Political Hangover

Waking up was really hard to do this morning because Aaron and I staid up to watch the Iowa Caucus results come in. By 11:00 I found myself thinking, Give your speeches Now! I am a working American and I need my sleep. An hour later I was glad I'd staid up. I think this election is becoming really exciting.

I have mixed feelings about Huckabee winning. I like the influence his rise has had on the race. I think it's pressured the Republicans to show a little more "compassionate conservatism." But I don't think he'd make the most qualified or capable leader. We already had a president devoid of international diplomacy skills and it was bad news. I don't buy his tax plan. I don't like that:
He doesn't support any kind of amnesty plan.
He opposes gun control based on geography.
He hates on Mormons.
He doesn't believe in evolution.
A lot of his support seems to come from Chuck Norris.
And as a low blow, his son hung a dog at scout camp for fun.
But no one's perfect and I like him a lot better than Giuliani. And even if he doesn't believe in evolution, he does support energy independence so he's not all bad. But I wouldn't vote for him.
I was glad McCain pulled in 13%. I'm eager to see how New Hampshire plays out.

On the other side, I was happy to see Obama win. Did anyone else see his speech? It made me think there might really be a chance to get away from party politics and watch the country regain some faith in the political process. I know all you enlightened Republicans are eagerly preparing your snide responses, but I find Obama's attitude refreshing.

What kills me is when I flipped on the morning news today, who's story was on the radio? Romney, Huckabee, Clinton, Obama? No, the all important Brittany Spears. She's plastered on the front of CNN's "Breaking News" page too. It makes me feel sick. WHO cares? Why are some washed up bimbo's breakdowns as importance as the election of the next American president. It's disgraceful. Something is WRONG with this country.

Notes In Spanish

I mentioned in my earlier post that I occasionally download spanish podcasts. If anyone is interested the best one I've found is called "Notes In Spanish." They have beginner, intermediate and advanced levels for free. (The accompanying worksheets cost money.) The podcast is casual and conversational while being informative.
The last one I listened to me taught me how to tell Aaron in spanish that it's his turn to do the grocery shopping. Pretty handy. It'll be Really handy as soon as Aaron learns to understand Spanish. You can check it out here.

Utah Carol

You know when you find a song and you like it so much you can't help but play it over and over and over again until your husband begs you to please, please, please stop or at least put headphones on? That's what's happened to me thanks to the little diddy "Come Back Baby" by Utah Carol. It's very laid back, pretty song with a bit of a twang. You can listen to it here.

Antinuclear Antibodies

Over the last two years I've lived with some pretty intense pain in my joints. I don't want to sound like an old lady but sometimes it hurts so much I can't even hold a pen, let alone indulge in the hours of drawing I love to do. After what seemed like dozens of tests and a string of stumped doctors all of whom said "It seems like carpel tunnels but it's not..." I may be getting closer to a diagnosis. A test finally came back positive, my ANA test.
ANA stands for Antinuclear Antibodies. At higher concentrations they often begin to attack the body itself, targeting cellular DNA. When I first read that, I thought it sounded cool, like maybe I would change into an all powerful mutant. Then I remembered it just makes me hurt all the time. Dang. But the pictures I found online of ANA test results still looks eerily super human, like cryptonite.
Anyone know anything about ANA problems? I've got a Dr. appointment on Monday.

Mi Espanol Es Muy Malo

Mi espanol es muy malo. In fact, it's terrible. I've been lazily downloading a few spanish podcast and every so often I'll catch a movie on our HBO Latino channel but my spanish skills are on the downward slide. They're so bad I no longer admit to understanding the language.
In an attempt to salvage what may or may not be left I signed up for a Spanish language class through UVA's continuing education program. I was elated to learn that the teacher is a native Spanish speaker. Oddly enough, it seems like every time I try to take a Spanish class I always get a teacher with a more unusual accent. In college my main professor was Argentine and another two spoke with Castilian accents. The teacher for this continuing ed. class is also from Spain, specifically the Basque region. I'm very curious to hear what her Spanish sounds like.

Time Off

My time off is quickly coming to a close. I'm sad to see it go. I had a great time visiting family, working out, organizing the house and savoring some freedom. I was happy to get a fair bit of reading done during the break. Here are a few of the books I got a chance to read:


Out Stealing Horses by Per Petersen
It was a beautifully written, mysterious, and haunting story. Loneliness is a key element which made it a little difficult to read in the midst of the 17 person Cummings' household. But it was a great book, lots of trees, chain saws and very thought provoking.



Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson
Bryson's witty humor made the informative book speed along. As Bryson points out, no one really knows very much about Shakespeare definitively, so the book ends up being more about Shakespeare's time, setting, work and often quirky admirers. It was a great read.



Our Animal Friends of Maple Hill Farm by Alice and Martin Provensen
This is probably my Favorite kids book. It has such a wonderful sense of humor and is perfect for young kids.



Sibley North American Bird Guide
I asked for this book for Christmas and Aaron was kind enough to get it for me. I made it through the 544 pages twice which is pretty easy to do since it's largely beautiful, descriptive paintings. I love it. Thanks Aaron!



Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Aaron had never read it before so I bought it for him for Christmas. I ended up reading it out loud to him during the drive. I don't really want to admit how many times I have reread that book. Frankly, I don't know but it's over twenty. It was just as compelling as ever.



Twighlight by Stephenie Meyer
I'm not immune to peer pressure so I read it. It was really dragging for me for the first two hundred pages but then I started picturing Aaron as Edward. That helped me make it through. I can see why a lot of people like the books but it wasn't really my cup of tea. It drove me crazy that the main character was such a wimp. She was too girly girl for me, fainting and not able to hold her own in anything athletic. The damsel in distress card got old way too fast. I liked it when I thought she might get eaten. Or turned into a vampire so she'd stop being so lame.



On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Aaron gave me this book for Christmas too. I'm only thirty pages into it and can't wait to read more.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Aaron and I enjoyed our black eyed peas and greens for dinner tonight. This might be late notice, but if you don't know, eating black eyed peas and greens bring good luck for the new year, insuring cash for eating collards and coins for the peas. Since I'm not a huge fan of fatback and we didn't have any on hand, I made my black eyed pea salad instead. (I posted it in September.) It was yummy.