We met with Tom's friends last Saturday. They kidded us that my one month's visit to the Philippines was a healthy vacation from each other. Apparently this bothered my husband. The same husband who is only happy to see me and our toddler spend a long weekend with friends from out of state so he could have uninterrupted writing and reading time. He brought up the one month vacation topic again the following morning and said couples spending 1 month away from each other wasn't right. I replied, "Well, I am glad you think so because I will miss you too on the 3rd day."

***

I like this rare photo of the 3 of us. You can see the combination of Tom's face and mine in Evan's face.

Me: "Tom I need to take 3 large bags of clothes to Salvation Army."
Tom: "Whose clothes?"
Me: "Evan's and mine. Mostly mine."
Tom: "Haven't you been sending your clothes to the Philippines? I don't think it's a good idea to be throwing away clothes. That's how people get destroyed (financially)."
Me: "Tom, we can look over these clothes together and you will see that either they are 5 years old when cropped shirts were still in vogue, or my fat, post-pregnancy clothes or my fat winter clothes."
Tom: smile of relief

***

One nice thing about my being passionate about politics is that Tom and I have more stuff to talk about. And it carries over to his friends too. Whenever I would listened to their conversations before I wouldn't usually know the people or topic they were talking about. But now I am in the middle of it. We had a good time last Saturday discussing the VP debate.

***

My officemate was unusually quiet the past days. He was absent last Monday too. So I went over to his cube and asked him why, he told me that he had just broken up with his date. I asked him if it was a bad break-up he said it wasn't but the thought of being single again, not being in a relationship, getting older just got to him. I felt bad. It is nicer to be married, that's for sure.

Rhebs and I

Readers might be wondering how this election will affect my friendship with Rhebs. The women in the groupmail know Rhebs and I are still very good friends. Rhebs is one of the first people outside of my husband, family and my BFF Emilie who I confide to when there is something troubling me.  When Rhebs brought the subject of politics in the group I initially shied away because of a bad experience where a high school friend took it personally and brought up private matters in the high school groupmail out of spite because I didn't like her President Bush. I do admit of having been very sarcasitc with her but only when she started getting nasty. And that's not Rhebs style.

What Rhebs does (as you can see) is to state her honest opinion and defend it. What I have learned personally is not to get offended if Rhebs insults your candidate because as she has said, "he is not your husband or your family". Which is essentially true and a good thing to keep in mind when arguing about politics. That is why I can say the worst things about her candidate without having the fear of her getting offended. Sensitive she is not. And she can do the same to mine.

I admit it does give me a headache when she comes up with allegations that I need to defend but I look at it as a learning process. If not for Rhebs I won't know this much about the election as I do now. It would probably be one of those things I would put off doing as I go about my busy life. She has been my motivation, even if we belong to different parties.

My friendship with Rhebs goes deeper than politics. I am proud that I can disagree with somebody passionately about this subject and still remain friends with her. Anybody who has Rhebs on their side is the luckiest person in the world - she will fight for you like a pitbull with lipstick. And I will do the same thing for her.

So ok, on with the fight

Conservative Columnist: Palin A Fatal Cancer To The Rebuplican Party

A very interesting article of what David Brooks has to say about Palin and Obama. Here are excerpts:

"[Sarah Palin] represents a fatal cancer to the Republican party. When I first started in journalism, I worked at the National Review for Bill Buckley...He thought it was important to have people on the conservative side who celebrated ideas, who celebrated learning...that was also true for a lot of the other conservatives in the Reagan era... But there has been a counter, more populist tradition, which is not only to scorn liberal ideas but to scorn ideas entirely. And I'm afraid that Sarah Palin has those prejudices."

"Brooks praised Palin's natural political talent, but said she is "absolutely not" ready to be president or vice president. He explained, "The more I follow politicians, the more I think experience matters"

"Obama has the great intellect...And the other thing that does separate Obama from just a pure intellectual: he has tremendous powers of social perception. And this is why he's a politician, not an academic..."

"Brooks predicted an Obama victory by nine points, and said that although he found Obama to be "a very mediocre senator," he was is surrounded by what Brooks called "by far the most impressive people in the Democratic party...I am given a lot of comfort by the fact that the people he's chosen are exactly the people I think most of us would want to choose if we were in his shoes."

The Presidential Debate 2

I thought Obama did better than last time and McCain did too. I thought Obama performed better than McCain but it's really hard to tell when you know you are biased. I half expected McCain to bring up ACORN, Ayers and other terrorists he tries to tie to Obama but nothing. Nada. If he thinks these are serious issues shouldn't he have found a way to worm it in the debate? I guess McCain knows that this kind of negative campaigning doesn't go well with the undecided voters as polls have shown. So he'll just do his mud-throwing behind Obama's back instead. What a man.

