The business end of a bowling alley. Or, actually, the non-business end.

The business end of a bowling alley. Or, actually, the non-business end.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Sunset Bowl in Ballard recently shut up shop and sold the property for $13Million. High-price condos will soon replace this beloved Seattle relic. Yesterday was the auction of all the balls and pins and detritus. I took my dad, who was visiting from Wisconsin. It was my first auction. His many hundredth. It was astonishingly insightful to walk around the back of the alleys and see what a mechanical operation a big alley represents. What follows are a few faves from a bevvy of pics.

A pin polisher, a urinal and a water heater. Sadly, only the urinal wasn't listed in the catalog.

A pin polisher, a urinal and a water heater. Sadly, only the urinal wasn't up for auction.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

If you're looking for fancy furnishings, I expect the back of an ancient bowling alley is the last place to start.

Taking pictures of people taking pictures - a personal favorite irony.

Taking pictures of people taking pictures - a personal favorite irony.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

I often irritate my wife/family/countless mistresses by taking pics of people taking pics. But in this case, this meta moment has a doppleganger out there in the Seattle mainstream media. Enjoy.

Maya and Grandpa check out the piggy bank in the Market.

Maya and Grandpa check out the piggy bank in the Market.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

I'm catching up on well over a week's worth of pics. Family in town, crazy Seattle weather, blah blah blah. Hope you have loads of shots in the can today. Rock on.

Donuts from the Daily Dozen in the Pike Street Market - you don't need to be a tourist to dig it.

Donuts from the Daily Dozen in the Pike Street Market - you don't need to be a tourist to dig it.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

"Snow! Global warming? Confusion?! Fun."

"Snow! Global warming? Confusion?! Fun."
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Maya checked out what was a wholly crazy late Spring snow cycle for Seattle. It melted. Oh, but the memories...

"Nixon rode on this thing? What a piece of crap."

"Nixon rode on this thing? What a piece of crap."
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Maya vamps in the Museum of Flight on an open display platform. I didn't get a shot of the security guards beating us into submission thereafter.

Maya vamps in the Museum of Flight on an open display platform. I didn't get a shot of the security guards beating us into submission thereafter.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Playtime snacktime with Marine, Maya's favorite school chum.

Playtime snacktime with Marine, Maya's favorite school chum.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Elephant. It's what's for dinner.

Elephant. It's what's for dinner.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

"Happy Thirtysomethingth, Mommy!"

"Happy Thirtysomethingth, Mommy!"
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Cake baking for Sarah's birthday

Cake baking for Sarah's birthday
Originally uploaded by emaggie

"The next question is a two-parter - when did you stop beating your wife AND do you think doing cocaine helped you understand your family better?"

Like most observers, I was appalled after last night's Dems debate. Obama got punked constantly, stumbling occasionally along the way. Hillary was willing to say anything, as usual. Charlie Gibson is officially now a swear word around my house. George Stephanopoulos still is. And the result? Bupkis. Big ratings, no real results. Yawn. With a sneer.

So I'm not about to focus on this whole showdown for the next few days. Sort of. Which should be easy since my parents are coming to town from Wisconsin. Please check back for some fresh pics as they get re-acquainted with Maya.

Hope your own debate analysis deals primarily with podium height today. Rock on.

Grey day, great view of downtown Minneapolis from the Walker Art Center

Grey day, great view from the Walker Art Center's tower of downtown Minneapolis.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

I hadn't visited the Walker in years and years. It's even more vital than ever. If you ever go to the Twin Cities, don't miss it. I'm glad I didn't this time out.

A totally cherry view of the downtown Minneapple from the Sculpture Garden

A totally cherry view of the downtown Minneapple from the Sculpturre Garden.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

The Rush to the ballot booth?

Without my usual prior notice to anyone checking in, we're on the road again. My apologies to the NSA for not calling. This time we're doing another couple days of work thingie for Sarah in Minnysoda. Downtown Minneapolis, to be specific. Although I was enjoyably forced to take the bus way up to Roseville this morning to get another waterproof layer at the local REI which is oddly placed in the industrial-ish hinterlands. Now I'm taking a late lunch break at ancient yet unchanged Big 10 Subs near my undergrad college campus. I think I still have a few of these greasy things stuck in my colon from the early 90s. At least this time it will be a half turkey, no mayo.

Two quickie campaign stories - USAToday does some early legwork on the surprising spike in new voter registration in the remaining Democratic Primary states. My bet? A whole bunch of Rush Limbaugh-inspired switch-overs looking to unscrupulously vote for Hillary. It ain't over folks. Well - it's actually over. Yet certain overanalyzed misdirection still lies before us. Ah, democracy. Love it or leave it.

