Aloha!

We just got back from a trip to Oahu with my parents and had a great time! It was pretty windy and overcast while we were there but we had a couple of great beach days and spent the rest of our time touring the island.

We also hit a few bumps in the road - Waikiki/Honolulu highways are *ridiculously* confusing; the wind was so bad while we were at Pearl Harbor that we couldn't go see the Arizona Memorial; and Jason had a very unfortunate tumble in the ocean water our very first day there, causing him to be terrified of the beach the rest of the trip!

We overcame these things though, and made the most of things. Here are some of the things we did:
- Watched the sea turtles (honu) in Hale'Iwa
- Had some delicious shrimp dishes at Romy's Shrimp Shack outside of Kuhuku
- Bought a ton of cool stuff at the swap meet in the parking lot of Aloha Stadium
- Found a Honolulu Senor Frog's!!
- Had a shave ice treat from Island Snow in Kailua, where President Obama goes when he is vacationing. We had the "Snowbama", named for his favorite variety - with lemon-lime, cherry and passion-guava flavors.
(Read an article on President Obama's visit here)
- Kayaked to Flat Island, off the shores of Kailua Beach
- Visited the Japanese Byodo-In Temple. BEAUTIFUL!

My favorite part of the trip: Mom and Dad gave Alberto and me a "date night", where they took Jason in the afternoon and freed us up to do whatever we wanted until the next morning. It was a blast and I needed the break!

Jason enjoyed things the whole time except when we were on the plane (6 torturous hours each way) and when we were on the beach. He was a real trooper with all the driving we did, and also slept like an angel each night. He enjoyed trying the fresh papaya and mango, and also strolling around Kailua town (where he made sweet eyes at the majority of the female portion of the local population) and waking up each morning to the singing of the birds all around the vacation home we were staying in. Every day he cooed and chattered back at the birds while he snuggled in bed with us before breakfast. Paradise definitely suits him!

OBAMA WINS!!!

Simply Amazing! What an incredible day for our country!
Alberto, Dudley and I watched with relief and excitement as the announcement was made on CNN!

NO MORE BUSH! NO MORE CRAZINESS!

I feel like I can breathe again.

We then did a little victory dance in our pajamas and watched Obama's victory speech over celebratory bowls of yummy chocolate ice cream!

I planted my political flag today

Well, I finally did it. I made a donation to my Presidential candidate of choice. It's not much - we don't have much to give after the surgery and the property taxes - but it's a stake in the ground and I have firmly planted it.

My candidate of choice is Barack Obama.

Don't worry - I'm not going to inundate anyone with propaganda or persuasive messages about anyone. I know some people didn't like it when I tried to spark some conversation on W and sent out messages about why he had to go in 2004. But I felt like my country and all of the principles it was founded on were being snatched away from me and I couldn't just do nothing! I was irrevocably compelled to make my voice heard - to cry out at the injustice of everything that Bush embodies!

But like I said - I am not going to do that this time. The reason is because this time the race is about building up the American dream again, not about tearing it down. It is a new kind of politics, and one that I believe should speak for itself. I'll remark on things from time to time, but no active campaigning will be in my future. You are safe :)

The only two things I will do is:

1) Give you a link to the page where you can donate too, if you want:
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/decmatch?match_campaign_id=5&source=feature_million

and

2) Show you a music video that was put together recently for Obama:

This video was released a couple of weeks and already has over 4 million views on YouTube!



So, there you have it. Obama is my man. I'll still love all of you who don't agree with me, and I hope you'll feel the same way about me!

Natasha

Cherries for Change

Apparently the makers of Ben & Jerry's ice cream (yes, Ben and Jerry) have decided that Obama is their choice for President this year. They are creating a new ice cream called "Cherries for Change" and will be giving a large supply to Obama's Vermont campaign, where it can be given away on all of Obama's campaign stops.

Here is the report:

BURLINGTON, Vt. - The founders of Ben & Jerry's endorsed Barack Obama on Monday, and lent his Vermont campaign two "ObamaMobiles" that will tour the state and give away scoops of "Cherries for Change" ice cream.

