 3 hard sought after tickets for the convention that night.

You have to understand the “credentialing” thing. If you are a delegate, high elected official or otherwise big wig you get this lanyard with a plastic sleeve that holds all your tickets allowing you to attend various events. The more important you are the more tickets you get. You wear this thing hanging around you neck so everyone knows you have multiple invitations. All we were wearing were Obama pins. The locals on the bus from the Motel 6 didn’t really care. All they wanted to do was argue about the merits or deficits of our candidate. The later in the night the more boisterous their opinions and if you know where most Motel 6’s are located, it will give you a better idea of the variety of riders we had on our buses.

We stopped at the front desk at the Marriott Hotel where the IL delegation was staying. Unlike our motel in the far reaches of Denver it was located centrally off of the downtown 16th district mall. The electricity could be felt in the air and it was a wonderful place for watching IL politicians in action. Jessie Jackson walked through with his entourage and Durbin’s staffers were divvying out tickets to the delegates friends and families. With no lanyard, we tightly held our 3x5 inch tickets.

Denver has a model transportation system including free shuttles down the mall, buses that stop at every corner and fast rails linking the nearby suburbs. Each mode carried distinct riders but during the main convention events it seemed that all transportation led to the Pepsi Center. Security started as you loaded the convention shuttle bus including emptying water bottles and opening purses. The people mover system efficiently streamed us though the parking lot into the center where we walked though metal detectors.

The hallways of the ringed center were lined with reporters interviewing political celebrities such as Dennis Kucinich and Rod Blogevich The higher up the center we walked the more the attendees looked like real people. Dress changed from suits and black dresses to button covered t-shirts. We climbed up and up to our seats, ending up third row from the top. The blue glow from the stage was the prime source of light and the voice of the politicians could be heard echoing around the auditorium. I wasn’t sure if I was light headed from the lack of oxygen or overwhelmed by actually standing there in person at the Democratic convention.

The big screens around the center allowed you to see the speakers but the energy of several thousand enthusiastic Democrats was a major distraction. Many were calling their friends on the cell phone so they could listen in. I was impressed by the many groups and cultures represented. I know it was Dean’s and Obama’s desire to have the convention be representative of the true America and it was.

There were several speakers but the people in the cheap seats were noisy. Those viewing it on TV at home had a better view. Several speakers were scheduled but since we got our tickets late we missed many of them. I was most pleasantly surprise by the last speaker before Hillary. I had never heard of the Governor of Montana. But the schedulers understand that he would know how to warm up the crowd before Hillary. He was humorous, spontaneous and appropriate with his support of both Hillary and Obama.

Tuesday night of the convention was really “Hillary’s Night”. I have been an avid Obama supporter since the beginning of his senate race but I recognize Hillary as a real class act. This speech was dubbed as one of the most important of her political career. Dressed in her beautiful suit she put her full support behind Obama. She didn’t disappoint any of the attendees, Hillary or Obama fans.

The streams of people exited down the circular ramps to the hundreds of waiting buses carrying their signs of “Unity” and “Reclaim the Promise”. I had my doubts that the planners of the convention could bring us to this point but Democrats certainly were.


Advice for novice conventioneers
1. Be flexible, just hang out, find out where your state delegation is staying
2. You don’t need a lot of money, it is all on the DNC and sponsors
3. Go to caucuses, that is where the highest level politicians go to thank their supporters
4. Bring both fancy and casual cloths; you may never know what event you can get into.

Denver Democratic Experience-part 1

I am not a Democratic delegate but I act like one. So when my friend just missed representing IL, we decided to head down to the Denver Democratic National Convention this week and see what events we could sneak or beg our way in to.

You would think we would have been discouraged because the hotel rooms were all booked, the airlines shut down the week before our trip and I had just started a new job.—nope we weren’t

So this past Monday at 3:30 AM my local Democratic mentor, Bobbie and I headed to Denver. We decided we would rely on public transportation and the friendliness of the locals to find our way around city that I had previously driven around to get to the ski hills of Colorado.