Also, Dubya appears to be prepping to add to Mark Penn and Hillary's woes on the subject of an utterly unimportant Columbian free trade agreement. Just imagine if Bush the Elder had introduced a Columbian trade deal during his struggles to define his own still unresolved endless struggle (War on Drugs, anyone)? Dubya really has been a prick of a son. Certainly less than he has been a sonofaprick. But I digress - Mark Penn got bounced from Hillary's campaign for meeting just LAST WEEK with the Columbians. I envision him doing so at Tony Montana's disco in "Scarface" with a hooker on his lap and an aide that looks amazingly like Robert Loggia taking notes in a pile of cocaine on the glass table before them. Well, now it appears that Dubya's going to try to force Congress to vote within 90 days on his proposed deal. McCain supports, Obama doesn't, Hillary doesn't, Mark Penn makes it one of those tabloid dealiebobbers, doncha know. As I said, what a prick of a son.

Time to head onto other things. Hope your own college reunion tours today feature more foie gras, less wilted lettuce. Rock on.

When geldings attack...

Everyone's going to pile on Bill Clinton's latest not-so-private outburst, so I must join the scrum early on. According to the political columnists for the San Francisco Comical (Matier and Ross - the primary reason I occasionally got that paper when we lived there), Bubba went off amidst a gathering of superdelegates after someone cornered him on James Carville's "Judas" comment about Bill Richardson's endorsement. We've all been told for years that Bill's got quite the temper, temper. But this just sounds like Crazytown. Compare Bubba's flame with yesterday's very temperate WashingtonPost op-ed from none other than Bill Richardson. I'm sure we all can draw our own opinions, I'll nonetheless try to influence yours. So here goes.

Bill Clinton is utterly out of control. I can maybe excuse James Carville for sounding like a crazed wombat. He's a hired gun without a legitimate holster at the moment. But Bubba was Prezidunt. Even if yesterday's meeting in California wasn't as bad as what's reported, we all need to ask if we want this man anywhere near the Oval Office any longer. Don't misinterpret my motivations - I was until this campaign the biggest of big Clinton promoters/excusers. But an actual race for the hearts and minds of the Democratic Party has shown the Clintons to be worse than what their worst detractors claimed - outsized egos willing to say and burn down anything if it meant they could get seated back at the head table. It makes me sad to say/type this. But I have come to loathe Bill Clinton.

Hope your own admissions of personal change are limited to finally liking the look of your ass in the mirror today. Rock on.

Covering sleeping homeless people since 1851. Poorly, I might add.

Sunday for those of us churchless liberals is usually about one thing. Unless there's brunch. The lump of deadtree that is the Sunday NYTimes. I know, I know - I need to finally move over to the entirely electronic form of this weekly dive into the finest paper in all the land. So today, my two faves come from other online sources.

The Politico pulls some pretty petty reporting of Hillary's campaign being horrible at paying their bills. But I can't wait for the direct-mail pushback from said lackies as they run to that unseemly copy center way out in the burbs that still writes up advance work orders. Synopsis - Hillary is broke.

New York Magazine has a super-snarky throwaway piece that offers some dish on how John and Elizabeth Edwards feel about the lobbying for their endorsements. Synopsis - Hillary's been very professional, Obama's been a bit of a dick.

As a bonus, here's one half-hearted shout out to the NYTimes for a Sunday Styles piece on the inherent connectivity between Brooklyn and the East Bay. I don't buy the synopsis for a second (they are inextricably connected by some sort of culture warp) since almost as much time is spent talking crap about things miles away from the East Bay. Kinda like saying Staten Island and Milwaukee are one in the same and spending half your time ordering at The Brat Stop in Kenosha. Yet one of my personal faves - the Mollusk Surf Shop in the Outer Sunset of San Francisco - gets a big blurb. I love the Mollusk (best t-shirts in California). So, weirdly...whoo-hoo.

Hope your don't lose an unread section in an unfortunate French Toast spill today. Rock on.

Aloof Goofs Spoof for Boof!

Baseball. The Major League kind. Can you smell it? Ah, it's fresh. Namely, our Nation's beloved Milwaukee Brewers kick off their pennant run with an opener at Wrigley Field on Monday. Many questions remain for the Brew Crew - who will round out their starting piching rotation, will Rickie Weeks finally show up at the plate, will Mike Cameron's 25-game suspension for banned steroids cause his balls to shrink even more, is there any expected end to the lingering winter back yonder? But I think we all can find reason for excited optimism at the foreseen onset of our respective Opening Days. Even though it's currently snowing outside here in Seattle, at least it's not snowing inside. That would suck. So here's to a fine Season for all. Including my new favorite non-Brewer - Boof Bonser.


Said Boof is a pitcher who's been burdened with the nickname "Boof" since early childhood. Yet he legally changed his name from John Paul to Boof. Not surprisingly, he's a Minnesota Twin. He's chubby. He's probably a dick. But I love love LOVE the name. Here's to you, Boof. May the Brewers beat you in Game 7 of the World Series on a surprising goof that in no way diminishes your Cy Young winning year.

