Pill of the Day

No worries

Life's Improvements

Things they have improved in my lifetime:

dentistry

light bulbs

fiction television

hair dye

computers

printers

phones... basically all technology

Freedom

You know those days-of-the-week pill boxes. I put mints in them and wrote an idea to think about on each day. Today was a "Freedom" mint. Hmm. Freedom.

Freedom from ...

Freedom to ...

The first thing that comes to mind is freedom from financial worry. That always comes up. Before Christmas I as at my beloved hair stylists when he pointed out that no matter what your financial level is, you will spend to that level. This has caused me to worry even more about money. You mean, if I had a financial windfall, I'd just start spending that much more and end up where I started, with empty pockets! That's dreadful.

True freedom from financial worry, according to someone who spends his days with wealthy customers, is harder than you think.

Freedom from memories...

Freedom to love...

Freedom to travel. That's a good one. Freedom to love. Another positive. We aren't lacking a lot of "freedom to" here.

One in a Million

What should we call her?

Thank you President Obama

Why is it that life tends to suck up your life? In between laundry, walking and feeding the dogs, and getting ready for work, there were many things that I wanted to write this morning. I woke up with a letter of gratitude to President Obama written in my head. It was very elegant but the letter of gratitude to President Obama below is all I can pull together in my now crowded brain.

I am grateful to have a president who takes responsibility. I want to thank President Obama for writing two moving and entertaining books. For Michelle. For Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor. For having an exit strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq. For clear, intelligent and inspiring speeches. There's so much negative noise on the news that I don't want President Obama to forget that for his millions of supporters, his speeches and actions fill us with old fashioned American pride. We prayed for a leader who doesn't lie to us and doesn't treat us like mindless sheep and our prayers were answered.

Thanks for health care reform, however imperfect. For taking the political hits and inspiring others to govern no matter the political cost because it's the right thing to do. For caring about the little guy. For adjusting the administration's policies when they are no longer useful or effective. For listening, deliberating, and then leading us during a difficult time.

I had lunch with a dear friend recently. He was distressed and disappointed with what he sees as the administration caving on issues that he cares about. I reminded him that the world is already a better place under this administration. It's going to take time to repair the damage of the previous regime. It is the job of Republicans to stop the government from working so people lose faith in their leaders. That damage is going to take a long time to fix, but it's happening every day in every department of our government. People who care about public service strive every day to fulfill their duty and that's no small task. My friend relaxed a little, because I reminded him of the big picture.

Leadership has always come from the top. Thank you Mr. President.

Work + Play = ZZZZ

Back at work after 2 weeks off. We are so busy and I'm exhausted. But, I wanted to keep up the good work of daily blogging and post a picture I sketched of someone I'll call Daniel. I rather like him.

Calendar 2002

Remember calendars that weren't electronic? I was cleaning out tax stuff (one of the joys of the new year) OUT WITH THE OLD, and I ran across a stack of old calendars. I was about to throw them away but thought, what an antique. What an anachronism. An old fashioned calendar is quaint and bizarre. Messy and meaningful. My friend, Ruth, must have been alive in October of 2002. It was my last day at PRW. What was PRW? Oh Public Radio Weekend? The pilot for Minnesota Public Radio that was just taken off the air. There is Marley so I was working on "California Connected" for PBS as well. Lynn and TAD are here. Charles is off the list. Who is Laura? Dr. Murray? As unsentimental as I can be, I'll keep it at least for one more year until I find it next year at tax time and think: throw away the old.

Happy New Year!

Ok, so this is a photo from a couple of years ago and it's an Oscar party and not a New Year's Eve party. But, it's the best I can do this year and we were having a good time. It's how I want to bring in 2010: with champagne, tiaras and boas
Happy F*%@ing New Year!