On the bus platform at the airport we talked to an Ohio Obama volunteer who told us about openings at a Motel 6, so Bobbie, her daughter and I followed him like baby ducklings across town pulling our suitcases. As we booked our room, the manager told us we were lucky because rooms just opened up after scalpers had been caught selling them for 3 times the value on Craig’s list.

We had tickets two scheduled events, a party hosted by Sen. Durbin and a luncheon for the IL Democratic Women’s organization. So our challenge was to weasel our way into some of the big events. We were short one ticket for Bobbie’s daughter for the Durbin event but were told we could get her in if we volunteered at Durbin’s “Chicago in Denver Party.”

Never having been to a convention before I had no idea what I needed to pack in my carry-on. I have seen numerous conventions on TV so assumed I knew everything about convention dress. Surely my “Friends don’t let Friends vote Republican” T-shirt would be acceptable especially compared to the grey haired women dressed head to toe in American flag patterns and the tall skinny guy in an Uncle Sam stove-pipe hat.

So when I arrived at Durbin’s “Chicago in Denver” in my Obama/Durbin t-shirt with a blue tinsel feather boa I was sure to fit in. Durbin’s staffer smiled politely as the 3 of us arrived in our Democratic gear. Young volunteers arrived one by one each woman wearing a little black dress and each man in a suit and tie. I could see she had volunteers coming out of her ears and needed to quickly find a job for the three flashy boaed beauties. She created a job on the spot—she decided to have us be entrance greeters, or bouncers if necessary.

Actually this job turned out to be a blast. We held back the crowd until the official starting time, shooed away three skate boarders and told people they had to use the bathroom next door. I was really enjoying my power when a dark-suited gentleman arrived and insisted on getting through the gait to talk to Audrey. He left after I refused his request only to return five minutes later. He pulled me to the side and softly asked me what my named. “I need to talk with you Holly” while flashing his secret service badge. My knees went weak seeing myself locked up for some unknown deed. He said, “You must let me in so I can scout out the premises including entrances.”

So the tall erect man trailed the blue tinsel boa bouncer through the bar, kitchen and hallways. After clearing the site I asked if he could tell me why this was necessary. “All I can say is that someone very important from Chicago is coming.” As soon as he left I couldn’t wait to tell my co-bouncers and friends that Michelle Obama was coming.

The initial trickle of people turned into a large crowd totaling to over 2500 Democrats including over 16 Senators, dozens of US Reps and various other party big wigs. None of them could get passed the three of us without a friendly “Welcome to Chicago in Denver”-we were not unlike the Wal-Mart greeters.

Bobbie’s highlight was taking a pause from our duties to get a picture with Al Franken. I enjoyed guessing the names of the grey-haired senators I knew from C-Span. Durbin’s staffer spared us the embarrassment of not recognizing them by warmly greeting each elected official by name and leading them through the VIP entrance.

We were relieved of our duties after an hour to hang up our boas and enjoy the Chicago pizza, mini hotdogs and sliders. As usual it was a treat to see Sen. Durbin speak and I have to admit getting pleaser watching the 2nd City troop roast Rahm Emmanuel. Michelle Obama WAS the surprise visitor hot off her speech at the convention. She graciously took the time to warmly thank her fellow Illinoisan Democrats that have been supporters for such a long time. .

Watch for these scary encounters in Denver
1. fast low-water usage flush toilets
2. dry skin, chapped lips
3. chest pains from lack of oxygen
4. light rail trains crossing sidewalks

Comment Link

Got cache?

Not yet, but I'm getting ready to look for some. According to Google Earth and Geocaching.com, there's plenty of it to be found in central Ohio.


Developing...

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Weekend open thread

more the engrish!

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Friday Open Thread

The vast majority of the time I avoid posting pictures of Still pResident Bush. But this amused me.




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Thursday Open Thread

more animals

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Here's NURSE TERI's first Report from Denver!



Boo hoo, no Howard sitings, but did make it to the DFA party and got a great picture with Jim Dean.