Hope your own delusional self-regard prevents you from changing your name to "Dudemeister" today. Rock on.

Rick Astley - the cure for Global Warming. 'Cause he's so cool.

Approximately 47 years ago a good friend in college repeatedly alleged that I was a dead-ringer for British pop dink, Rick Astley. Alas, male-pattern baldness and the surprising ability to afford groceries changed my celebrity-mis-sightings. Nonetheless, I am still pleased by the occasional offhand mention of my doppelganger. Case in point - the hilarious phenomenom of "Rick Rolling" wherein unsuspecting dolts are paired with Rick Astley's "timeless" vids from the 80s. If the last sentence sounds like a language you don't understand, consider yourself less burdened by mindlessness than most trolling the internets. But if you like the cut of my jib, here's the fix you need.

Rick Astley is alive. And he thinks Rick Rolling is cool. Is it just me, or did I just step into a time machine? Oh wait, it's just me.

Hope your own VH1 specials feature a special appearance by Downtown Julie Brown today. Rock on.

"Frontline" presents a masterful draft of History

Ah, history. PBS gave us all a hearty taste of it over the last two nights (viewable in its entirety online). "Bush's War" is a two-part documentary that is absolutely chilling. It represents a singular achievement that is the best journalism I've seen in any medium in years and years. There are so many worthy take-aways (Condi Rice had no experience, Tommy Franks smokes two packs a day in between drinking 15 cups of coffee, Donald Rumsfeld is utterly evil, Richardo Sanchez was the most junior Three-Star General in the Army when he got promoted to run the whole show, yada yada yada). But seeing Jerry Bremer seethe and stumble through his answers to the toughest questions is just plain stunning insight. This is the story of a generation. Of nincompoops. I've been a fan of the long form style of "Frontline" for years. But they have never been better or more relevant. Watch it. Tell everyone you know about it. You're welcome.

Oh, and the most entertaining found video clip of the new Millenium. Watch this, as well. For entirely different reasons.



Hope your own Peabody Award is also inevitably in the offing today. Rock on.

Anniversary, saddamiversary - let's call the whole thing off.

Every time our lethargic nation chooses to pay attention to Iraq, we're told to believe that a turning point is at hand. The 5th Anniversary of the invasion and the bleak milestone of 4000 dead American soldiers are only the most recent examples of trying to change the flavor of the moment with a turn or two of phrase. But in trying to recollect a now cloudy thought of my own just a few moments ago - the argument that the invasion needed to happen in March before the weather turned decidedly toward summer and the temperatures escalated for our troops in their chemical suits - I came across a lost gem. Via the White House website, no less. If you love punishing post mortems, I highly recommend a quick read. If you want the nugget and can do without the waste, Condi Rice falsely argued in late January of 2003 that the Prezidunt had the justification to do the U.N.'s bidding and forcefully disarm Saddam. She closed by saying that Iraq should know that "time is running out." Yet, here we are, over 5 years later, being told to expect that troop levels through the end of Dubya's reign will remain basically the same. While the fractured Mahdi Army and associated Shiite allies conduct an obvious offensive. As the weather heats up. And basic services are at a worse level than before the invasion. And our nation looks at the daily drumbeat of bad economic newsiness with a sense of not knowing what's next. Hell, even Seattle is finally seeing a depreciation of housing valuation for the first time since 1991. I hate to get all canary in the coalmine about this whole fandango. But wake up, America. Today may not be a Tet Offensive. But the stretched parallels to that sleepy late January lunar New Year are awkwardly hard to deny, at best. Scary as hell, at worst.

Hope your own discovered past speeches only feature lame Beavis and Butthead jokes today. Rock on.

"If only for the grace of Gawd, my companion Sinbad survived to open strongly that following Holidaze Season in the beloved "Jingle All the Way"!"

It's no secret that Barack Obama and family planned to take a few days off away from the media glare to vacation. They chose the U.S. Virgin Islands, left yesterday (on Easter), and plan to return to Chicago on Tuesday. But thankfully, FOX News is able to break through his unpatriotic choice and bring us a bad phone interview and digital pic from the beach to confirm that he truly is acting like the closeted Muslim they surely still believe him to be. Please be sure to wash you hands after if you choose to click through on this pathetic snippet.

I'm curious to see just how far the questioning goes of Hillary's "we took on sniper fire and had to run for the cars...with Chelsea, Sinbad, Sheryl Crow and Willem DeFoe's tragic character trying to keep up with me" crap sandwich. Not far, I expect. But if you think this sort of thing doesn't have legs for a voracious media pack, I'll be certainly willing to pass the collection plate down your pew...



Hope your own opposition research deals mainly with kitchen magnets today. Rock on.