"If there was ever a need for real change, and if there ever was a candidate to inspire us and make that happen, it's now," said Ben Cohen.
Added Jerry Greenfield: "Barack is showing that when you lead with your values and follow what you have inside that good things will happen."
Echoing Obama, Greenfield said he and Cohen succeeded when they opened their ice cream shop 30 years ago in Burlington by doing things differently, instead of copying the "tired ways" of doing business.
"What we saw is that when you want real change it's not a marketing slogan. You have to do things differently. And that is not going to be done by someone who's been involved in the system for years and years," Greenfield said. "It needs to come from inside and Barack Obama has it."
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and his wife joined the ice cream duo to announce their radio campaign backing the Illinois senator.
Cohen initially supported John Edwards, who dropped out of the race earlier this month.
Rob Hill, director of the Vermonters for Obama campaign, said he looked forward to getting behind the wheel of one of the two ObamaMobiles — retrofitted Honda Elements.

(taken from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_campaignplus/20080219/ap_ca/on_the2008_trail)

I hope it's as good as the ice cream they created for Dave Matthews Band, One Whirled Peace...mmmmm..................

Obama at King Memorial

Another effective delivery by Obama. This one was for Martin Luther King's Memorial service on Sunday January 20, 2008.

When I look at these speeches, I look for a sense of earnest and evidence that the speaker is truly engaged in what he is saying. Not all of Obama's speeches can fall under this category, but this is definitely one of them.

It's kind of long, but worth it:

Obama one-ups Clinton in very funny moment today

I am in Waco again, passing time in my hotel room. I caught the last 45 minutes of the last Democratic debate, which took place in Iowa today. My interest had been a bit peaked because all I can see on the internet these days is how Obama is rapidly narrowing the gap between himself and Clinton, and I wanted to see how that would play out.

Everybody played really nice, and they even all stood up for Joe Biden when he was asked a character question on how some remarks he has made in recent days about people of various races should have been interpreted. I thought this was very admirable and a rare moment where I could see that everyone on the stage abandoned their own selfish motives for a moment to give a rousing cheer and applause for Senator Biden when he was done speaking.

But my favorite part was when the mediator asked Obama how he, with relatively little foreign policy experience, would utilize the many former Clinton advisors who have taken his side but still break from the past and bring about the change he was promising.

As he began to respond, you could hear from the other side of the room when Clinton started laughing, accompanied by a low rumbling from the audience. She picked up on that and said with a smile something along the lines of "I'm looking forward to hearing this".

Obama glanced at her and laughed for a moment, paused a split second and looked down to regain his train of thought, and then brought his head back up, looked her straight in the eye and said "Well I'm looking forward to you advising me too Hillary."

That really roused the crowd! Even the moderator couldn't hold back a laugh. I laughed my ass off and clapped in my hotel room along with many other people in the audience.

And by the way, I liked his answer too.

Obama just earned another point with me ;)

A word from Obama

Have you decided on who you want for President yet? I haven't either, but I wanted to share something interesting with you that surprised me a bit.

A year ago, when Barack Obama was just coming onto the political landscape, I wrote him a letter saying that he should run for President (I was very interested in infusing some new blood into the old game) and that he should make the recovery of the Gulf Coast one of his top issues.

I flattered myself by thinking that I might get a response back, but never expected it to happen. Sure enough, after many months went by I almost forgot that I'd even written.

Until I got this:

Your eyes do not decieve you, it is a response from Barack Obama that I got about a month ago. Yes, that is his handwritten signature on the bottom of the letter!

As indicated, he enclosed literature on what his position on the Gulf Coast is.

I was really affected by receiving this letter - partly because I never thought it would happen, but more because I could tell it wasn't just a form letter that one of his staff autoprinted and mailed.

I can see that his team is actually reading and responding to the letters he's receiving, and I can see that he played a personal role in writing the letter because of the content of the first paragraph.

Can Obama really be a man of the people? I wasn't too impressed with him when I saw him at the L.A. rally in February, but I think I owe it to him to have another look...