Today I was the guest of SEIU Value Care Nurses and Nurse Alliance to their big health care event. We heard speeches from Andy Stern SEIU President, Govs. Patrick Duvall (MA), Ed Rendall (PA), Ted Strickland (OH) and Kathleen Sebelius (Kansas), and Sen. Clinton was the keynote and ending speaker. I had a FRONT row seat, pretty awesome.

Then at their health care rally, I was interviewed six times for the ONN initiative, still hoping for an SEIU endorsement.

I did pick up a THANK YOU Howard Dean name holder for Marcia

And tomorrow, I have credentials for the Obama acceptance speech.

Love to all,
Teri

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Wednesday Open Thread

Found this (pre-caption) under Yahoo's "most e-mailed photos",

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Open thread

more animals

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Commenting (again)

From the Friday Open Thread:

This is the only link you ever need:

http://hepcomments.blogspot.com

I wish the whole comment thing could be automated like on just about every other blog in the world, but for some reason it can't be. I've tried to make the best of it, but couldn't figure out how to teach other people how to make the links.

So this is the solution I've come up with. I will continue to make sure comment links publish once a day over at the HEP comments blog. One comment link a day--not for each new post. So we really shouldn't need to add the comment link to every post, as it is always going to be the same link. And that link is at the top of the left sidebar. But if it helps make things clearer, we can put that link in each post. But anyone with keys to the blog can do that. There is no special link that needs to go up with a new post, since there is now a new link once a day rather than for each post. Another advantage to this approach is that, if there is not a new front page post for a couple days, people can still follow the link to the newest comment thread. (Because there will be a new comment thread every day.)

I made this change and announced it in this post. At the moment, there is no guarantee that I will be able to read all the comments in a timely manner. So I'm asking a favor...if anyone is confused about the way comments work now, those of you who have figured it out, please explain to those of you who don't.

I'm trying not to get cranky about this, but I'm also trying to figure out how to explain it in a way that at least most people will understand.

But I will add this piece of clarification: I am asking that people posting front page blog entries not point your Comments links to specific comment thread. Please, instead, do what I am about to do right now and point the link here: http://hepcomments.blogspot.com

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A little inspiration...

As we approach the start of the Democratic Convention with hopes that we might actually be on our way to a fresh start in this country and the end of almost eight long years of horror, I thought this prayer might remind us of why so many of us do the things we do.

A Prayer

May God bless you with discomfort
at easy answers, half-truths, and
superficial relationships, so that
you will live deep in your heart.

May God bless you with anger at
injustice, oppression, and
exploitation of people and the earth
so that you will work for justice,
equity and peace.

May God bless you with tears to
shed for those who suffer so you will
reach out your hands to comfort
them and change their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with
the foolishness to think that you
can make a difference in the world,
so you will do the things which
others say cannot be done.

Source Unknown: Distributed by School of the Americas Watch Northwest
<http://www.soaw.org> )

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Open thread

I've had the words of The Runaway Bunny running through my head lately...

Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away. So he said to his mother, "I am running away."
"If you run away," said his mother, "I will run after you. For you are my little bunny."

Imagining a sequel written years later (when the little bunny has grown into a teenage bunny) entitled The Runaway Mommy.

Would anyone run after her?

These are the sorts of deep thoughts I'm having these days. I'll be okay. I'm working on it. But with all the discussion around the tubes about Obama's choice of VP, all I have to say on the subject is "Meh." Somebody Else's Problem. I'm just not feeling it.

But I will keep an eye on the numbers at the HEP comments blog, and put up an extra thread on days that really need them. I may or may not be around in the comments, so (probably stating the obvious here), if you see a new comment thread, be sure to go back and tell folks in the old thread who might not know about it. Thanks.


{ { { I would run after the Mommy Bunny, Renee. And I'd bring snacks. XOXOXXX listener } } }



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Office of the National Nurse presence in Denver!



HEP's own national nurse, Teri Mills, writes:

Thanks to a Healthcare United, a new national movement of nurses and healthcare workers who are coming together to help fix our broken healthcare system, the Office of the National Nurse Campaign will have a presence in Denver at the Democratic National Convention. This is a great opportunity to come together and raise our voices to say the status quo is NOT working in healthcare, it is not working for our patients and it is not working to improve the health of our country.

