Wednesday, February 27, 2008

London Visit



Been having a really nice time so far. A very brief summary:
Day One: Greenwich, National Maritime Museum, National Observatory, Boat back into London. Dinner with Susie, Sam's delightful girlfriend.
Day Two: Walking on River, Monmouth Coffee Shop, Tower of London, saw Laura Dick.

I actually had a couple of days before Dad and Sam got in as well, during which I walked around and read a lot.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Grushka

Ben took this really cute picture of Grushenka today. Thought I'd share. Also, Mandy, we have serious intentions of taking photos of the neighborhood really really soon.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Oh. My. God.

Okay. So, I posted a few hours ago about this video.

Having not read Ben K's or Mandy's blogs.

New theory: We are all filled with Obama-love and are humming at the same frequency.

New question: Does this mean that I'm irrelevant?

Yes We Can



Just in case this anyone has managed to live the last two weeks without seeing this video...here it is!

I love it, even though it is an emotional sucker-punch. Ben pointed out a post on frontal cortex, one of the neuroscience blogs he reads, that mentions the manipulative aspect of this video. The author shared my perspective that even though the music paired with Obama's speech is emotionally manipulative and even though I recognize this fact at the moment I'm being manipulated by it, the emotional reaction raised in us by music is what great speech-writers are trying to evoke with the cadence of their writing anyway, and the video works so well because the music is strengthening this reaction...rather than creating it the way a montage sequence does.


P.S. The Apple commercials for the MacBook Air feature a cute song by Yael Naim, a super-cute Israeli/Frenchie girl, who is also in the Yes We Can video. Ben...any idea what she's saying in this video? Also, it's a little irritating that two of my favorite new artists were introduced to me by Apple commercials.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Happy Super Tuesday! But I didn't vote.

Work was fantastic today. All the customers were happy. I got to wish them a "Happy Super Tuesday", and everywhere I went, EVERYONE was talking about the election. The only people who came in to the shop today without "I just voted" stickers, had clearly just stumbled out of bed and were on their way to the polling station.

Jaime, you would love this town- many people don't get out of bed until noon. This is actually the main reason Brad lives here. Another nice thing about today was that, because I live in Silver Lake, I didn't have to hear any Republican vs. Democrat debate at all. My neighborhood is all blue, baby. It's like heaven. Everyone had an adorable political gleam in their eyes...might it be hope that this day will actually create positive change? The only thing, and I'm ashamed to say it because of a really good article I read about the phobocracy of America, is that I AM a little scared that in November all of this will amount to nothing, and we'll feel disappointed for getting our hopes up. But today, we dare to dream.

On a side note, how rude is it when people ask who you voted for? It was very disconcerting, at work, to have customers asking me this question directly. What if I WERE a republican?!!! Major faux pas, folks. OH, and I didn't vote because I'm voting absentee in Ohio. Partly because of political strategy (which is looking pretty smart now that California was so split and with Ohio coming up so soon -Ben and Julie, could you send me that mail?) and partly in a desperate attempt to establish residency there so that when I go to medical school I hopefully have the option of not paying $60,000 a year. Big shout out to Ben and Julie for assisting me in this effort! Muchos gracias.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Election

I am swayed...

GO OBAMA!

Scripps

Didn't get into Scripps. Screw'em, I say. I guess I'll have to make do at Bennington...