Not to mention just how frickin' stupid Steve Forbes was in retrospect

Leap Day. What a horribly ironic name to be invoked on a day when the American stock markets get everyone headed for the windowsills. Overstated fearfulness? Assuredly. But if you want a more appropos sign of just how screwed we all might be by our departing flag-bearers, look only toward Dubya's presser yesterday when he denied the possibility of a recession while playing dumb (!) when it came to the utterly realistic suggestion of $4/gallon gas in the upcoming months. Superlatives will no longer suffice. This man is the dumbest public personage in the history of this Nation. Even if Warren Harding and Jim (Christopher Lloyd) from "Taxi" are graded on a curve.

In decidedly brighter news, Maya turned 3 this week. Her yearly medical check-up tagged her beefy, tall and ready to bring the hammer down if need be. Or just plain thriving. We hope y'all are equally bolstered by recent medical exams. Rock on.

A kiss for Auntie Becca for letting us crash in her pad.

A kiss for Auntie Becca for letting us crash in her pad.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Maya's First Birthday Cake...of her Third Shot at the Title.

Maya's First Birthday Cake...of her Third Shot at the Title.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

A few days early. Cake is always on time, regardless.

That's how we cover things up in Chinatown.

That's how we cover things up in Chinatown.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

The lead up to the annual Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco's Chinatown was pretty wet. Still, I had a blast meandering the streets after hitting some of my favorite North Beach spots. Happy Year of the Rat, everyone.

In the continuing series - the deYoung Museum's copper exoskeleton

In the continuing series - the deYoung Museum's copper exoskeleton continues to weather over time...
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Since we moved away from San Francisco, I always return to the deYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park to gauge the oxcidation of the copper exterior. As I've heard it described, the architects expected it to loosely approximate the lost history of the copper that characterizes the Statue of Liberty's descent in the grand green lady it now has become. Expect that everytime I head back that you'll get a fresh shot. Cloudy day, little change, beautiful park.

"Chug, Chug, Chug!"

"Chug, Chug, Chug!"
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Maya and her new best buddie, Sheridan, polish off some berry juice after a serious Playdough session at Auntie Becca's house.

The Nader Nadir

Mixed news - I learned today that not only is Maya's impending birthday shared with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, but also with Ralph Nader. Seriously. Nader, who, by the way, announced over the weekend that he's once again running against the swelling torrent of opinions for who should be Prezidunt. So even here in the Bay Area (we're visiting), where a fully evolved monkey that can recite a snippet of Alan Ginsberg's "Howl" with a whisper of authenticity might get elected to the Berkeley City Council...I hear moans. Nader is at best 20 years past his relevancy. He's a soon-to-be 74-year-old punk, re-inserting himself into a debate where he can offer nothing even close to plans for resolution. Nader is arrogantly trying to sabotage a legitimate groundswell of activism for Barack Obama to do...gawd knows what other than inflate his own ego. But don't get me wrong. I respect the dude. Circa 1974. At this point, he's Lyndon Larouche with a full pardon and slightly crazier activists running his campaign. I thought for sure that after getting laughed off the national stage in '04 having only made 34 States' ballots and acquiring a whopping 0.3% of the vote that we might have been spared such future distractions. But just like "Godfather III" - just when you thought (he) was out, (he) pulls himself back in. Ugh.

We head back to Seattle tomorrow. I'll recap the sights soon with some pics. Lovely day today. The liberals have peeled off at least a layer of self-satisfaction to soak up the sun. I've already taken off two. Hope your own Vitamin D production is amped. Rock on.

"But when I say 'we' I mean a different we than us. Oui?"

One quick comment from last night's Dems debate - Hillary's crap-filled coda was borrowed from both Bubba circa '92 and this season's John Edwards. Talk about a Xerox moment. With duplicates. I sincerely hope she gets hung up on this sanctimonious bunk for a bundle of days in this crucial period - extremely stupid strategy on her part.

We're heading down to the Bay Area this evening for a handful of days. Maya's turf from way back when. Expect a handful of photos and updates from the visit. Hope your own weekend leads you somewhere full of liberals stoked with loads of Rice-A-Roni. Rock on.

The Race for Spirit (Wisconsin)!