So I was again happy to find out that critics and undecided voters poll decided that round 2 was a clean sweep for Obama.

Currently listening to: So What (Pink)
Currently reading: Newsweek
Currently watching: A Mighty Heart (Jolie)

As I am writing this, my 2 year old Evan is taking his nap on the coach for the first time, listening to the Tarzan soundtrack we got last night. When this cd from amazon.com arrived and I started playing it, Evan just stood fascinatedly in front the stereo looking at the CD case and, at our prodding, eventually sat on the coach beside it totally absorbed with the music. He even ignored his daddy who wanted to play with him. He put up a fuss when he had to take a bath was only appeased when told he could bring the cd case and Tarzan book to the bathroom. He fell asleep to the music which we had to play twice with the door to his room open so he could hear if playing from the living room.

I was telling my husband I knew eventually we will have to buy him a CD player (or Ipod) but I wasn't expecting it to be this early. If his interest keeps up I might have to hunt around for a second hand CD player with speakers because headphones will definitely be off limits until he's old enough. Like eighteen.

Another development also for this week is his interest in Look and Find activity books. And he was even doing the more advanced booklets with its tiny complicated pictures instead of the bigger images catered to toddlers. Imagine what this means when we have to take long road trips?

A funny incident yesterday at Barnes and Noble. Evan played at the train table while I sat reading Randy Pausch's book The Last Lecture. His interest started wandering off so I asked him if he wanted to go home. He replied fiercely, "Noooo... you read," pushing the book on my lap towards me and continued with "...one day....", a phrase I always use when "reading" a wordy book I would heavily edit during bedtime.

The Much Awaited Biden Vs Palin Debate

For starters, Biden was BRILLIANT! It was no question that he was the best debater among the three of them: him, McCain and Obama. I was blown away. I had worried how he will handle debating Palin whose camp was prone to crying "sexism" at every turn. But he set fears to rest as soon as he flashed his contagious wide smile and it became obvious he was going to use the debate to attack McCain not Palin (except for the "now that's the ultimate bridge to nowhere" line) and adeptly defend Obama at every opening he gets.

Postcards for the Obama Campaign. For those who are interested to join us in saving the U.S. from a comic tragedy visit this site for details.

But Palin, to use her words, that's another story. Oh I admit I was nervous even if I had wrote her off as a threat once the public wised up after her disastrous interviews the week before, even conservative columnists were pronouncing she was an unfit candidate for VP. Still I had my nailbiting moment the minute she stepped into the stage, beautiful, confident and extremely likeable (adorable even) especially as she shook Biden's hand warmly and asked "can I call you Joe?"

Everything, however, went downhill from there.

She initially did fine answering the first question even if it was obvious that it was something she memorized by the familliar RNCesque cadence of her tone. At the rebuttal however, when... well you be the judge:

"IFILL: Governor, please if you want to respond to what he said about Sen. McCain's comments about health care?

PALIN: I would like to respond about the tax increases. We can speak in agreement here that darn right we need tax relief for Americans so that jobs can be created here..." more here

Huh?

It became apparent that for the last 5 weeks Team McCain's modus operandi for this debate was to have their protege memorize filler lines she could pull from air when a question had her stumped. And was she stumped for the most parts. Maybe that is why early on Palin said this:

"I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also." 

Nice try, but the too glaring disconnection between the questions and her answers was hard not to miss - even my non-partisan, political newbie, twentysomething friend couldn't believe how far out Palin's responses were. I don't know whether to laugh at the absurdity of it or be in a rage of how camp McCain are playing the americans for fools.

And didn't she really know what Achilles Heels meant? Uh hello? English maybe my second language but I would know how to answer that question as a 15 year old. Here's the transcript:

IFILL: Let's talk conventional wisdom for a moment. The conventional wisdom, Gov. Palin with you, is that your Achilles heel is that you lack experience... What is it really for you, Gov. Palin?

PALIN: My experience as an executive will be put to good use as a mayor and business owner and oil and gas regulator and then as governor of a huge state, a huge energy producing state that is accounting for much progress towards getting our nation energy independence and that's extremely important.

That, ladies and gentlemen, was Sarah Palin unfiltered by the mainstream media. If this wasn't an election at the most crucial time in american history the debate would have been very funny.

