Labor Day Political Roundup

Wow, this sure is an interesting time in politics, eh? Forget the "October surprise" - lately it's all about "August craziness." My gut reactions to all of the drama:

Larry Craig
I have mixed feelings about this one. I am a bit sickened by the "gay witch hunt" undercurrent in all of the media frenzy, and it disgusts me to hear all that "morality as code word" conservative social rhetoric. Ick. But, at the same time, it's very sad to see a man having to struggle publicly with defending his personal choices and orientation... especially when it looks like he's denying it all. And the poor wife - I hate that those political wives just have to stand there and smile and be supportive. Just once I'd love to see a scorned wife really have at 'em and leave the guy in the dust.

So what to make of the GOP's "conservative values" platform now? Let us not forget that the last three DC sex scandals were all Republicans. My hope is that the American public is waking up and smelling the hypocrisy - a "moral values" crusade is totally subjective, and if these guys aren't willing to try and hold themselves to a "higher standard," then I hope people keep poking holes in the platform. It's not just Bush who has the power to alienate the GOP base.

The TV talkers are now reporting that Craig is going to resign tomorrow. It's pretty amazing to watch a career be destroyed in just 5 days - and pretty scary.

The one good thing this story has given us? Without this scandal, we never would have known that the people of Idaho elected as their governor a man named Butch Otter.

Resignations
Na-nah-nah-nah, na-nah-nah-nah, hey hey hey, goodbye....

So, Congress and the DOJ are still going after Gonzales? I guess he doesn't get to ride quietly into the sunset until people learn what he knew when. There have been lots of news trucks parked at 10th and Pennsylvania this week. It's pretty sad when, at least according to media reports, even most of the career lawyers at Justice had lost faith in the AG. Sounds like this resignation is exactly what needed to happen, and the Dem Congress will continue to find ways to use him as a punching bag for the Administration.

Karl Rove? Buh-bye. Nothing more to say about that.... except it will be fun to see if he still gets subpoenaed.

Tony Snow? I actually feel sad for him. He looks pretty bad, and you don't want to see anyone suffering from illness...even a conservative blowhard. I wish him and his family well.

If a lame duck administration quacks, will anyone hear it?

Warner Retires
I had no idea he was 80 years old! John Warner looks good. I guess dating Liz Taylor will do that to you.

The WaPo had an article today speculating about what his retirement would mean, and it sounds like that open Senate seat is much better news for the Democrats than the GOP. Sure, there are a lot of 2nd-tier VA Republicans who will probably jump at this opportunity, especially since the former heir apparent Allen is out of the picture. But my guess now is that this seat could very easily go from one Warner to another.

So, is this the reason Mark Warner bowed out of the Presidential race? Did he know this was coming? From what I know, he is a great campaigner and has found a lot of support throughout VA that Democrats didn't typically bend from the GOP. The man's got a shot, which means VA could have TWO Democratic Senators. Wheeee!

One personal note - I saw Warner's gubernatorial campaign manager, Steve Jarding, speak in a forum after the 2004 election. I thought he was a great speaker, and he had shared his contact info - so I wrote him an email thanking him for his remarks and asking his advice for keeping our generation inspired and involved in politics. You know what? He wrote me back! A short but nice message about keeping the flame alive. I was tres impressed.

Looking ahead...
If all of this can happen before Labor Day, what oh what is in store for us this fall? Well, those darn primaries are going to be on top of us before we know it, so I think there will lots of political news and hype to go around.

August Doldrums

Do you ever want to hop a plane and head to an island somewhere, and just leave it all behind?

That's the way I'm feeling. Exhausted, weary, stressed, worn down - with an end in sight, but it's about a month away. Blah.

I can't get enough sleep, and I know that's the biggest part of the problem. The last 2 nights I've gone to bed before 9:30! But still I'm like the walking dead.... thank goodness for Starbucks. Even though a tall skim chai is still 5 points.

At least Netflix is keeping me entertained. If you haven't checked out Dexter, Showtime's awesome series starring Michael C. Hall as a noble serial killer, RENT IT NOW!

Okay, that's enough blah for now..... but if you readers have any advice on muddling through, or even any good jokes, I'd love to hear it!

Who's Ready to Cha-Cha?

Soon we will find out who will be the next Apolo Anton Ono or Drew Lachey. Or, better yet, who will be the next Master P? ABC has announced the line-up for the 5th Season of Dancing with the Stars. Who will be strutting their stuff across the boards this fall?

