This week's favorite

Susie said she missed them so here's my favorite from this week's PostSecret

All in the Family

I like Starbucks.

I've been pretty open about that fact.

Well, as of tomorrow, Starbucks and I are going to be connected.

See, Rachel starts work there tomorrow.

Rachel's friend, Sydney, has worked there all summer and she has prevailed upon Rachel to join her so that they can work together.

This is a good thing. Rachel has worked for me for 3 years and that has been difficult. Rachel can be a very contrary child, especially when it comes to interacting with me. So, being her boss has been no picnic.

I can't tell you how many times I've fired her.

It'll be good for her to have a boss to whom she's not related, to have a schedule she can't just change on a whim and to be able to work after school and on weekends.

Plus, it's Starbucks. I wonder what my, I mean, her employee discount will be . . .

Belated review

KT Tunstall.

On Monday night, Steve, Rachel, Rachel's friend, Sydney and I saw KT Tunstall at Belly Up in Aspen. Rachel and Sydney spent the whole show at belly'd up against the stage at KT's feet while Steve and I were just a few feet behind them.

I've been a KT Tunstall fan since she was profiled on Weekend Edition in February of 2006.

This was the last show of KT's US tour but she didn't short us at all. There was fun banter with the audience about trying to perform at altitude and about trying to ski in Scotland.

I had a blast, dancing and singing along with every song she played. I was standing near a speaker so I could sing as loud as I wanted without bothering anyone. She performed just one song I didn't know, a new one which hasn't yet been released but which I'm sure I'll own as soon as it is.

I was psyched that she played Beauty of Uncertainty. The one song she didn't perform that I would have liked her to was Girl and the Ghost.

KT and her band played with energy and enthusiasm. The only negative note of the evening for me were the two stick in the mud, unpleasant women near us who rarely moved, didn't sing along with anything KT performed but found the energy to make fun of me for enjoying myself. Until, that is, Steve shut them down.

But, even with that brief episode, the evening was a stunning success. Woo-hoo! (think Black Horse and the Cherry Tree)

Blogging Barack

(did you think I wouldn't?)

have to say that the stage doesn't put me in mind as much of a Greek temple as it does just of DC. Granted, much of the federal architecture in DC is Greek inspired but I've got to think that the Dems aren't going for the Greek temple thing but for the DC architecture thing.

Loved Gore's bit about being able to say that if the election 4 years ago had turned out differently, we wouldn't be in Iraq now.

I've never seen Obama's 2004 Keynote address. Maybe I should remedy that . . .

He's just one man on whom some are pinning some pretty gigantic expectations. How can he not disappoint?

Just start talking!

Gotta love that his first mention after accepting the nomination is to honor Hillary and Bill.

Or gotta think, of course it was.

sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before its eyes.

"8 is enough." That's really the key.

"Not ready to take a 10% chance on change."

the Americans I know aren't whiners. Nice turnaround.

The politics of ownership say "You're on your own."

I like his acknowledgement that government can't do everything.

Change means:

Tax breaks. "Cut taxes for 95% of all working families."

"End dependence on Middle East oil." Note that he doesn't say on oil or even on foreign oil.

Biden granddaughter looks so bored.

Education.

Barack's wearing the red power tie.

"Make sure you can afford a college education." What does that mean?

Healthcare. Premiums will cost less but those who can't afford premiums will get congressional level coverage?

Who's going to help the employers afford to keep workers who aren't working on their payrolls?

Personal responsibility message from a Democrat? Is he confused?

Cross over appeal: individual responsibility and mutual responsibility.

taking it to McCain on bin Laden.

Turning charge of inexperience levied against Obama into a charge of bad judgment levied against McCain.

Hmmm, let's see how long his pledge to not claim that McCain's positions are born out of politics lasts.

Savvy appeal to moderates.

Back to Hillary's message: this election isn't about me, it's about you.

"Change doesn't come from Washington, change comes to Washington."

Man, he can talk!

Was wondering when he was going to mention King . . .

Ends with a Bible quote; appeal to the evangelicals.

Older black man in tears; how many people have any grasp on what this must mean to his generation?

Shades of the Bird's Nest . . .

I wanna see the fireworks!

Interesting that ExxonMobil is underwriting CNN's coverage.

Blogging Bill

Let the man speak!! (but I'm glad they kept him from speaking since I was dashing in from the car so I could see it on TV instead of sitting in the car listening to it on the radio.)

First thing he said (after thank you and sit down please) is to mention Obama. Strong work.

