Heard on NPR...

If you missed it, listen to this hilarious conversation with John Boehner (House Minority Leader) on Morning Edition. The most hilarious part is his argument that NASA (a science agency, with scientific instruments on its satellites) should not get 400 M$ to study climate change, because money has already been allocated to the CIA (a spy agency with spy instruments on its satellites) to study it. WTF? Oh, and he doesn't see how that spending would help the economy. He seems to think that NASA actually puts the money on rockets and launches it into space, instead of employing thousands of scientists, engineers, IT wonks, mechanics and secretaries. Nimrod.

It's so cute. They don't even know what to do with themselves. As witness wossname Cornyn (R-Texas), being a real p.i.t.a. just for spite. Tee-hee.

Funny. I don't remember politics EVER being this interesting before... I can watch Barack roll back Bush policy all day long. That's my boy.

Yum!

So one thing that I'm really, really going to miss when I leave Socorro (besides all the new friends!), is the Berry Good Blend from the Navajo store. This is awesome. I put a handful in my oatmeal every morning. Unsweetened berries of all kinds, all dried up. I don't even need sugar, the berries are so good. It's just mixed berries. Just dried up. Yum. None of the supermarket kinds even come close. It's sad, because I don't think they'll mail them to me. I'll have to learn to make my own, I guess.

The International Perspective...

12 people came to coffee today. Of these 12, only 1 was American (me); 2 were from India, 2 from Japan, 1 from Australia, 1 from Canada, 1 from Mauritius, 2 from China, 1 from Taiwan, 1 from the Netherlands. This is typical here. Not only am I often the only woman around, but I'm almost always the only American. I get a good cross-section of opinion from lots of different backgrounds around the entire planet. (Sometimes I have to translate, because the clash of accents can be really disorienting!)

The general mood is optimistic and happy, even though most of these people are not citizens. All are very excited to say goodbye to Bush, (who is pretty much despised by all).

There was some mystification about the actual ceremony, and why it comes so long after the election. I think everyone sort of feels that way!

There was a lot of mystification about all the sermons and religious language. Several people asked me about it, and I explained that a lot of this religious stuff is relatively recent, since the Red Scare about the 'godless communists' in the 1950's. This was greeted with disbelief. Most agreed that pretty much the best thing about communism is that it is godless. (I neglected to take note of what the 2 Chinese people thought about this part of the discussion. Too bad, because it would be interesting to know what they think about it.) The general feeling was that they can't see how a supposedly secular government can be filled with all this religious pomp. I have to admit that I agree!

The Canadian was bent about the 'hero-worship' aspect of American politics. But they still have a queen up there, so he doesn't get to tell me 'How we do it in Canada...'. He caught a lot of flack for his criticism.

But all of these people see this day as a turning point, a moment when they no longer have to apologize or explain the politics of their choice of current country to their friends in their home country. The world is watching, from right here in tiny Socorro, NM!

Several are coming to my house this evening to watch (or re-watch) the speech, and lift a glass in celebration. Fun!

The quiet...

was astounding. It feels like the whole world was waiting to hear what this man had to say. A breathless pause. A universal moment of silence. And in that silence, here's what I heard.

We will restore science to its rightful place...

We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals...

America is a friend to every nation and every man, woman and child...

We are ready to lead once more...

A collective failure to make hard choices.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them.

Power grows through prudent use.

...roll back the specter of a warming planet...

Our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.

People will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.

The world has changed, and we must change with it.

A new era of responsibility.


I'm all fired up and ready to go!

John Williams!

I didn't know that was coming!!! How fun to have new music written by one of America's greatest composers, just for the day, and such super-luminaries to play it!!!! Wow!!! And what a beautiful piece. "Air and simple gifts", it's called, if you missed it.

And it's now 12:01. Power has passed, whether the words have been said or not.

And here comes John Roberts. And Michelle with the Lincoln Bible. And Roberts did it wrong! Tee-hee.

Here's the speech....

Time to change...

the passwords.

I just realized this morning, as I was logging in to all my computers and applications, that for the last few years, my password set has been based on the first line of A Tale of Two Cities. I will have to now think of a new password set that more accurately reflects my more positive mood.

I hope all of you are enjoying this uniquely American celebration of the peaceful transfer of power. The pictures of the Mall are absolutely astonishing. Millions of people all over D.C. just to be there on this incredible day. Lucky them. What a good day. What a good day. What a good day.

Lots of talk about the racial boundaries being crossed, but almost as important, I think, is the socioeconomic boundary. This is the first time in my life that a person has risen from poverty to the highest office in the land. I think I had assumed (without thinking too much about it) that that could not happen any more.

What a good day.

Here he comes!!!! Back later.

A big weekend...

coming up!

Saturday is a normal weekend day---schlep laundry to the laundromat, go to the grocery store, go to the post office to mail more g.c. to John, clean the house, go to the library. That'll be about 7 miles of walking by the time I get all that done. I might start by taking myself out for pancakes!

Sunday, I'll have time to start rewrites on Altamira. Eep!

Monday is MLK day, an NRAO holiday, so a group of us are going for a 10-mile hike. It's going to be 60 degrees here, so it's perfect weather for a big hike! That'll eat up almost the whole day, by the time we meet up, head out, walk up the mountain, eat lunch, walk down the mountain, head back, etc.

Tuesday is Inauguration Day, so I pretty much plan on the whole day evaporating, and accomplishing nothing but watching all the fun on the interweb. Then the group is coming over in the evening to lift a glass or two in honor of the day! Hooray! Nobel-prize-winning physicists advising our government! (This particular one was an NRAO summer student, it turns out---which is a fun fact...)

Pretty much, I'm planning on a four-day weekend. It's good to be on sabbatical...