one more miracle

I'm quite scared of the prevailing wind in our country at the moment. It can't lead anywhere good, and I honestly don't know what it will take to stop the trend towards catastrophic violence. Just this weekend, the FBI carried out raids practically in my own back yard on a Christian militia group that was selling pipe bombs and plotting to kill law enforcement officers. This is on the front page of NYTimes.com right now.

This NYT Op-Ed has some interesting historical context and commentary on the situation.

"The conjunction of a black president and a female speaker of the House — topped off by a wise Latina on the Supreme Court and a powerful gay Congressional committee chairman — would sow fears of disenfranchisement among a dwindling and threatened minority in the country no matter what policies were in play."

When you put it that way - well, yay for progress, but holy shit am I scared for the backlash.

How is this wonderful man our president? I just read the transcript of his speech at the National Academy of Sciences, didn't even watch the video, and I am in TEARS. He fundamentally understands the importance of science, how crucial it is to the entirety of the human endeavor, and I just want to give him a big hug. It also makes me want to stay in the sciences instead of considering an alternate career! Thank you, President Obama - it feels so good to be respected. It's highly likely that I will personally benefit from the extra NSF funding (or possibly NIH) and it feels like such a good moment to be a scientist. I'm kind of blown away.

One of my favorite parts:

For we must always remember that somewhere in America there's an entrepreneur seeking a loan to start a business that could transform an industry -- but she hasn't secured it yet. There's a researcher with an idea for an experiment that might offer a new cancer treatment -– but he hasn't found the funding yet. There's a child with an inquisitive mind staring up at the night sky. And maybe she has the potential to change our world –- but she doesn't know it yet.

In conclusion, &OBAMA;. ♥____♥

I would like to take a moment please to FANGIRL OUR PRESIDENT.



It's like the West Wing is coming to life! Rahm's little smirk! Obama explaining with his hands! SIGH, YOU GUYS. SIGH.

But even better is the article it comes with: Obama Settles Into a More Informal White House

In the West Wing, Obama is a bit of a wanderer. When Bush wanted to see a member of his staff, the aide was summoned to the Oval Office. But Obama tends to roam the halls; one day last week, he turned up in the office of his press secretary, Robert Gibbs, who was in the unfortunate position of having his feet up on the desk when the boss walked in.

"Wow, Gibbs," the press secretary recalls the president saying. "Just got here and you already have your feet up." Gibbs scrambled to stand up, surprising Obama, who is not yet accustomed to having people rise when he enters a room.

I'm just thinking about Bartlet hanging out in Sam's office, playing chess, and the hearts in my eyes are kind of enormous.

*CHINHANDS*

HAPPY OBAMA DAY!

This is it! It's finally here! Today, a man whom I fully believe in steps into the shoes of the American presidency. He inspires me, and he inspires the whole country, and I am so excited and hopeful.

YES WE CAN HEAL THIS NATION!

Have a wonderful day my loves. ♥

ENORMOUS PET PEEVE ALERT: It appears that EVERY PICSPAM in Merlin fandom is in this format - i.e., screencaps squished down to roughly 300x150 px and put into a single collage image. It's ugly and horrid and completely USELESS. Why has this fandom fallen prey to such a horrible habit?! I fully plan to remedy this with a FULL SIZE massive picspam showing off Merlin and Arthur and Gwen and Morgana and Uther in all of their glory.

/negativity!

I AM HOME! *flops* I was on the road with my little sister for 13 hours yesterday, and got home at midnight. It was pretty exhausting, but not all that awful. My sis is a great road trip partner, especially since we love all the same music. We listened to FOB, MCR, We The Kings, Paramore, The Hush Sound, Panic, Across the Universe, The Used, David Bowie, TAI - basically everything awesome :D And then i slept for 10 hours and now I'm refreshed and relaxed and just CHILLING. It's amazing.

I had SUCH a wonderful time seeing my family. All my little cousins are growing ridiculously fast. Sam, who is 14, is SIX FEET TALL. All my cousins are such darling kids, it was lovely to spend time with them. And Meg (my cousin but also a mom twice over who runs her own small business dyeing yarn) is everything I wish I will be when I grow up. We're so much alike. It's really great to just hang out with her and chat about all kinds of things. And her husband, Jeff, is such a great guy. I was really happy for him because he's lost 100 pounds in the last six months and he looks fantastic.

Now I am just hangin out at home trying to catch up on LJ. A whole week of LJ! *hands* But I can't not TRY, yaknow?

I've gotten through most of the first season of Six Feet Under. It's so GREAT. I love Claire and Nate and David so much <3

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and a great new year! And now here we are, opening the book on the Year of the Obama, and I am very excited and hopeful. It's a huge year of change for me personally as well, what with graduating from college in 5 months, and possibly starting grad school in the fall, or who knows what else. Here's to you, 2009. Please treat us better than your predecessor.

I love you all, and it's good to be back <3