Nice props to Biden.

Mention of Hillary's magnificent speech last night choked me up.

"Hillary's going to do everything she can to elect Barack Obama. That makes two of us. Actually that makes 18 million of us."

"I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November"

Doesn't get much clearer than that.

" Everything I've done . . . has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job."

clear gwasp? (ok, that was mean.)

"he hit it out of the park"

Biden brings the national security leadership piece.

"Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world."

"Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States."

Again, doesn't get much clearer than that.

"Diplomacy first and military force as a last resort."

stand up to adversaries when he can't convert them.

like the blue tie. He doesn't need the red power tie.

power of our example, not the example of our power. Bush slam!!

Hillary, sit forward! That's a really bad angle on you.

Bill mentions the autism parents too.

"Yes, he can." (ok, I'm choking up again)

"First, we have to elect him." God, isn't that the key? Are we going to give the Republicans a hat trick?

Having a duh moment when I saw how close the Colorado delegation is to the front. Oh, yeah, we're in Colorado, aren't we?

Sounds like Bill's choking up. "Sixteen years ago . . ."

" . . . too young and too inexperienced to be commander in chief. Sound familiar?"

Hmmm, hadn't realized that Clinton was younger (45) in 92 than Obama is now (47).

Like the flags, instead of the signs from last night.

Chevy Chase?!?

James Carville's on fire. He's having a ball. Last night Hillary, now Bill.

Blogging Hillary

Thoughts while watching and listening to the Democratic National Convention tonight:

NPR's coverage of the speakers is better and less disruptive.

Fox News (of all places) had the video montage while NBC was showing ads.

The video montage choked me up (but I'm a sap).

I like Hillary's bold color choice.

She mentions Obama four lines in.

Bill's a sap too. (a glimpse of him choking up while Hillary was speaking of the single mom with cancer and two adopted autistic sons.)

"Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits!"

Nice mention of Gwatney and Tubbs Jones and acknowledgement of their families.

We've screwed up the last two elections. Have we already screwed up this one too?

I like the "Were you in it . . ." series.

Doesn't Bill look proud? Of Hillary

And of himself.

"end the war in Iraq responsibly."

Nice nod to Michelle.

and Joe.

and Jill.

and John.

"John and George will be together in Twin Cities 'cause these days, they're awfully hard to tell apart." Good line!

The Harriet Tubman series choked me up again. "Keep going!"

I just saw Bryan Gonzales on national TV! I know Bryan Gonzales.

"No chasm too deep, no barrier too strong, no ceiling too high"

I don't understand why anyone was ever worried about Hillary being anything less than professional and supportive of her party's nominee . . .

KT Tunstall

On my way to see KT Tunstall at a 450 person venue.

How cool is that?

PostSecret Favorite

Haven't done this in a while
(posted a favorite, I mean)

Final two

KFC tour bus on Wangfujing Dajie

Shopping at Silk Street, Beijing

Since I got a defective (and likely counterfeit) memory card at the Silk Street, all of my pictures of my last two days in Beijing, which included all of my pictures of the Great Wall at Badaling, were lost. The irony is that I didn't even need the card; it just came with the camera that I bought (and for which I paid basically the same price I would have paid here).

Oh well.

Still in that Beijing frame of mind

Sunday morning in Tiantangongyuan (Park of the Altar of Heaven)

Sunday morning in Tiantangongyuan (Park of the Altar of Heaven)

Susie at Hian Qui (Circular Mound Altar)

Statues on Wangfujing Dajie with little Beijingers

More Beijing pics

Standing at Taihe Men (Gate of Supreme Harmony) looking back at the Jinshui Qiao (Gold Water Bridge) and the Wa Men (Meridian Gate)

Recently refurbished Forbidden City buildings (western side)

Detail of recently refurbished Forbidden City buildings (western side)

View of the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City) from Jingshan Gongyuan (Coal Hill Park)

Copycat

Susie posted her pics from her 1999 Beijing trip but can't find her 2005 pics.

So, since I was with her on the 2005 trip, I'll share some of my pics.

Statue outside bank, one of our first stops

Yongdingmen Park

Bicycle store interior

Tian'anmen Square on a Saturday morning

Admitting when you're wrong.

More on the Newsweek cover story, What Bush Got Right:

On the surface, Zakaria is saying that, in his second term, Bush has been changing his policies.

I would argue that what Bush is really doing is changing, not his policies, but his actions. I see them as separate, largely due to the fact that all the changes Zakaria outlines are basically occurring without any acknowledgement of them on the part of Bush.

