It’s a beautiful day...

Change has come to America! Peace, dignity, integrity... a new beginning.

I'll write some more later; today has been a moment in history. Had calls from the US, friends on Skype and Facebook... it feels like we are unified once again.

Beyond black and white...

Yes We Did! That's what I wrote on my Facebook wall. The elation felt overseas totally resonates with America's heartfelt joy.

I had a comment from my brother (who, it turns out, is a rather right-wing Republican) asking me, "What is this 'we' crap there froggy????" I guess he doesn't realize that A.) I am (still) an American, B.) I (still) vote by absentee ballot, and C.) That vote (still) counts.

I spent this weekend in the company of groups of Americans here in Paris and the keywords mentioned were "hope" and "change". More than one person said they wore an American flag on November 5th, pointing out that they hadn't felt "comfortable" doing that during the past eight years.

I had lunch with Alice and a Japanese friend on November 5th. While getting dressed, I dug out my Swarovski heart-shaped American flag pin and proudly wore it, something I didn't feel I could do for so long! Americans in America may not understand what we expats have been feeling, and it is hard to explain. We are not the "other" Americans. We are, to quote Phyllis Michaux, "The Unknown Ambassadors".

I think the world has high expectations for Mr. Obama. I think he is in for the challenge of this century to turn America around. Saying that, I also feel that his acceptance speech laid down the gauntlet for America to pick up. It reminded me a lot of John F. Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" speech. He spoke of the 106-year-old woman and the changes and progress she saw in her lifetime and tied it in nicely with the question, what will our children witness in their lifetime?

I think of my son. He was three years old when he first sat at a computer. He started with the C:\ prompt to play his games. At 17, he is now light years ahead of me. There are things we can't even imagine that are already on the horizon... I keep singing the Jetson's theme song with some of the projects I am working on now. (I can sync my sneakers to the Nike site to see how many miles I will be walking!... and that makes me feel like Agent 99!)

My point is, it will take more than Obama to make the change. We need to make it with him. We, the people, need to get our hands dirty and dig in. We need to give back. We need to turn it around and we need to do it now. Here's a great video. Alice's daughter (thanks Cat!) posted it on Facebook. Watch it, then share it with your kid. Heck, share it with everyone you know!

The future is now...

Yes We Can!

A friend sent this to me from Times Square. He said, "The environment was electric... The world will change from tomorrow onwards, it will be a better place..."

I got up at 5:30 and turned on CNN. I saw the numbers and then I had the extreme joy to watch President-elect Obama address the crowd. The hope is back. The heavy feeling of the last eight years is lifted.

It is pouring rain in Paris today, but there will be bright smiles everywhere, I'm sure!

Oh happy day!

Hope for Change....

...and pray for peace.

History being made and I hope it will be made in a good way. A screen shot of CNN about a half hour ago. I couldn't help but shed a tear, watching this moment and thinking that tomorrow will bring about a new beginning.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
~ Barack Obama

Herd mentality...

I left this shot in a larger format because I want you to click on it and enjoy the details. It's the screen saver on my second monitor and it takes me back to that day. We were at the baby elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka and it was at the end of bathing time in the river. As you can see, there's always one hold out in every crowd. I like to think that maybe s/he thinks s/he can break free... Why not?

The reason for this photo is exactly what you see... the herd mentality. I was thinking about it today in reference to the campaign and all the mindless polls... let's just vote already! NYT's Gail Collins must have been reading my mind. Check out her column today.

This is just a quick post, knee-deep in a big deadline...

I wonder what an elephant would look like with lipstick??

Oooops, I did it again...

I love French taxi drivers.

Between yesterday and today I have been in 5 cabs, zipping back and forth across Paris. Until I open my mouth, I'm French. Then they ask me where I am from. New York. Then they ask, who am I voting for? They smile when I say Obama.

On my iGoogle home page, I have the NYT feed. One of the headlines today was "Straining to Reach Goal, Obama Presses Donors"... Ever since I donated a few days ago, I have been getting a bunch of emails from the Obama campaign. IMHO... y'all need a good copywriter to punch up the pitch! ---> Moi, (a registered Democrat abroad) didn't realize that Obama had made a decision to bypass public financing for the general election!