Ah, those quiet moments with a book. No matter your age, 'tis one of life's great pleasures.

Ah, those quiet moments with a book. No matter your age, 'tis one of life's great pleasures.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

"Is it just me, or do the black jelly beans taste like daddy's

"Is it just me, or do the black jelly beans not taste like daddy's socks?"
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Maya and her best bud Marine - totally faking it. Not.

Maya and her best bud Marine - totally faking it. Not.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Maya listens intently to the story of how Queen Esther saved the Easter Bunny. Or something to that effect.

Maya listens intently to the story of how Queen Esther saved the Easter Bunny. Or something to that effect.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Maya at takeoff.

Maya at takeoff.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Maya gets to work on her owl costume for Purim.

Maya gets to work on her owl costume for Purim.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Maya inspects just some of the herb seeds we got in the dirt this week.

Maya inspects just some of the herb seeds we got in the dirt this week.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

A true matzo miracle, with a Door County-shaped pizza addition.

A true matzo miracle, with a Door County-shaped pizza addition.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

"Oh, and can you give me some snow up top, with legs?"

A quick coffee-snob critique. I try to only support the independent shops. But the occasional over-the-top dork you bump up against therein can be as unpalatable as the world's worst squirrel stew served in a rusty iron lung. Such as the guy in line behind me this morning at one of my faves. He literally ordered a "triple shot vanilla soy latte, two decaf one caf, extra hot". Really, dude? Aside from the infinitely-remote possibility that you have the sort of tastebuds that can discern spices on the parts per million basis as activated by temperature...can you please just tuck that in a bit. Because it makes us all look sucky.

For those desperate for an update - Maya's thriving in her part-time daycare. She's got two new best friends (Marine and Katie). She already knows more about Judaism than me and Sarah combined. Such as the background details on tomorrow's celebration - Purim. Apparently, it's the Mardi Gras of the Jewish calendar. Costumes, lots of drinking, noisemakers, and a carnival atmosphere meant to celebrate Esther and mock Haman's failed attempt to rid Persia of Jews something like 2600 years ago. Whoo-hoo! Kinda like Summerfest in Milwaukee. Well, without all the justified human ceremony and historical reflection. But I ask you - has Tom Petty ever played Purim? Regardless, check back for what I expect will be a bundle of pics from tomorrow morning's celebration.

Hope your own use of Haman is a friendly "hey, mahn" today. Rock on.

Obama's timing couldn't draw a stronger contrast if he delivered "The Speech" with a "Mission Accomplished" banner behind him

Barack Obama delivered his finest speech this morning in Philadelphia. Which is saying a helluva lot, given how many other fine speeches he is credited with delivering in the past. This time he was attempting to quell a storm - the opportunistic tempest stirred up by endless replays of his former Pastor Jeremiah Wright's bombastic sermons over the last few news cycles. In due course, Obama took on race, history, religion and his truly unique ancestry when compared with a typical candidate for any elected office in this Nation (much less the highest in the Land). He did so with characteristic flair, nonetheless weaving in some digs at Hillary and policy positions on education, health care, foreign policy and our image abroad. I've made no secret of my support for him. I will now go a step further. This candidate has the power to change everything. Obama just keeps getting stronger in front of history's caustic glare. I expect he just won over a ton of those wavering in the past few weeks. If he doesn't win the Presidency, I will quit blogging. Which I'm sure would please more than a few of those aimlessly antagonistic readers. But I'll throw down the challenge, nonetheless.

What if you started a War based on lies, had no plan for how to get out, spent trillions of dollars, killed nearly 4000 volunteer soldiers, and fiddled away the same old tune while the economy melted down 5 years later? Any rational student of history would conclude that you'd be pretty well screwed. So on this dubious anniversary, as the Fed throws everything and the kitchen sink into the chasm that is rapidly opening beneath the feet of so many Americans, I'd like to remind Dubya of his oft-repeated phrasing. "History will decide." Yup, for once we agree.

Hope your own anniversaries relate to the good things in life today. Rock on.

Everything I Ever Needed to Know Would Never Have Been Taught in Kindergarten

This afternoon I had a "training session" for the next stage of the Washington State Democratic Caucus procedure (I'm a delegate from our lowly Precinct level of involvement, up to this point). Hereafter, I'm able to run for one of 40 slots against 859 current Barack Obama delegates. Which still ain't even close to the National Convention. Whatever. It's time to sling some mud in random fashion. That's my campaign motto. So here goes.

Hillary's laugh is fake. John McCain will never, ever pull all our troops out of Iraq. John Boehner's birthname was actually "Hardy Boner". Nancy Pelosi is reluctant to show off her killer bod. Harry Reid is a Mormon (seriously). Ted Kennedy cries uncontrollably twice a day. Russ Feingold deserves to be our next (Vice) President. Bill Gates secretly loves SPAM. Eliot Spitzer only would frequent hookers that had an extra toe on at least one foot. Donald Rumsfeld has taken up floral arranging and scrapbooking to ward off the realization that he'll burn in hell forever. Britney Spears eats one kitten and most of two puppies every day. All hybrid vehicles are 13% more fuel efficient if you stick a carrot in the lighter slot. Gawd is dead.