Currently listening to: Tarzan soundtrack (Phil Collins)
Currently reading: The Last Lecture (Randy Pausch)
Currently watching: A Mighty Heart (Jolie)

So I attended the WW meeting again last week and happily lost the 3.2 pounds of the 5 pounds I gained during the summer, without starving or overexercising. I just simply did my regular exercise and watched what I ate (if I had a heavy lunch then I'd balance it with a light dinner). I can only marvel how far I've come, one morning a woman in the office brought chocolate chips cookies, I ate one and never was I tempted to get another piece. Sure I thought about it but I asked my tongue "do you still want to?" and the answer was "no".

running route 3, my alternate route in Madison

I continue to write about Weight Watchers from time to time not because I obsess about my weight. In fact it is the exact opposite. I have stopped weighing myself everyday for a long time now and even would have a hard time remembering to do it once a week sometimes. It is easier for me to forget what I look like once I walk away from the mirror and don't feel conscious about my body most of the day anymore, particularly the love handles clinging to my shirt.

I write to say that reaching the target weight isn't exactly a "happy every after" ending either. The work to keep the weight off still continues. But I must say, unlike what I have heard, maintaining the weight is still easier than the process of losing it. I don't have to be as diligent, don't have to work out as hard or be as strict with the food intake. But just as important is not being too complacent as seen from my officemates who were on Weight Watchers. Ever since WW at Work stopped almost a year ago, half of those who have lost weight have gained considerably almost to back where they started. Still there are those half who have kept it off, including Kay - the officemate who I once hated

Honestly, I don't care if lose the next 1.8 pounds or not. For the first time in my life I am content and happy with how much I weigh but that doesn't mean I won't be careful in monitoring my eating habits and activities. I have accepted that I will be doing them forever and I don't mind at all since eating a bag of cookies or drinking a tall glass of smoothie has lost its appeal to me for sometime now. I thought this day will never come for somebody who has a mouthful sweet tooth - all 32 of them.

Compare And Contrast

"Listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform—not even in the state Senate"
      - Sarah Palin on Barack Obama, reading her RNC speech penned by Matt Scully, Bush's speechwriter

I ran across an article by Jonathan Alter in Newsweek who beautifully summarized Obama's achievements and compared it to McCain's. Here's an excerpt:

"Obama served eight years in Springfield, and has been in Washington nearly four so far. In the Illinois state Senate, he authored about a half-dozen "major laws" on issues ranging from ethics to education. The best example of his leadership style was bipartisan legislation to require the videotaping of police interrogations, which is now a national model. Obama brought together police, prosecutors and the ACLU on a win-win bill that simultaneously increased conviction rates and all but ended jailhouse beatings. In Washington he has his name on three important laws: the first major ethics reform since Watergate; a much-needed cleanup of conventional weapons in the former Soviet Union, and the "Google for Government" bill, an accountability tool that requires notice of all federal contracts to be posted online. Besides that, Obama hasn't been around long enough to get much done.

McCain served four years in the House and has been in the Senate almost 22 so far. But he, too, has authored fewer than a half-dozen major laws...So while McCain deserves credit for the landmark 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform bill, the only other major law on which his office says his "name appears" (Palin's standard) is the "McCain Amendment" prohibiting torture in the armed forces. But that has little meaning because of a bill this year, supported by McCain, that allows torture by the CIA...

...McCain gets passionate about is pork-barrel politics ("earmarking")...McCain claims he has never sought earmarks for Arizona....But the vast majority of all the bills he has sponsored in Congress have been favors for Arizona's Native American population. While the Indians deserve it, the difference from earmarks is procedural. Both amount to bringing home the bacon.

Given his (McCain's) claims of two decades of "making change," his record of legislative achievement is surprisingly thin. Nothing big on the economy, education, health care, law enforcement or other major issues. One reason for the sparse record is McCain's history of unpopularity with his GOP Senate colleagues. Being labeled a "maverick" sounds good to the public but makes it hard to get bills passed...."

And an even briefer summary of Obama's political achievements:

"At last count, sponsorship of 820 laws in Illinois, and authorship of 152 bills and co-sponsorship of 427 in Washington..." read more of Andrew Sullivan's column

Something that needed to be put out there.

Currently listening to: You'll Be In My Heart (PHil Collins)
Currently reading: The Last Lecture (Randy Pausch)
Currently watching: A Mighty Heart (Jolie)

I got so preoccuppied with the elections lately that I almost forgot to do my son's usual monthly update. When people ask me about Evan, I always answer with "he's so much fun. He's at the best age for me." Terrible twos? Was I really scared of the 2Ts? I wouldn't trade his current age for any age.

Morning play with Evan. Evan at 2 years and 4 months with his favorite toy at the moment.