For that reason, I whipped out the credit card and made another donation. Check out the Obama website. They even have a $5 button for donations! Isn't that what a latte-choco-moto-whatever-it-is costs at Starbucks? Put YOUR money where your mouth is... and don't forget to register and VOTE!

I'm not that innocent...

We won’t get fooled again...

I'm gonna need a few cases of Alter Ego to get through the next eight weeks.

In order to be bipartisan, I watched the reruns this morning of McCain's speech at the RNC. (No way was I getting up in the middle of the night to see it live!) I noticed, as the cameras panned the audience, that there was something missing. In that sea of American humanity, cowboy hats and red, white and blue buttons aside, it looked pretty pale compared to Obama's crowd. Where's the diversity? Where's the melting pot of America? And I kept hearing the same word over and over... 'fight'. Aren't we tired of fighting??

Speaking of fighting, let's move on to the pitbull in lipstick... While listening to Ms. Palin’s party acceptance speech yesterday, I had to put a finger in my good ear (I’m half deaf) to soften the shrillness of her voice. I kept saying to my son, “She sounds like, like...” and couldn’t remember who... until this afternoon. Think back to 1984 and the movie Splash. You know... Tom Hanks, Darryl Hannah? Here’s a clip from the movie, you’ll have to wait until very close to the end to hear what I mean, but it’s totally worth watching. I especially enjoyed the Crazy Eddie commercial.... IN-SANE!

Here's another little tidbit: Gail Collins' NYT op-ed today mentioned some off-mic chatter made by MSNBC commentators. I'd rate this exchange right up there with Jesse Jackson's recent gaffe. However, it's interesting to get some honest opinions from "the experts".

Now that the conventions are over, it's time for the debates. I hope CNN will give those the same full election coverage we've come to expect for the viewers overseas. I am looking forward to seeing Joe Biden and Sarah Palin face off in the swimsuit competition...

The change, it had to come...

Hot Fun in the Summertime...

This morning, after reading way too many blogs and news articles about McCain's VP choice, I decided to put my money where my mouth is. I made a donation to Obama's campaign.

I was Skyping with a friend in the US and watching CNN International (multi-tasking!) when yesterday's announcement was made... my jaw dropped. I won't tell you which emoticon we both used, but it was immediate and unanimous.

My first thought was, 5 kids? My mom had 5 kids... she barely had time to go to the bathroom and this woman could potentially be "a heartbeat away" from the presidency? Then I found out the youngest was born in April, with Down Syndrome? I'm sorry. My priorities would be with my family. I'm still shaking my head in disbelief. What is he thinking? What is she thinking?

Here's what some other bloggers are thinking... I found a few to share with you. I just needed to have a little chuckle.

From the "Funniest Blog in America" McCain Taps Palin of Alaska After First 37 Choices Turn Him Down:

"I know Vice President isn't a glamorous job," Sen. McCain admitted. "You mostly go to funerals of foreign leaders, unless you're inventing the Internet like Al Gore or running America like Dick Cheney. But the job is frankly what you make of it, and I would have thought I could find someone who had some sort of stature or name recognition or even came from a state where there are more electoral votes than caribou."

A few comments from Jack Cafferty's blog:

KS from KS (August 29th, 2008 3:31 pm ET): She’s gonna whip Biden in the swimsuit competition during the VP debate.

Laura from SF (August 29th, 2008 3:38 pm ET): Grandpa and his Alaskan pistol-packin’ mamma are gonna save the world from terrorists...oh boy!

This comes from Wikipedia*:

"She and her father would sometimes wake at 3 a.m. to hunt moose before school..."

I guess we can all see where that 3 a.m. phone call ad will be going now... [gunshot heard echoing in the background]...

*This just in... Apparently there has been a lot of recent editing to Ms. Palin's Wikipedia entry. Here's a link to her bio prior to the announcement.

From Gail Collins:

"This year, Hillary Clinton took things to a whole new level. She didn’t run for president as a symbol but as the best-prepared candidate in the Democratic pack. Whether you liked her or not, she convinced the nation that women could be qualified to both run the country and be commander in chief. That was an enormous breakthrough, and Palin’s nomination feels, in comparison, like a step back."

From Tim Kaine: Real Time with Bill Maher

And one more: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Those summer days...