Glad I could help. Hope your own non sequiters are non sequitish today. Rock on.

Ladies and Gentlemen - here's the Hooker we've all been looking for...

How much do you think you were worth per hour at 22-years-old? Please consider inflation. Apparently, I TOTALLY undervalued myself. Ashley Alexandra Dupre` was deemed worth $1000/hour by a former Governor of New York. Just imagine if The Gap had to honor that sort of minimum wage. "Please enjoy your $7000 jeans, sir."

Hope your own MySpace is YourSpace today. Rock on.

But the price will seem a bargain when you consider the bonus "Lewinsky" bundled in the package.

The countdown is on for Eliot Spitzer's resignation. If I had an office to pool, I'd pick just after the markets close this afternoon. In the only positive aspect I can mine from this story, I'm personally very interested in David Paterson as Governor (he'll be the first blind Governor in our Nation's history). He sounds like a stand-up fella. But Spitz - what a FUBAR disaster. I met a guy 3 years ago at a wedding who was working as an Assistant District Attorney in New York and could speak at length personally of Spitz. At the time, admittedly, I was blinded by the rising star media story that surrounded the then NY Attorney General. In knowing contrast, he thought Spitz was scum. Not about anything like this scandal, but the self-righteousness that was so obvious to those that worked under him. I'm sure stories like that will dominate the next few cycles. At least until someone tracks down "Kristen" and readies her image for the inevitable "Playboy" spread. For the moment, everyone's chopping up Spitz's still warm corpse while offering well-worn sympathetic canards. For his wife. His three teenage daughters. His ruined career as a crime fighter. His emboldened past targets. What. Ever. Anyone who pays $4300 for just over two hours with a petite brunette that didn't get to toss her off a pyramid afterwards - well, you're just a dumb, rich jerk who already has a spot reserved in history's Gallery of Political Shame. I suggest hung right next to Larry Craig.

Hope your own illegal interstate commerce today at worst deals with shipping Girl Scout cookies. Rock on.

Get out your calculators...and then throw them away.

Nobody expects Wyoming to have much sway when it comes to the Democratic nominating process. Or, I should say, nobody EXPECTED Wyoming to have much sway. But with only 11 remaining States and Territories (Puerto Rico, Guam) left to voice their preference, Wyoming's moment in the Dems sun was yesterday. Typical '08 caucus - huge turnout, big Obama victory. The response from the Clinton campaign? States don't matter, unless they're named Texas, Ohio, Florida, Michigan or Pennsylvania. So I'll let them furiously pirouette around the momentum argument, which even I'm becoming tired of watching. Basically, for me it boils down to this - if the current breakdowns expected from the remaining contests hold even Dubya-budget-close to what is expected (even with do-overs in Florida and Michigan) Obama wins well over 30 States/Territories, pledged delegates and the popular vote. So...his head is on the block for the Clintons to whack at mercilessly. They either take him out, or they lose. Which do you expect? I'm personally terrified of the prospects. Or, to play the national security card I've personally used ever since 9/11, I'm more afraid of the response than what's already occurred. One sidelight - Saturday Night Live's smackdown of Hillary's "3 am phone" ad that aired last night was a hard slap that rang out for me with a necessary feel of evening up the satirical scorecard. Don't expect to hear Hillary bringing that one up on the stump. Ever.

Hope you're able to sleep through the night without interruptions for the foreseeable future. Rock on.

I only hope he also quits making Wrangler commericals.

Oh, the sadness. Brett Favre is retiring. It has been suggested that the Green Bay Packers didn't work hard enough at encouraging him to return for another year. If true, Ted Thompson (the Packers' GM) will soon replace Osama bin Laden as the favorite burning effigy at every frat party in Wisconsin. I mean - COME ON! Not doing everything possible to get Favre back for another season is like McDonalds deciding that Ronald McDonald should be replaced as chief spokesman by Grimace. Or College Republicans replacing their worship of Ronald Reagan with a newfound zeal for Bob Dole's zombie-like visage. I'm just glad to have been able to cheer for Favre over the past 16 years. When he replaced the horrifically self-absorbed Don Majkowski and went on to start the next 275 games, old and new Packer fans everywhere got that special glint in their eye. Brett was a revelation. He scared the pants off everyone, including his biggest fans. He threw like the meanest kid ever, joked with the baddest asses on the other side of the line, and made it up as he went along. But that was all an act - he was as smart as anyone who ever played the game. Sports icons can be overly lauded, to be sure. But Favre earned it - every season, in every way. So I hope we all raise an Old Style in his honor this evening. I can honestly say that I will truly miss seeing him play and thank him for every touchdown, every victory, and, yes, every interception and those few crushing losses. On balance, he gave Wisconsin more joy than anything ever invented. Besides Vince Lombardi. Or beer.