Talking wise, although what he says are mostly unintelligible he continues to surprise us with new phrases almost everyday that it's hard to keep track. Like when his father asked him if he enjoyed his time at the daycare and Evan replied with, "I did." Or when he was talking to me about the "squirrel up the tree, very high, right mommy?" Or early morning in bed when he wanted me to read his Clifford book but I asked him to read it to me instead. He did with every page all of which I didn't understand except for "put ball on the pail" and "e-end" (the end).

Eating wise, he has shown more enthusiasm for meat nowadays. He now asks for more ham or bacon which I would stall by encouraging him to eat the rest of his food first before giving him a second serving of it. I am also happy that he is into eating cashews too because it would be a healthy snack for him. His milk is down to about around 12ounces now, usually served cold with his meal on a lidless cup. When we go out to eat, he sometimes even drinks from a real glass without straws. Of course, I make sure that the glass is only halfway full to prevent spills.

Play wise, he still likes to carry his golf club around but seldom plays with it. A new thing for him is pretend play. When I saw this I went hunting for a toy that has small figurines included in it. I got a set of farm set for a good deal which had 2 farmers. For a few days this was the only toy he would play and I could hear him say "c'mon farmer!" from one figurine to another. Or how he trots them around the globe. Or getting the animals to eat its crateful of tomatoes.

He is more into music though. The first time I bought him a $10 electric guitar I was shocked when I saw him bobbing his head to the music like a real rocker. He loves to sing, my rendition of "Sun and Moon" (Miss Saigon) never fails to get him to sing along albeit his own melody, lyrics and language. He is also into beating everything like a drum (e.g. the cookie tin can from tito Wally and tita Judy, spoon & fork on his plate etc.)

He still loves books. His favorite now is his "Zarzan" (Tarzan) book because he loves the movie too. He has only seen it twice so far because it is too long (and fast paced) for mommy's comfort. Aside from aforementioned, Aristocats and Dumbo he also loves Bambi and Lion King too. Since he can only watch one movie a day I would let him choose, "which do you want to watch Dumbo or Bambi?" He would answer, "Dumbi!"

Discplinewise, it has gotten easier (for the moment). I sometimes catch him returning things to its correct spot (like a videocase) without my prompting. He now lets me hold his hand while walking on the street. He also just walks fast instead of the usual 500 meter dash when outdoors. He is an eager helper, he throws away his wet diaper in the trash can when asked, helps mommy put light laundry in the washing machine, put coins in the parking meter and hand money/debit card to the cashier. The latter was helpful this morning when he wanted to play with a toy inside a box in Barnes and Noble children's section. I told him to put it back because we have to pay for it and mommy had no money. Lo and behold he returned it to the same place without fuss.

He is still as cute as a bunch, of course. While we were picking up medicine at our pharmacy, the young asian pharmacist kept looking at him. She told me that he was cute and asked if he was a "mix". I smiled, said yes and didn't pay much attention since he was kind of grubby that afternoon with hints of food on his sweater and his face. But when she told me that Evan reminds her of a Precious Moments figurine, I was tickled and told her "that's new". Also this month he has also been called by a passerby as a future "man-babe" and looking like a child commercial model by a friend's mom. Well since I am his proud mommy, I am permitted to write it down here for, uhurm, posterity  

Speaking of Tarzan

I have forgotten how I loved the soundtrack of this movie. Even moreso now that I am a mother, Phil Collin's parent and child song "You'll Be In My Heart" brings more meaning to me:

"Come stop your crying
It will be all right
Just take my hand Hold it tight

I will protect you
from all around you
I will be here
Don't you cry

For one so small,
you seem so strong
My arms will hold you,
keep you safe and warm
This bond between us
Can't be broken
I will be here
Don't you cry

'Cause you'll be in my heart
Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on
Now and forever more"

What Else, The Debate (of course)

After the drama McCain has put us through I had started to look forward to the last minute townhall meeting with Obama if the former didn't show up. But the debate did happen. I honestly thought Obama could've done better. Obama missed a lot of open opportunities in nailing down his opponent. I felt he could've added more bite and shouldn't have been too diplomatic by saying "he agreed" with McCain a few times even if there was a BUT in the end. I guess Obama can't really be as aggressive as I would like since he is clearly trying to distance himself from the "angry black man" stereotype which unfortunately still permeates in the minds of many in the electorate.

So I was pleasantly surprised to read more than a few reviews and polls (here, here, here, here, here, here) leaning towards Obama. The reason might be because this was the first time a lot of the undecided voters must've heard Obama spoke spontaneously and extensively. Most of the concern prior to the debate was his relative inexperience, as constantly hammered to the public by the McCain camp pre-Palin, but that he was able to deftly parry McCain's attacks by showing he was just as knowledgeable and had a command of facts on many issues probably was what made them sit up and take notice.