Last night's Primary results in Wisconsin confirmed an astonishing trend. The Hillary Inevitability Mo-sheen is now officially scrapped for a downsized model. And while everyone's parsing the exit polling (somewhat dubious) and the speeches (total theatre), I've actually got something that matters. To a microscopic degree. Nonetheless, the teeny township that I grew up in (Town of Spirit outside Ogema in Price County) is filled with conservative farmers and church-goin' folks that I remember as well as my current ATM password. So last night after polls closed, my Dad passed along the polling results received via my childhood church's treasurer (also the election official for the Town Hall). Please bear in mind - in '04 there were 160 votes cast in the Presidential Election. For this Primary, 120 showed on both sides of the coin. Not a bad turnout. Although, I'm not sure how many neighbors have died in the last handful of years. Anyhoo, here's the tally:

Obama - 42
McCain - 35
Clinton - 20
Huckabee - 20
Romney - 2
Mis-vote - 1

One microcosm doesn't make an election. Unless it's my microcosm. Hillary got stomped by almost every demographic across the Badger State she until recently took for granted. Now everyone's focused forward on the horserace in Ohio and Texas, parsing the intricate nature of delegate allocation and...blah blah blah. Barack Obama just took a district in the strictly rural northern reaches of Wisconsin. A black Senator from Illinois. Where anyone from "down South" is still called a "FIB" (F**king Illinois B**tard). If you need more evidence of a movement beyond the "words" that the Clintons have come to so condescendingly deride, look no farther than the landslide yesterday in the folksy confines of Spirit's Town Hall.

Hope your own constituencies are filled with good ol' church-goin' commies today. Rock on.

Mountaineering - the Pre-School Years

Mountaineering - the Pre-School Years
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Actually, we only traversed the distance from our house to The Summit ski area at Snoqualmie Pass for a morning of President's Day fun in the snow. Elevation gain on foot? Maybe 100 feet. Which wrongly convinced Maya that she's ready to ride the chairlift "up the mountain". Oy vey. It was, nonetheless, a stunningly beautiful day in the Cascades.

"Snowball fight!"

"Snowball fight!"
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Maya and her dashing sherpa.

Maya and her dashing sherpa.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

"Mommy, I think I'm ready to ride the chair lift."

"Mommy, I think I'm ready to ride the chair lift."
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Oh, and Happy Va-jay-jay Day, Oprah!

For all my GOP friends, welcome to your Goldwater moment - John McCain won the nomination with Mitt Romney's release of pledged delegates. He's doomed unless Hillary wins the nomination, but I respect McCain. I couldn't disagree with him more on the issues of importance to our future, but I respect McCain. And I think he's pandered more to his rhetorical enemies in the last few years than anyone other Ryan Seacrest, but I respect McCain. Romney? Pull-eeze. Regardless, half the field is set at the top of the ticket. My bet for McCain's Veep? Here's my longshot offer - former Colorado Governor Bill Owens. If I'm right, you all owe me a Coke.

I've been a fan of Josh Marshall's TalkingPointsMemo since '04. His commentary is only surpassed by his site's journalistic method. He provides the best debunking of the SuperDelegates story surrounding the Dems to date. In short - chill out, chumps. These Party players are holding their cards. Whoever provides the best storyline for the nomination wins in the end. That's why Hillary is playing so hard and fast for committments now, when they're sure not to come.


Hope your own Veep is chosen merely to make you look like "the skinny one" today. Rock on.

Obama smells like victory

There's no way to de-spin the Joementum Barack Obama's got coming off yesterday's thumpin' in Virginia, Maryland and DC. Hillary is now, officially according to everyone's tallies, trailing in delegates. She lost yesterday in every imaginable demographic. Even pets. So her newbie campaign leaders chose to head to Texas for the weirdest concession speech in history to bolster her firewall strategy. Consider that for a moment. A Clinton. Relying upon Texas. To turn the tide. Holy crap. Hillary's over.

One catch up requirement on my part - I saw a gaggle of films a few weeks ago while my lovely wife and daughter were out of town. So before the Oscars pollute the collective opinion of filmlovers, I'll offer a few ratings.

"Cloverfield" - all hype, totally disposable cinema verite. An underwhelming C-plus.
"There Will Be Blood" - bleak, beautiful, surprisingly dull. Daniel Day Lewis is astonishing. But my rating is still a B.
"Charlie Wilson's War" - smart, more star-power than in years and years, also bleak. A solid B-plus.
"Persepolis" - best animated story in years, the most human story of the year. An astute A-minus. See it.

Hope your own delegates are super all day. Rock on.

