Yes, We Can

“Now is not the time for small plans.”

Not to go all TV news anchor on you, but I got goosebumps watching Obama’s acceptance speech at the DNC tonight. (And yes, I was a little teary when he talked about Dr. King at the end.) Obama was strong, he was fierce, he had an urgency to his message that was so powerful. Yes, he’s charismatic, but it’s really not about personal charm so much as personal conviction. Watching him, I really do believe that he believes in his message of change. I am ready to be hopeful, ready to be inspired. I am ready for a political discourse about compassion and optimism, instead of the many years of war and fear-mongering that we have lived through.

Jason is the political prognosticator in this relationship, so I don’t have any brilliant analyses to share. I just have my overwhelming hope that change will come. Some of my favorite segments of his talk:

That's the promise of America – the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper. That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now.
* * *
America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.
* * *
America, our work will not be easy...What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose – our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have to restore. But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about ME. It's been about YOU.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past...You have shown what history teaches us – that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes TO Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it – because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

An oldie but goodie:


A fairly ridiculous (but mildly amusing) anti-McCain parody: "No, You Cant."

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Your Hair is Your Head Suit

It's been over a year since I tortured us all by turning pictures of myself into monkeys and sketchy men, so I was primed and ready for some photoshoppin' fun over at Yearbook Yourself. And my friends, the pictures did not disappoint. A few of my favorites:

Boogie WonderLiz

Madame Lizbrarian

"Nobody Puts Lizzie in a Corner!"

More fun with head suits after the jump.

This journey begins in the good old days of yesteryear, when men were men and girls were all aging matrons. Remember ladies, never leave home without your finger waves and a shirt with a hideous collar.



The 1970's brought the women's lib movement. Important gains were made, including the rights to equal employment, salary, and feathered hair. The oppressive male patriarchy (and common sense) said "No no," but drunk hairstylists said "Yes yes!"

The following picture gets included because I think I'm rocking a variation of this style today.


See for yourself...maybe I should reconsider my 'do.
Ah, the AquaNet 80's. Were there any heights of hair stupidity that could not be scaled with a can of industrial-strength hairspray and a ratting comb? As a child I really, really wanted my hair to look like this.

I also dreamt of color-coordinated bright pink leggings and plastic earring combinations, though, so I was perhaps not the arbiter of good fashion sense I fancied myself back then.


Fortunately things calmed down in the late 1990's, but not soon enough to prevent an explosion of truly unfortunate bangs. I spent way too many years with my hair styled into limp, unattractive forehead noodles because I thought my forehead was too big to go uncovered. I have never felt more liberated than when I finally decided to grow them out--at age twenty. Twenty! That's two decades of blissful bangs-free existence I could have been living!

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Be Afraid

Scary things abound in our apartment as of late:

Relentlessly aggressive pigeons, who won't rest until they claw their way through our nets and onto our balcony. We have been living in a Hitchcockian nightmare the past few weeks.
Our neighbor's demented scarecrow, designed (we assume) to scare away said pigeons. This thing greets us whenever we walk outside.
My new love, spinach smoothies. They aren't really scary, but they do bear an unfortunate resemblance to swamp water. And really, they're delicious! Just close your eyes and chug...

Honorable mention goes to the book I'm reading, Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Oprah was not lying, this book is intense. I thought No Country For Old Men was fierce, but this one is even worse. (Meaning better.) I recommend it only to the stouthearted.

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