Hope your own teams have a decent back-up waiting in the wings that didn't just crap his pants this morning. Rock on.

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.

Where have all the pretty flowers gone?

Yesterday's Florida GOP Primary gave us a front-runner, and cost us a terrorizing shmuck. The Florida Dems also held a meaningless beauty contest that absolutely no one should listen to the Clintons handicap. And John Edwards is finally out of gas after running steadily in third-ish place for nearly 5 years. Just wait for all the over-the-top analysis to completely miss the point. Which is - you gotta win something to actually have a shot at winning something. Hope you keep things in proper perspective today. Rock on.

Our first effort just off the sidewalk - more snowlump than snowman.

Our first effort just off the sidewalk - more snowlump than snowman.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Seattle woke up to a few paltry, fluffy inches of the white stuff this morning. Which meant that daycare and just about every school in the State pulled the cord early. So we got Maya out in the mid-30s beauty and made our inaugual snowman at our new house. As you'll see in the following series, my snowman engineering was fatally blinded by my enthusiasm for overstatement. It was fun, nonetheless. And after naptime we'll maybe try to resurrect the snowy beast. Enjoy.

Ah, those impermanent yet remarkable first steps on a snowy deck.

Ah, those impermanent yet remarkable first steps on a snowy deck.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Ball #1 - Our doomed, massive snowman begins.

Ball #1 - Our doomed, massive snowman begins.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Ball #2 - Maya helps to sow the seeds of failure.

Ball #2 - Maya helps to sow the seeds of failure.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Ball #3 - Notice how Daddy chose to make the bottom ball the smallest.

Ball #3 - Notice how Daddy chose to make the bottom ball the smallest.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

The failure's complete. Time for lunch and loads of yuks.

The failure's complete. Time for lunch and loads of yuks.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

"I'm exiting the race to hang more with my smokin' hot wife. Oh and that whole re-election thing, too."

The political world just got a bundle less fun to snark about. Dennis Kucinich dropped out of the Presidential race. He's instead facing a tough re-election race for his House seat back in Ohio. I met him in New Hampshire in '04, wandering around a mixer at Dartmouth essentially looking for anyone to chat up. He was charming. Adorable. Funny. Small. I believe he is entirely driven by the right impulses and means what he says. He deserves to be re-elected from his home district. He thereby gets my Gold Medal endorsement. Vote for him, Cleveland.

Hope your own representation is also solid gold today. Rock on.

A very overdue haircut begins...

A very overdue haircut begins...
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Maya's hard-to-love fake smile.

Maya's hard-to-love fake smile.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Mission accomplished.

"One question for you, Wolf - can I please shift to the lectern between these two just to get some camera time?"

What if you cut interest rates 3/4ths of a percent and even the financial markets said..."waah?" Well, that's what we'll be seeing in the next few days. The fact that the major American markets could still dump billions of value on a day following such an announcement is the canary in the coal mine. I'm no economist. Although I did get a "B" in a pair of econ courses nearly two decades ago. So allow me to offer one pithy comment. Check your gut. It knows you, maybe you don't know it. This flux is all gut. Let's hope we've got the right tonic to settle things down in the coming months.

I should riff fully on the Democratic Debate in South Carolina last night, but I'm still playing catch up during naptime with our TiVo. But since everyone's throwing bombs, I'll offer my own. Hillary fights far dirtier (and smarter) than anyone in this race. My rationale is that I briefly combed votes doing opposition research bunk for Howard Dean's campaign in the last Presidential cycle. The sort of stuff Hillary's offering as broadcasted contrasts with Barack Obama is part and parcel of the ammunition I was told to look for - parse the voting record by bill names, look at some comparative markers (voting members with 100% ratings from various agents), categorize by funding vehicle (which Federal/State department), and look for the punchline. I warn everyone who takes my advice with a grain of salt that these tactics tarnish us all. Obama's people surely do the same research. I just honestly believe they're not playing it as cynical nor are they so willing to cross check this early in the period, so to speak, as the HillaryBorg. Do with that what you will.

Hope your own skates are sharpened and you don't swallow that wad of chew in your cheek before intermission. Rock on.

Just when you thought the World was all flowery and fabulous...

We're in a fun, scary, astonishing period with regard to Maya. Full-on potty training. Maya gets the concept and we get the signs of whenever she's, um, ready to go. Up 'til now, she's been hit or miss. Increasingly hit, but ya' know how it goes. Her part-time daycare helps tremendously because of the regimented approach of making all the kids line up like a bunch of beerdrinkers during halftime at Lambeau Field. But since we've not done this before, a minor success is heralded like a major victory. Kinda like how the Bushies run the Country. Regardless, yesterday was a watershed event. Pun intended.