On Wednesday afternoon, August 27th, the day before Senator Barack Obama accepts the nomination, there will be a large rally and concert at Sunken Gardens Park, on 8th and Speer beginning at 2pm MDT. The event will include a parade to the Pepsi Center (where the DNC is meeting), A-List bands, celebrity emcees, rousing speeches from healthcare activists and key Democratic leaders, and fun activities for the kids.



In the park itself, there will be big "theme tents" on Wednesday. If you're in town, you are invited to stop by The Long Term Care Reform Ward and Art Gallery, The Nurses' Station, The Legislative Emergency Room, (where you will find Teri Mills lobbying for an Office of the National Nurse for prevention) and, of course, The Free Clinic, Alternative Wellness Center and Hydration Station.

Do you have a personal story about how our broken healthcare system and a solution on how to make it better? Healthcare United encourages you to participate in the decision making process and invites you to submit your own ideas on how to fix our healthcare system. Your suggestions to improve healthcare will be delivered to Senator Obama during the convention.

Note: Teri will update us as she is able, from Denver or immediately following!

Incase you missed it:  Just below this thread is a thread from Jessica & Co about D-fest "6.0", 2009!


Click here to continue with Today's Comments

6th Annual DemocracyFest ~ 2009!

Written by: Jessica Falker on Aug 22, 2008 7:11 AM PDT

A huge thank you to all that made the 5th Annual DemocracyFest so great again this year. With your attendance, with participation locally in Virginia and from around the country, you have continued the tradition. To all of the sponsors, speakers, trainers, entertainers, volunteers, and attendees! Thank you!

Click Here to see Gov. Dean's speech at the 5th Annual DemocracyFest on C-SPAN.

We have already started planning to reconvene next summer for the 6th Annual DemocracyFest and will let you know the location and date as soon as possible. (The poll taken at this year's event for current proposals of Burlington VT and Chicago IL came out 50/50!) Your input and suggestions are always welcome! Email us at info@democracyfest.net

The core of DemocracyFest is community. Many of us were first called to action by Howard Dean's run for president in 2004. DemocracyFest carries forth the grassroots spirit of that campaign, and each year we have been delighted to welcome new people who similarly want to take our country back.

It would be great if DemocracyFest could be organized with no money, but the reality is that it takes at least $20,000 to put on an event like this, and quite a bit of that money is needed for deposits on the venue long before we start selling tickets. Also, we always want to be as inclusive as possible and therefor keep the cost of attending as low as possible. Our ticket price averages about 1/4 the cost of attending other political festivals, which means we rely on help from people like you to make that happen. Please make a contribution to help our efforts:

Click Here To Make A Contribution

While we can't list every connection, idea and project that was discussed at, or will grow out of, this year's DemocracyFest, we do want to point out that four great candidates for their state's Legislature attended this year: John MacMurray from California, Ellen Garneau from Vermont, Marcia Moody from New Hamphire, and David Stevenson from Connecticut. These are regular grassroots activists who have put their lives on hold to serve their community and we hope you will support their campaigns.

A special thank you to this year's sponsors: Democracy for Virginia, Democracy for America, Brain Arcade Design Studio, Latinos For America, Virginia Democratic Women's Caucus , IG Publishing, Living Liberally, National Women's Political Caucus , and Dulles Area Democrats

Thank you to the speakers, trainers, and entertainers who donated their time and talents: Gov. Howard Dean, Jeffrey Feldman, Rep. Leslie Byrne, Jim Dean, Rep. Marcia Moody, Charlie Grapski, Matt Blizek, Nathan Gonzalez, Subway Serenade, Bobby Kendes, Ellen Garneau, Jen Sorensen, Scott Goldstein, Bryan Hageny, Dorrie Clark, Maya Enista, Bernadette Vadurro, Linda Brooks, and Jeffrey Richardson

Thank you to Susan Rowe who not only suggested we have a silent auction at this year's event, but then organized the whole thing and raised about $800! Also, congratulations to Sarah John who won the Treasure Hunt this year! The prize is a free ticket to next year's DemocracyFest...and speaking of next year's DemocracyFest...