The real point of the story is not what Bush got right but how, in case after case, due to his inability to admit he's wrong, he's had to furtively come back around to the very policies that he publicly repudiated.

The takeaway for the next president is to repudiate Bush's stated positions but at the same to examine carefully the changes Bush has unwillingly made in his second term.

Failure and missed opportunities

The conclusion of Newsweek's recent cover story, What Bush Got Right, reads:

All this is not meant as a defense of George W. Bush. The administration made monumental errors in its first few years, ones that have cost the United States enormously. The shift in impressions about America's intentions across important sections of the globe, the sense in much of the Islamic world that America is anti-Muslim, the vast and counterproductive apparatus of homeland security—visa restrictions, arrests and interrogations—are lasting legacies of the Bush administration. Its dysfunction and incompetence have left a trail of misery in countries like Iraq and Lebanon, which have been destabilized for decades. The embrace of torture and other extralegal methods has violated America's noblest traditions and provided little in return.

And then there is the administration's record outside of foreign policy. Bush 43 has surely been the most fiscally irresponsible president in American history, taking surpluses that equaled 2.5 percent of GDP and turning them into deficits that are 3 percent. This is a $4 trillion hit on the country's balance sheet. On the central issue of energy policy—the greatest economic challenge and opportunity of our times—Bush has been utterly obstructionist, recycling the self-serving arguments of industry lobbyists. On the whole, Bush's record remains one of failure and missed opportunities.

So why offer this corrective? Because we cannot go back to 2001. The next president will inherit the world as it is in 2009. He will have to examine the Bush administration's policies as they stand in January 2009—not as they were in 2001 or 2002 or 2003—and decide how to accept, modify and alter them. There was a U.S. president who came into office convinced that everything his predecessor had done was feckless, stupid, ill-informed and venal. He rejected and tried to reverse everything that he could, almost as an article of faith. Before he had even examined the policies carefully, he knew that they had to be changed. The base of his party was delighted by his clarity and fighting spirit.

That president, of course, was George W. Bush. His decision to blindly repudiate anything associated with Bill Clinton is what got us into this mess in the first place. Let's hope that the next president, no matter how much he despises Bush, will take a careful look at his administration's policies, America's interests, and the world beyond and do the right thing for the country and its future.

Six degrees of separation

Or, in this case, three degrees of separation.

Rachel and I know Rachel's grandmother (no, not my mother.)

When Rachel's grandmother worked at Hecht's, her floor supervisor was Michael Phelps' aunt.

Michael Phelps' aunt knows Michael Phelps. (yes, really.)

Behind the times

I finally watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics last night.

I don't have a TV but that's not my excuse this time since I was at my parents' on 8/8/08 and they do have a TV.

No, I didn't see the opening ceremonies that night (except for a small portion of the Parade of Nations) because I went to bed.

In retrospect, that seems kinda lame but I hadn't yet caught Olympic fever at that point.

I have now.

We've gone to the J-Bar twice in the last week to watch the coverage and I spent a couple of hours tonight watching highlights, like the mens' swimming 4x100m free relay and the mens' swimming 100m butterfly, online.

Hey, I'm only a week late . . .

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

Let me start by saying if not for my teenage daughter, I probably would not have gone to see this.

And, if not for her teenage granddaughter, my mom would probably not have gone to see this.

Not to say that it was a waste of time but it definitely is not directed to my or my mother's demographic.

It was an enjoyable enough bit of summer fluff.

My mom has traveled to Santorini so she did particularly like the beginning and end of the movie which were filmed there.

Getting me down

Work crap is getting me down.

It's really hard to recruit and retain good staff in Aspen and right now we are understaffed so it's just stressful for everyone.

As the manager, I'm a convenient scapegoat. Most of the time, I can handle it but occasionally, like now, it starts to get to me.

:-(

Song stuck in my head

For some reason, I've had Foreigner's Juke Box Hero stuck in my head for weeks now.

Not sure what that's all about.

But it's making me want to buy it on iTunes . . .

Glenview by Beverly Roberts Dawson

I grew up in Glenview so this book basically leapt into my cart when I saw it at Costco (in Glenview, of course).

I found it very interesting. I've always been intrigued by the history of my little hamlet north of Chicago and this book provides a lovely pictorial trip down Memory Lane.

It was fun to see what familiar environs once looked like, to see urban legends confirmed and to catch glimpses of things I hadn't even imagined.

These Images of America series are charming.

Jinx

I thought I had jinxed myself.