• Melanie "Mel B" Brown, 32, Spice Girls ("Scary Spice") singer (pro partner: Maksim Chmerkovskiy);
• Sabrina Bryan, 22, actress/singer (The Cheetah Girls) (pro partner: Mark Ballas);
• Helio Castroneves, 32, racecar driver (pro partner: Julianne Hough);
• Mark Cuban, 48, businessman (owner of NBA's Dallas Mavericks) (pro partner: Kym Johnson);
• Jennie Garth, 35, actress (Beverly Hills, 90210) (pro partner: Derek Hough, older brother of Julianne Hough);
• Josie Maran, 29, supermodel (pro partner Alec Mazo);
• Cameron Mathison, 38, actor (All My Children) (pro partner: Edyta Sliwinska;
• Floyd Mayweather, Jr., 30, boxer (pro partner: Karina Smirnoff);
• Wayne Newton, 65, singer (pro partner: Cheryl Burke);
• Marie Osmond, 47, singer/doll designer (pro partner: Jonathan Roberts);
• Albert Reed, 22, supermodel (pro partner: Anna Trebunskaya; and
• Jane Seymour, 56, actress (pro partner: Tony Dovolani).

My initial reactions?
Wow, I've never heard of half of these people!
Cheryl Burke is partnered with Wayne Newton, I bet she's pissed. That girl likes to win.
I'm rooting for Mel B cuz I want to see Maks last 'til the finals.
Marie Osmond is a doll designer now?
And... go Jennie Garth! I'm picking you as my favorite before the season even begins!

So, my faithful readers, your reactions?

The 'Burgh in Black & White

Something about this historic old industrial town just lends itself so well to the richness and texture of black & white. Enjoy.

My Election Choices

Another quiet Saturday, another online "who should I vote for?" quiz.

My Election Choices lets you take a bit of a blind survey trying to match your own views to actual, uncredited statements made by the main Presidential candidates. You get to choose which issues are most important to you - they recommend you start with 1-2, but I chose 10 - and then read lists of public statements people have made on the issues and pick which most closely pick your own thoughts. There's a lot of nuance, as sometimes you have to try and read behind the statements to see what larger dogma may be at work, but it was a pretty interesting exercise.

Here's how I came out:

1. Tied - Chris Dodd and John Edwards
2. Tied - Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton
3. Tied - Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, and Bill Richardson
4. Barack Obama (my lowest Democrat)

5. John McCain
6. Tied - Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo
7. All tied at lowest - Sam Brownback, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Fred Thompson

The bloom is off the John Edwards rose for me lately, but I'm not surprised he still came out at the top as far as issues... but Chris Dodd is a surprise. I think I should do a little more reading up on the Senator from Connecticut. Joe Biden is pretty refreshing, in that I think he just says whatever the heck he thinks and doesn't try spinning, but I don't see him as lining up for anything other than a Cabinet position. And there's Hillary, just about where I thought she would be.

Say It Ain't So!

I went to the doctor's yesterday for my annual (um, every 4 years?) physical. It was a lot of the usual... family history changes, blood work, ears and eyes and ahhhhhhh.

Apparently, booster shots don't end when you're a little kid -- she made me get a tetanus shot. Ouch! I'm totally fine with needles and the shot didn't bother me - but the side effects suck. Last night I had a massive headache and sore neck and shoulders, with a fever and chills, and I fell into bed before 8 pm. And today? Yeah, sore arm city with a big red angry bump on my arm.

But that's not the worst of it!

I know that I'm a short person, but I have always worn my five feet and two inches with pride. However, yesterday, when I was measured by the nurse - with my shoes on - I was.... five feet and one and three-quarters inches tall!

What? Was her measurement wrong? Am I shrinking in my old age? Or have I been deluding myself about being in the five-two club for my whole adult life???

Restaurant Week

I thought I was going to be DENIED by Restaurant Week this time around, because both of my attempts - lunch at Ten Penh and dinner at Equinox - got nixed by being fully-booked. Alas... I was saddened.... until a spur-of-the-moment lunch opportunity turned up. A business contact of mine invited me to join her at 701 Restaurant for lunch yesterday, and somehow she finagled a reservation. Hooray!

Now, I actually do eat at 701 fairly often - it's our go-to place for business lunches - but I usually stick to the salads. So this was a great opportunity to try something new! And one thing I like about 701 is that they do change their menu fairly often so there are always surprises.

I'm trying to eat healthier these days, so I thought I might have some challenges with the 3-course menu, but I'm really happy with my choices:

• All 3 of their appetizers sounded fantastic, and I was really tempted by an heirloom tomato / mozzarella / basil salad, but instead I went for something new - a chilled melon and tomato soup with lump crabmeat. This was really good. I didn't taste the melon exactly, but I think it gave a little earthy sweetness to the overall flavor of the soup, which was a perfect start on a hot, sticky DC day.


• The entree choices included bbq ribs, which my companion got and boy did they smell good. They also had a grilled chicken, which I thought about, but instead I went for the cod cake. This was really delicious! It was very simple, a single cake presented with a little vegetable garnish with something resembling a sweet balsamic sauce drizzled on the side. It was really tasty and I felt good about eating it.


• Finally - the temptation of dessert being included! All of the choices sounded fantastic - including key lime pie! - but I ordered the trio of sorbets. The presentation was great! The 3 flavors were molded into a tri-colored sorbet tower! This was light and refreshing, and I didn't feel like I was losing out at all by not getting one of the more decadent choices.