Please help us start planning for next year by making a contribution to DemocracyFest today:

Click Here To Make A Contribution

We are currently seeking sponsors for the 6th Annual DemocracyFest. If your organization or business is interested, please contact us at info@democracyfest.net

The DemocracyFest Team

David, Ellen, Jessica, Laurie and Quintus

www.DemocracyFest.net

Link to Today's Comment Thread

Friday Open Thread

more animals

A note about comment links...

This is the only link you ever need:

http://hepcomments.blogspot.com

I wish the whole comment thing could be automated like on just about every other blog in the world, but for some reason it can't be. I've tried to make the best of it, but couldn't figure out how to teach other people how to make the links.

So this is the solution I've come up with. I will continue to make sure comment links publish once a day over at the HEP comments blog. One comment link a day--not for each new post. So we really shouldn't need to add the comment link to every post, as it is always going to be the same link. And that link is at the top of the left sidebar. But if it helps make things clearer, we can put that link in each post. But anyone with keys to the blog can do that. There is no special link that needs to go up with a new post, since there is now a new link once a day rather than for each post. Another advantage to this approach is that, if there is not a new front page post for a couple days, people can still follow the link to the newest comment thread. (Because there will be a new comment thread every day.)

I made this change and announced it in this post. At the moment, there is no guarantee that I will be able to read all the comments in a timely manner. So I'm asking a favor...if anyone is confused about the way comments work now, those of you who have figured it out, please explain to those of you who don't.

Thank you to everyone who has had kind words about this blog in the past several weeks, and thank you for the contributions via PayPal and my Amazon wish list. It really is good to be appreciated. (heart thingie)


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Open thread

This video rather successfully conveys Son's current level of enthusism toward starting high school next week...



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Last week I visited an outdoor labyrinth at a church in Bexley, Ohio. In addition to the labyrinth, there was an interesting sculpture. Here's its description:

"This sculpture was commissioned to convey and articulate the strength, security, and solidarity which parishioners experience from St. Alban's Parish. The text directs our attention to the Divine Source of this parish's strength, and reads: "For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore thy name's sake lead me, and guide me." (Psalm 31:3; KJV)

Thomas Melville Chapin was chosen to create this sculpture, because he works with stone, which has the innate dimension of linking a sense of permanence and strength with the eternal.

White granite, sometimes called "Bethel Moonlight" because of its luminous quality at night, was selected for its pureness of appearance and durability.

The text, written in Braille, reminds us that these are inner truths. Rather than being raised in dots as is the norm for Braille, the inscription is cut in rectangles for aesthetic reasons and to suggest an old fashioned computer card or player piano roll...connoting that this psalm is a code that conveys a meaning broader than just the statement itself.

Projecting a sense of timeless eternal strength, this sculpture spans the ages--leaving an impression of primitivism as well as ultra-modernism."

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Fun with screen captures

Thank you to JudyforDean for pointing out the typo in this AP article about upcoming veep announcements.

And to jc, who told me where to find the screen capture program I just used. ;)

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Reports from DeanFest. . . .

Just arrived home tired but happy. The plane ride is shorter than the 3 el trip home from the airport! But all in all it wasn't too bad.

Demfest was a family reunion. It was so great to see so many friends after so long a time.

I thought I would get a little time to relax at the pool, but really, there were just too many friends to visit with.

Last night 15 of us went to dinner at a local Thai restaurant. Since we had decided where to dine at the last minute, the restaurant owners were in a bit of shock when we all walked in. They handled things really well and the food was great.

Subway really loved the food!
donna in evanston




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


O Hai!

May the Eternal Blessings of The Ceiling Cat be a pwn thee...

Herein is my Deanstock 5 report to the community, and first of all I want to thank the folks who not only got this street musician to this event, but made my better two thirds comfortable sending me off to do something that was really important.