As I was sitting on the plane parked off on a corner of the taxiway, delayed due to weather in Denver, I thought, "Yep, this is payback for last Friday.

"Best case scenario, I still get to Denver in time to make my connection.

"Worst case, I get stuck overnight in Denver.

"I don't want to be stuck overnight in Denver.

"If we weren't stuck on the plane on the runway, I would just bag the whole thing and drive back home with my parents who are leaving tomorrow and arriving Tuesday."

But that wasn't an option.

So I sat.

And, after an hour, we took off. We landed in Denver in time for me to go standby on an earlier flight which had also been delayed by the weather.

I still got into Aspen about 40 minutes before my originally scheduled arrival.

Boy, am I screwed next time.

Replay by Ken Grimwood

Compelling.

Jeff Winston dies suddenly in 1988 at age 43, discontented with his life.

He immediately reawakens in 1963 at age 18, in his college dorm room.

Disoriented and confused, he discovers that he gets to live his life all over again. And again. And again.

I first heard about this book on NPR's You Must Read This on July 10. Brad Meltzer practically gushed about this book. Since time travel has always intrigued me (I even liked Timerider, a cheesy 1982 movie about time travel), I thought hey, I'd probably like that book.

And I did.

With just the right amount of philosophy, Replay takes the reader on an exploration of the meaning of life without being heavy handed.

A cult classic with good reason.

Replacement

I ordered a book from Amazon.

It came.

I started reading it pretty much right away (luckily).

The book was very compelling.

I quickly got to page 88.

The next page was page 121.

WTF?

But I must say Amazon was very efficient about processing my return and it didn't cost me a penny. They gave me a postage paid return label and simply required that I ship my defective book back within 30 days.

When the new book arrived (within 2 days, I might add), I immediately checked to see that all the pages were there.

But come on, how often do you check your new books to ensure that all the pages are included?

And, at least in my house, since we have such a backlog of books to read, we can go quite a while before we actually get around to reading our new purchases.

I wonder what Amazon would have said if the book was a year old before I started reading it?

I don't get out much

Since I don't have TV, I'm often not aware of the latest ads.

I was at my parents' and the TV was on in the kitchen when an ad for Feed the Pig came on.

I wasn't quite sure what it was all about and the pig guy was kinda creepy so, since I was sitting in front of my laptop, I jumped on the website.

Turns out it's this kinda cool public service thing sponsored by the AICPA Foundation, a group of certified public accountants, to encourage financial responsibility and saving.

A laudable goal.

I like it.

The Water Tower

Chicago landmark

Sliding further down the slippery slope

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies, the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

When does it end?

We'll never undo all the damage they've done.

The Art Institute

Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

Edward Hopper's Nighthawks

Favorite Food

Finally.

We've been in Chicago since Friday night and we just this evening had our first Giordano's.

It's been torture.

Childhood memories

We went over to the Glenview Dairy Bar this afternoon for a snack.

The Glenview Dairy Bar has been an institution in Glenview since 1955.

I moved to Glenview in 1969 so I've been going there a long time.

Rachel's been going there since she and I moved back to Glenview in 1992.

Lily had her very first ice cream there in 1997.

Isn't this what visiting home is all about?

Smooth Travel

I'm probably jinxing myself but I have had yet again a positive air travel experience.

It may have had something to do with the time of day as we didn't leave Aspen until 7:10 pm and it certainly helped that it was beautifully clear evening.

After opting not to take the flight that began boarding just after we cleared security since it was a prop plane (and hoping that by doing so, I wasn't tempting fate), we boarded our jet along with maybe a dozen others. Plenty of empty seats so we were easily able to sit together even though we weren't in our assigned seats.

We landed in Denver and discovered that, although our flight was delayed, there was a flight scheduled to in 30 minutes. We hightailed it to the other end of the extremely long terminal and were immediately given seats together in Economy Plus seating. (When connecting out of Aspen, it pays to not check any bags.)

We arrived at O'Hare at about the same time that our delayed scheduled flight was supposedly leaving Denver.

Meeting overload, redux

Once again I'm heading out of town, so once again it's time to schedule too many meetings.

I have a 7 pm flight tonight and thought I'd have the whole day to putter around.

But, no . . .

First, a meeting at 9 am 45 miles away got scheduled.

Then an interview at 1 pm back up valley got scheduled.

Then a meeting from 1 pm to 3 pm got scheduled.

Then the 1 pm interview had to be rescheduled to 12:15 pm.

And I still have to pack . . .