This was a great dining experience, and what I think I liked most about it was that I tried entirely new things at a place that I usually think of more in terms of "work" than "adventure." Hooray!

I do have to make a slightly snooty comment, though... because as someone who goes to 701 I did notice a significant difference in the Restaurant Week clientele. It is normally a jacket-and-tie place, and I would never consider going there for a professional meeting in casual clothes. But wow - RW brings everybody in! I saw people in cutoff cargo shorts and flip-flops, and young intern-aged women wearing short summer skirts and halter tops. I wonder what the staff thinks of this! Sure, RW is a great way to introduce new people to some of our fancier restaurants, but I bet they're all really glad when it's over!

My Path to Enlightenment

Every year, my mom and I take some trip together to somewhere new in the US, where we do all the typical cultural tourist stuff - seeing museums, taking walking or boat tours, trying restaurants, etc. This year, our trip (hiking in Maine) had to be cancelled due to family medical stuff, which has had me pretty bummed out.

But, earlier this week Mom called me with an offer I couldn't refuse... she asked if I wanted to come visit them in Bloomington for an extra week this fall and join her in taking classes.

What are the classes? Three days of spiritual teaching from the Dalai Lama!

His Holiness visits Bloomington each year, as he has family living in the area and there is actually a pretty large Tibetan community.

I'm really looking forward to this. I don't know a lot about Buddhism, but I've always wanted to learn more so this will be a great opportunity. It has been a long time since I've explored the more philosophical side of life - I was a religion major, once upon a time - and it feels like this is a pretty good time to do it. Plus, I'll get an extra added visit in with my parents, which as I'm learning becomes more and more valuable as we all get older.

So now I'm counting down the days to this fall!

Eight-Eight

Today is a very special day!

Not only is it my parents' 37th anniversary - congrats! - but, it also is the TEN YEAR anniversary of when a certain furry little someone first came home!!!!

And life has never been the same since. Three cheers - or meows - for trusty cat Cleo!

Brazilian Flavor Just a Few Blocks Away

I recently had the opportunity to try out a neighborhood restaurant that I have walked by many times over the years, and I'm so glad I finally stepped in the door! The Grill from Ipanema did not disappoint.

I was there as part of a very large group, and the staff was very accommodating. While I was not drinking that night, the other gals all sampled different Brazilian cocktails at the recommendation of our server, and there were lots of oohs, ahhs, and giggles as the evening wore on. So I think those drinks were a success!

I began with an appetizer special, lump crabmeat on grilled portobello mushroom caps. This was HUGE - two entire mushroom caps loaded high with the tasty, savory crab mixture. The crab was cooked with some combination of tomatoes and peppers and really rich spices. While it was a bit salty, I didn't want to stop tasting those flavors! Since I had that huge starter, I went with just a salad with grilled chicken for my entree. Well, the portion parade continued, because I got the biggest salad I've possibly ever seen. It was gorgeous, with huge junks of chicken, avocado, tomato, hearts of palm, and oranges, and had a really yummy honey mustard-style dressing. I think I worked on this salad for about 20 minutes and barely made a dent in it, it was that big. I would guess in the future it could even be shared among 2 people, and then you can experiment with appetizers or soups.

The other ladies at the table sampled a variety of menu items, including chicken, shrimp, steak, and salmon dishes, all of which came with a combo of sides including rice, veggies, and black beans. Everyone kept remarking on how pretty the meals were - everything was really fresh, and the colors on the plate were bright and appealing. I saw several other plates that I would love to try!

The menu also includes several hearty-looking meat stews that sound like they would be perfect for chilly fall or winter evenings, so I will definitely keep that in mind as the seasons change.

All of us thoroughly enjoyed this dining adventure right here in Adams Morgan, and I can't wait to make a return trip!

If Wishes Were Horses

I had a dream last night that Dick Cheney resigned.

It was so realistic! It happened pretty much the way it probably would in reality (fingers crossed).... I was at work, running to and from a lot of meetings like usual...and I happened to stop by my desk for a little while to check my email. I saw a NYTimes breaking news alert come through to my Gmail account, followed by a CNN alert soon after (I always laugh to see which one beats the other to the bunch). There was much jumping and laughing in my office, and then I called my Mom to see if she'd heard the news. She hadn't, so I got to be the one to tell her. Since there were still meetings going on, I had to be sorta quiet on the phone and keep my celebrations subdued, but I could barely contain my glee. Then Mom and I started having a discussion about the line of succession and how it would work to pick a new VP, and she was telling me what she remembered of when Agnew left and Nixon had to choose Ford. (Yes, I'm a bit of a history dork.) So we were speculating about who Bush might choose as his new VP, all the while some of my friends at work were huddled around in the celebration saying "Voldemort's dead! Voldemort's dead!"

And then I woke up.

Damn, I almost believed it.