Here’s a bit of perspective on President Obama’s scoffing at DC closing schools for snow. I grew up in Northern Virginia, just outside of McLean. My mom grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, which taught her a bit about snow. She rarely drove in the snow, partly because she didn’t trust the Washington area drivers.
Now I live in Minnesota. You’d think that all of us around here would know how to drive in the snow. In fact, we seem to re-teach ourselves every winter after the first “real” snow falls. The problem in DC is that they don’t get enough snow to really learn how to behave. The get just enough to be dangerous.
And, as a kid I thought it was great to have school canceled because an inch of snow fell.
Here are links to our 2008 photo albums for family and friends. If you click on a photo on an “index” page, you get a large version of that photo. You can browse through the pages by clicking the tiny arrows on the page headers.
I’ve migrated everything else to a “photo gallery” site. Our site uses an open source web server called Gallery2, that stores and organizes our photos. Before this, I relied on the web page-building feature of Apple’s Aperture program. Now I’ve found an Aperture add-on that loads photos directly from Aperture to our Gallery2 web site.
I admit I’ve found politics pretty bland over the past few decades. That changed when Barak Obama stepped up and reminded Americans what a great orator can do to the political landscape.
Kelsey told me to try watching Rachel Maddow even though I don’t generally watch TV news shows or political pundits.
So, in honor of the political season, I tried watching the Rachel Maddow Show. I loved it. It has the perfect blend of sharp intellect, wryness, and respect for facts. I especially liked it when this liberal-leaning show unceremoniously included right wing fixture Pat Buchanan and our own Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty. Maddow treats everyone with respect, but she doesn’t put up with nonsense and she knows how to dig for an answer. Continue reading Rachel Maddow Rules!→
At least one member of the family is uncomfortable endorsing political candidates, especially at the national level. However, the relentlessly negative tone of this year’s campaign demands a response.
A few of years ago, the parents of Kelsey’s high school boy friend invited us to stay in their lakefront cabin in Alaska. We drove through Wasilla on the way. That’s where VP candidate Sarah Palin learned public administration as mayor (a part-time position). That place is tiny. It makes Hastings look huge! Continue reading Wasilla and VP candidate Palin→
Smatters 