After picking Maya up from daycare, we were prepping for naptime when she gave me the wink-wink nudge-nudge that she had some bizness at hand. Bear in mind, we have a rather unusually-designed three-story house and we were on the top floor. So we got situated, Maya did her business (hooray!), we flushed, and headed down to the lowest level to Maya's room for a quick congratulatory call to Sarah before a few naptime stories. Fast forward a few blissful minutes and...I see water dripping down the doorframe of Maya's room. We all have those moments when we launch into Superhero mode. This was one of mine. By the time I got upstairs I'd realized that the toilet had clogged. A steady stream of water had formed a river that was doing what rivers do - run downhill. Holy. Ironic. Crap.

We're cleaned up. At least physically. Maya didn't miss a beat while I threw every towel in the neighborhood into the fray. So now I'm looking for a plumber to tell us wassup with that particular possessed head (I've seen the signs in the past). And maybe getting this story out there will somehow ease the lingering trauma. So if you've got a toilet in your house, I strongly recommend that you tell it how much you appreciate what it does. I don't expect I'll look at my own the same way for the foreseeable future.

Hope downhill runs for you apply to skiing today. Rock on.

Was that snow or Gawd's frozen happy tears falling in Green Bay?

It was a hugely satisfying weekend for the Green Bay Packers and fans like me the world over. The Pack spotted the Seattle Seahawks two touchdowns in the first 4 minutes. Believe me or not, but I wasn't all that worried. And then they bore down and found gold under the accumulating snow. You could run off a full roster of great performances from that team. No disrespect meant to the Seahawks. The Packers were on fire amidst the swirling storm. Just. Plain. Loved it.

And then the Dallas Cowboys got punked by the New York Giants. Never overlook a team that's won 9 of 10 games on the road - the Giants are dream-killers. I suspect next week at Lambeau will be a true test. Yet, seeing all the swirling humiliation around Texas Stadium just made the weekend all that more sweet. To be fair, I've been to one game in Dallas while we lived there back in the med school era. A college roommate of mine from Milwaukee (who was also at Lambeau Saturday) came to visit and scored tix for a Packers-Cowboys game through a family connection. I was shocked that the Cowboys fans couldn't have been nicer, even before the Pack stunk it up on their turf yet again. So my view of the Cowboys had been somewhat softened by experience. Until this Season. Seeing "Lover Boy" Romo go down in flames again brought back that good ol' cynical tang. Yummy.

Speaking of Romo, the NYPost offered the most original insult yesterday by hiring a Jessica Simpson impersonator to wander around the stadium. Karma tossed in a snarky joke with the fact that she's apparently from a Seattle suburb. And then Terrell Owens poured extra laughing gas on the gag and lit a roman candle by getting all teary-eyed after the game in defending his QB's choice of bye-week nookie getaways. Somewhere right now, Roger Clemens is probably even cracking up as he hunkers down with his lawyers.

Hope your own impersonators have nothing to work with today. Rock on.

Will you just please look at that form!

Will you just please look at that form!
Originally uploaded by emaggie

(insert utterly adorable "Go Pack Go!" reference without jinxing anything)

(insert utterly adorable "Go Pack Go!" reference without jinking anything)
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Throw another handful of brats on the grill, America!

The Green Bay Packers play the Seattle Seahawks tomorrow. (As if) you didn't already know. Big game. Lotsa fun. As goes the bizness of not-much-actual-newsiness around such events, I nonetheless commend both the generally lame Seattle Post-Intelligencer for a delightful profile of Mike Holmgren and the always-obsessed Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel with a fun puff piece detailing the so-called "leaders" on the Pack's especially young and talented squad. For those that know me, Eric Torkelson will always be my favorite Packer - who else ever did an autograph session at the Medford True Value Hardware store, for the love of cripes? But my now-less marginal awareness of the below pictured uber-leader, Rob Davis, is the most delicious surprise of the day. Favre will always be the brightest silver ever mined for this Torkelson lover. And I have a strict bronze medal list of beloved Packers - John Anderson, Lynn Dickey, Ed West, Paul Coffman, and Sterling Sharpe. Rob Davis is now officially added to that elite roster. Go Pack Go!



Hope y'all cover the spread while spreadin' the compliments around all weekend. Rock on.

And Fred Thompson will stop a staged armed-robbery with his trusty .45 and blow the smoke off the barrel as a tear wells up in his eye.