I also think it did not go well with many viewers McCain's body language and how a few times he was caught visibly bristling at what Obama was saying. Many also took note on how could not make eye contact with either the Obama or camera, something I immediately noticed at the very start when they walked on stage. I was thinking about that this morning and I concluded that it must be McCain's way of controlling his temper. I couldn't blame him, it would be very hard to be sharing a space with somebody you loathe, how much more shake his hands or look at him the eye when he's criticizing you in front of 57 million viewers. During the tailend of the debate McCain's eyes started getting watery, it could be merely be from the studio light's glare but in the same way as perspiring during the debate would perceived negatively, it might have worked against McCain last night too.

The New York Times wrote that Obama has improved as a debater but still needs to work on his counterpunch, so I am optimistic that we will see further improvement on the next debate.

Currently listening to: American Boy (Estelle)
Currently reading: The Giving Tree (Silverstein)
Currently watching: A Mighty Heart (Jolie)

I was at the Michelle Obama campaign rally Monday morning in Madison. We got the info of her visit while Tom, Evan and I were at the neighbourhood's street fair. I wasn't sure of going at first since the time conflicts with my son's mommy and me playtime but it was a special event, it was my chance to see and hear in person the wife of the next president of the United States. It also happens that I admire her a lot too.

photo courtesy of University of Wisconsin News

Parking was a little difficult but I didn't mind the six blocks or so walk to the venue. I was caught a little taken aback when the friendly "guard" at the gate asked me to open my denim jacket and bag after his exuberant greeting of "are you here to see Michelle?" then exclaiming "great!" when I nodded. Security checks, a regular pain when malling, going to the bank, watching the movies in the Philippines are rare here - just at the airport.

A crowd of 1,800 were already there and the program shortly started as soon as I arrived. There were 6 speakers who kept their speeches less than 5 minutes before Michelle Obama. Then she stepped into the stage. She was a lot slimmer in person, that was my first thought. And her voice a little more casual than than when I hear her on tv. It was just appropriate for her audience who were mostly students. It was still a good speech, some of which were excerpts of her DNC speech, most of it issues and  not a mention of the rifle touting pitbull from Alaska.

She was also funny and showed how she can think of her feet. An example:

At one point, someone in the audience yelled out, “How do we bridge the racial divide?”

“You can bridge the divide more than anything I could every say,” Obama answered. “People listen to their friends and their neighbors — you can’t underestimate the power of your own truth and your own persuasion.”

Then she lightheartedly added by pointing to a toddler in the audience, "yes, you too Mr. 3 Year Old, talk to grandpa and grandma!"

She also about talked about meeting so many people in the campaign, including Lilly Ledbetter, who told her that they have never felt this way before about a candidate, who are excited in supporting Obama and wanted to be a part in this movement.

This is a sentiment that my husband and I also share. In fact, my husband will soon be heading out to Iowa to participate in a campaign there. As for me I will be writing campaign postcards with friends. We will also be having a debate party this Friday too and it will be fun.

The Oil-Republican-Lobbyist Connection

Once upon a time, in the year 1920 , a group of big oil men wanted to get their hands on the Teapot Dome, an oil reserve to be used for the navy in national emergencies only. They decided that the only way to do this was to make a president. They bought Rebuplican delegates with brown envelope bribes.They intially approached General Leonard Wood who shouted in disgust "I am an American soldier. I'll be damned if I'll betray my country! Get the hell out of here."

photo right: off shore drilling rabid advocate Sarah Palin during her pro-Bridge To Nowhere days. Courtesy of Newsweek.

So they got little known senator who knew little of politics and had a long shot at winning the presidency. The big oil men spent lavishly on his campaign selling him to the public as One Of You, pictured doing ordinary things like eating a hotdog. His name was Warren G. Harding.

To quote an extract of this very insightful article:

"As soon as he won, Harding began the payback to the real elite. Teapot Dome was handed over to Big Oil... Eventually, ... would start giving "campaign donations." This time, they would give to all sides, Democrat or Republican, and they would make their demands through "lobbyists."

"Until now. Barack Obama is the first major presidential candidate since Teapot Dome to refuse to take money from Big Oil or lobbyists, with 93 percent of his funding coming from small donors giving $200 or less. Every other leading candidate (even Al Gore) took their cash and saw the world through the bottom of an oil-barrel."

So when McCain talks about fighting the fat cats in Washington responsible for the carnage in Wall Street, just who does he think he is fooling?

Currently listening to: It's Not My Time (3 Doors Down)
Currently reading: The Last Lecture (Randy Pausch)
Currently watching: Body Heat (William Hurt)