Until today, I also thought that "caucus" sounded sorta dirty...

Here's a shout out to all you caucus (cough!) fans - long live loosely managed anarchy! I'm fresh off my first actual caucus here in Seattle for the Democrats running to be the next Prezidunt and I've got good news. My possibly misinformed fellow citizens/neighbors saw fit to nominate and confirm me as a delegate to the next stage as an Obama supporter. Which - to get all technical and such - means that myself and two others from my extended neighborhood go to the next level along with one Hillary Clinton delegate. Or as I hope she/he can be hereafter tagged - the HilliarityVote. My particular neighborhood broke 3 to 1 in favor of Obama. So I live in LatteVille. Contrary to what you might believe, I got drafted to be a delegate. Some thought it was my impassioned speech extolling my trust in Obama's character and transformational claim to the future. Others thought the fact that I wore shorts on a cloudy 45-degree day was inspirational. I'm sure there were those out there that just mistook me for a burly, hairless Rick Astley. Who cares - I'm through to Hollywood! Or, rather, the next level of delegate bunk here in King County in early April. Regardless, I am so gonna make this my quest. I am the next American Delegate Idol. Stay tuned.

Hope your own delusions include horrible 80s pop references today. Rock on.

"Catch a winner with Mitt!"

Alas, the Mittens are off. Somewhere right now, the Romney Family is strapping the dog to the roof of the station wagon as they prep to head off for a sober, sad ski weekend. But Mitt Romney dropping his utterly hilarious bid for the "sake of the Country and (his) Party" ain't worth more than a blip on the radar now being clogged with endlessly interesting dissection of the remaining Primaries for the Dems. Or, more importantly, the Delegates from said Primaries. If some of the smartest politicos are to be believed in their logic, there appears to be almost no way to prevent a brokered convention in Denver for the Dems. Say it together people - "soo per dell a guts". Get used to the sound. This may well be the one election cycle where even political junkies like me begin to question the nature of the condition.

Hope you own campaigns only suspend for chocolate breaks today. Rock on.

To think that Mike Gravel couldn't even win in Alaska - somebody needs a hug.

I'll sum up Super Tuesday in one word - wahwhozzit? With only New Mexico still undecided (Obama leads by a mere 71 votes), it's becoming clear that both the popular vote and delegate counts are almost exactly even. Unprecedented and fascinatingly complex. Bomb-throwers are speculating that the Clintons will need to lend millions of THEIR OWN money to the campaign to keep things rolling over the next few weeks while the smattering of contests look to seriously favor Obama. Quite a change from the penny-ante days of Whitewater, eh? Regardless, the whole race is just starting to simmer. Hence the absolutely ridiculous statement from Hillary last night during her "victory" speech that she "won't let anyone Swift-Boat this country's future." I'm not alone in wondering just what to take from that making it to a prime-time speech. Be afraid people. Be very afraid. This is gonna get muddy.

On the GOP side, McCain's a shoo-in. Romney's a bigger flop than this season's New England Patriots. Huckabee's a barely lovable Luddite. And Ron Paul will forever be known by his tattered bumperstickers on pick-ups and second-hand Hummers just like Kucinich is immortalized by similar campaign art on rusting Subarus and bike commuters' paniers from sea to shining sea.

Hope your own Super Humpday is a landslide of fun. Rock on.

The day in between

Post-Super Bowl, pre-Super Tuesday - what a hype-filled moment for our Nation. So I'll take it light and let everyone off the hook. First of all, stunningly good Super Bowl. Given that my team was upset by the Giants, you'd possibly expect that I couldn't bear to watch the game. But I did. And after three rather uneventful quarters, the finale was thrilling. I've already emailed a few friends who are die-hard Giants fans, and they're over the moon. As they should be. A championship well-deserved.

In terms of tomorrow's Primaries, I'm expecting some big surprises. Chris Matthews will blow out a vein in his neck around 8pm, EST. Arianna Huffington's servers will thereafter explode after some doofus spills a $9 bottle of pinot gris amidst a celebratory back-office tryst. Rush Limbaugh will beat a deaf caddy to death with a 7-iron as the early East Coast exit polling hits his Blackberry. James Carville will finally agree to have sex with his wife (?), ending her 2,923rd day of the current dryspell. It should be quite a day, and I can't wait to see what actually happens.

Hope your own robo-calls feature Scarlett Johansson, or at least Jennifer Aniston today. Rock on.