Demonstrating Gizmo is a bit moar complicated than I had anticipated, and as Denise saw, I had a problem with the readings that come when two hearts are using the machine. I'll work on this.

My concern was that it was difficult to demonstrate the level of coherence that I can get to when I'm doing my heart dance routine alone.

So when Denise posted that we were working on the demonstration, I was dealing with a number of unexpected glitches.
***

I spent about 4 hours spinning coherent heart waves in DC.

Some folks got to see me playing with Gizmo as they were leaving, but there was no prime time presentation.

Charlie played Gizmo for about an hour. I'd appreciate hearing his thoughts on what happened.

***

Something happens in my heart when I sing to Puddle. Something happens in my heart when I sing to Dean People.

It happened on Saturday night.

Namaste
Subway Serenade

Comment Link

MY WEEK IN DENVER (not at the DNC )

In some ways it's hard to know what to talk about. Maybe I'll start with something no one would have expected: The campaign to bring the 2012 Worldcon to Chicago. The site of each Worldcon is chosen by voting at the one two years previously, and groups and cities compete for the right to devote two years of their lives to making it happen. This is in fact very much like a political campaign except that instead of going out and knocking on people's doors you throw parties (hotels prefer the term "hospitality suites") at conventions so people come and give you a chance to talk to them. I actually spent the bigger part of the first day helping prepare for the party that evening. The party seemed to go very well, with people enjoying the all-fruit smoothies we served. These were non-alcoholic due to hotel rules, but we expect to offer both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions in the future.

I was also on three panels, all appropriate for me and yet all totally different. One was on "Technology for the Visually Impaired," one was on "Politics and the SF Fan," and one was on "Future Health: Living Longer in the 21st Century" (we concluded that, while we might be healthier longer, there would be no major life extension in at least the first half of the century). The panel on "Politics and the SF Fan" struck me as a bit schizophrenic. A couple of us wanted to talk about how SF fans relate to electoral politics while the others wanted to talk about how SF stories relate to and perhaps influence political issues.

I went to other panels as well. "A World Made of Birds" was an interesting discussion of what if the Cretaceous meteor had not driven the dinosaurs extinct. (Actually, of course, some dinosaurs did survive. We call them birds. Hence the title.) "SF as a Tool for Social Change" mostly concluded that SF does not bring about social change. It's a way to discuss the implications of change, especially technological change. Some didn't think that technology leads to much social change, but I pointed out from the audience that thanks to the internet I have friends I've never met. I don't think that any are of the canine persuasion, but I could be wrong. And at the panel on new reading technologies I found that there is a portable e-book reader (Bookeen) that will display the type at a large enough size for me to read.

The convention was over mid-afternoon Sunday. Early Monday morning (which happened to be my 72nd birthday) we left on a one-day tour to the south of Denver. First stop was the Air Force Academy, which both Penny and I would have been happy to skip. Although the view from the Chapel Trail was nice. Then on to Colorado Springs and the Garden of the Gods, which I was surprised to learn is a Colorado Springs city park. As most know from photos, the rock formations are spectacular. Lunch in the Trading Post, with Penny being disappointed there wasn't time to fully check out the gift shop. A few miles more brought us to Manitou Springs and the Manitou and Pikes Peak cog railway. An hour and a half ride to the summit. Hard, cramped seats but spectacular scenery. One view was the inspiration for "America the Beautiful" (the words had never made real sense as a description of America, but they fit that view perfectly). At the summit Penny bought a couple of hats for Marc and I tried unsuccessfully to make a cell phone call home, which didn't leave me time to get to the observation point. Then back to Manitou Springs and Denver, and home the next day.

- Bill Thomasson

Comment Link

Today's Comment Link. . . .

Waiting for a DeanFest Post from Holly J, or Denise, or. . . .

Well, while we're waiting for the Deanfesters to travel home and settle in
and write up the particulars...



HATS HELP
and so do honest, interested, adorable faces!

listener is very grateful for your virtual face on HEP! ♥


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Happy Birthday, Demetrius!

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