Boy, was I wrong. Hillary apparently nailed it with women voters by showing her human side. Unlike almost every single living American spouting off yesterday about what was bound to happen in New Hampshire, I'll actually apologize. I'll never be wrong again. Promise. We should all expect the next rush to judgment will come from the same punditocracy describing Obama's demise. I should take a break from commenting and just read a few books about other things and/or begin prepping brats for this weekend's NFL Playoff game between the Packers and Seahawks. But, well...I'll just pop off briefly to keep the chops up. Barack Obama will raise cash in the next four weeks like a junkie Trump. Hillary Clinton will get back on the inevitability train, taking the occasional heart-to-heart Sanka break. John Edwards will labor on and still no one will notice. Bill Richardson will pour three fingers of single-malt and light a phattie. Dennis Kucinich will keep the Viggo Mortensen vote, lose those few thousand hippie-veggie-oil biodiesel votes. My Republic Party picks for New Hampshire were pretty close, so I'll stand pat - John McCain faces many laps worth of hurdles but pulls it out. Mitt Romney will flop all over the place like a wounded marlin. Mike Huckabee will add the surviving cast of "Hee Haw" to his celebrity cavalcade. Ron Paul will soon be riding the bus with Mike Gravel. Duncan Hunter will still be in the closet. And we'll hear about it until this fascinating election actually ain't so much anymore.

Hope your endorsements all come from the exotic dancer unions today. Rock on.

Message to the messengers: "Message matters"

This is the 1,100th post over the 3-year history of and the Family Buick. I started out wanting to feature our soon-to-arrive daughter, Maya, after past half-starts with political shtick (including Try the Kool Aid while working for Howard Dean's campaign in '04). But for those that check in occasionally, you know all too well that herein I veer into the realm of political shtick more often than not. Today's a big day for people cut from similar cloth. New Hampshire is burning white hot. Results will come in a handful of hours. The turnout appears to be huge. But I want to get out front (again) with a few resonant moments from the last 24 hours and what I entirely believe they will mean in the days and weeks ahead.

1) Hillary's tearful moment yesterday was human. Every voter in the room was surely touched. But this was her "Howard Dean in Iowa" moment. She will be mercilessly taken to ludicrous task by the merciless crowd. Fair? No. Damaging? Undeniably so.
2) Bill Clinton is an institution. However, he's gone fully off the reservation in the last handful of events. When he called Obama's campaign a "fairy tale" he just coined his latest "that depends on what the definition of 'is' is" moment.

Hang onto your hats - tonite's going to be a hoot. Hope your own change is jangling today. Rock on.

Wanna bet?

It's go time. Everyone in the political universe and their central-casting retarded cousin and/or loving wife is currently in New Hampshire, prepped and over-caffeinated before tomorrow's Primary. So I'm going to offer a hopefully tasty rhetorical biscotti to munch on while considering anyone else's at-least-as-plausible prediction. With a challenge. I'll bet all comers One Canadian Dollar to offer up their own full breakdown. The closest by points (over or under) to each individual pick, then totalled for a final score wins the Loonie. I accept PayPal. Or general kudos. Game on.

The Democrat Party
Barack Obama - 46%
Hillary Clinton - 29%
John Edwards - 16%
Bill Richardson - 7%
Dennis Kucinich - 2%

The Republic Party
John McCain - 36%
Mitt Romney - 28%
Ron Paul - 18%
Rudy Guiliani - 9%
Mike Huckabee - 7%
Random morons - 2%

You can tell what I'm feeling. Hope y'all have the popcorn ready for tomorrow's feature. Rock on.

All she was missing was an "AAAARRRGH!"

Well howdy-doo - Barack Obama brought forth the "change" he's been promising the first night out of the gate. Namely, he changed the arc of the race last night in Iowa. Hillary's already throwing bombs - called him a "false hope" while probably sporting a raging hangover in Nashua this morning. Obama's victory speech last night was, in contrast, masterful. For those that look for the nuance in such theatre, watch how Barack moves in contrast to the camera, paying attention throughout to the audience. He's the most talented politcian I've ever seen (sorry, Bill). Hillary's tough as nails and is correct when she claims to have been tested through controversy. But everyone in the attentive world knows that the fact that she lost by 9 percent is major. I predict plenty of blood on the floor over the weekend. For those of us that love this sort of tangle, it's primerib time.

Oh, and if Mike Huckabee wins the nomination, I'll buy the world a Coke. I still say you're nuts if you don't see John McCain pulling down that role.

Hope your own balloons drop as planned today. Rock on.

After her last day at daycare with the Lutherans, Maya soaks up the sun

After her last day at daycare with the Lutherans, Maya soaks up the sun across the street at Smokin' Pete's.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

As 2007 comes to a close, we prepped Maya to upgrade to her new daycare center in our new neighborhood. I hope y'all head into 2008 with as much pleasure as we do while saying a fond farewell to our Lutheran friends in Ballard.

My all-time favorite shot of Maya enjoying a quiet moment at Smokin' Pete's.

My all-time favorite shot of Maya enjoying a quiet moment at Smokin' Pete's.
Originally uploaded by emaggie