love song

It's hard not to fall in love with Boulder on days like today.

Sixty degrees means finally going outside without a jacket. It means people riding their bikes, walking everywhere. Boys and girls holding hands. Soccer games and frisbees. And wearing shoes with no socks.

After months of air dry and heavy with nothing but snow and cold, finally, today, a waft of milkweed, my favorite Boulder scent. It's always reminded me of my mother.

The sky is, as usual, an incredible shade of blue. The warmth of the day contradicts the snow-flecked ever-present hills. The windows are open, and there's not a drop of snow on the ground.

I ride the bus and sense the energy of excitement, of potential, that everyone must be feeling.

I do research for my classes and discover that despite the horrors of the world, despite poverty and factory farms and violence, there are people doing amazing things. Teaching children how to plant gardens, get their hands dirty, live from the land. People learning, traveling, sharing. And people rallying around their candidates, putting more time and energy into democracy than we ever thought possible.

It's about to be spring. Isn't it time we used this newfound energy to do something?

On days like today, it's hard not to fall in love with life.

lobster fest 08

Yeah, it's been awhile. But that's because nothing terribly exciting has happened recently. Until last night.

That's right, it's Lobster Fest at Red Lobster, and boy, did we celebrate those lobsters.

I know what you're thinking. Tplate, aren't you a vegetarian? Well, yes, but once in awhile I'll indulge in a little shellfish. Nevermind that these bottom feeders have twice the cholesterol of red meat, and that there was an actual tank of live lobsters as we walked into the restaurant, one of which inevitably ended up on our plate of Lobster Lover's Dream. (At least it's fresh, right?)

The good thing about lobster is that you can pull the edible part out of the shell fairly easily (none of those "bones" to get in the way, one of the reasons I can't deal with meat) and then dip it in melted butter. I mean, come on.

We went with our friends, one of whom received a Red Lobster gift card for Christmas, and had been literally holding onto it until Lobster Fest came around. So we happily donned our plastic bibs, munched on those delicious herb cheese biscuits, and ate our fill of crustacean delicacies.

Afterward we went and saw U2 in 3D, which I would highly recommend if it's playing in your area. I was a tad disappointed with the fact that Bono did not once point his crotch at the camera, but he did reach out to touch us at least once (with his hand). The 3D thing was great (made possible, in part, by RL's company) and made you feel like a really tall person wandering around the crowd and the stage. I got all inspired by the music, then started daydreaming about Bono running for president. Would The Edge would be his running mate? Would they run under those names? The Edge is actually named Dave. Bono is named Paul. Borrrring. They could be like the first rock n' roll leaders of the free world. The Bono/Edge ticket. Yeah.

I wonder if Bono and/or The Edge have ever been to Lobster Fest? I think they, like us, might do it just for the kitsch factor.

whose rhetoric is this?

Reading a NY Times article this morning about yesterday's caucuses, I was amused by the language the Republicans are using about this election. Also kind of frightened. I know I am firmly entrenched on the other side of things, but my candidate just isn't talking like this.

On his win in Kansas: "Mr. Huckabee declared that the voters had been heard from. “They spoke with one voice,” he said. “They said I am the authentic conservative in this race.”

I honestly can't believe people fight over who's more conservative, who's more authentic. Have you been with us for the past eight years? That's not going to win this race, not in this America. The people he's speaking to are an ever-diminishing group. Do they not realize this? Why not expand your horizons a little? Open up to new possibilities?

Mr. Huckabee compared himself to Ronald Reagan when he challenged President Gerald Ford for the 1976 nomination. “He was the pariah of the party,” he said. “Now people love Ronald Reagan.”

I'm sorry, but I don't know anyone who loves Ronald Reagan.

Then, his opponent:

A spokesperson from McCain's camp said: “Our focus remains the same: uniting the Republican Party to defeat Democrats in 2008.”

Way to go! It's all about defeating the enemy! Unite to defeat! Who cares about the real issues at stake? We just want to make sure we win! Indeed, I have lost much respect for McCain in the last few weeks, as he has basked in his wins and lost sight of anything that matters. (And by the way, did anyone see his 96-year-old mother on stage with him the other night? Apparently she takes her fashion cues from Barbara Bush. Hey, it worked for George W., right?)

Finally, let's look at this very apropos picture of Mr. Obama, which topped the NY Times story. I don't know if they were trying to make a statement or what, but he seems to be sitting in the center of those two background colors quite nicely.

why i'm annoyed today

I had a nice, relaxing yet productive weekend, and even enjoyed some time out with the girls on Saturday night. The Superbowl was even fun!

But now it's Monday, and the crap has set in. I've got a story deadline for school tomorrow night, so this morning I got up and got to it. I had done all I could before the weekend (because honestly, when you're calling professional sources, they're not going to talk to you on the weekend. No one bothered to remind my professor of this, however, when she gave us this ridiculous deadline.). I was feeling good before class today because I had found a perfect source and emailed and called him. I really thought it was going to be one of those days where everything worked out perfectly.

Turns out, I was wrong. Not only am I getting sick (throat yuckiness), but I missed the bus to school by about one minute this morning, and the next one was late. That equalled me standing in the snow, feeling sick, wasting time that I should have been spending on this article.

Finally got to class, heard another two journalism professionals tell us just how hard (and poorly compensated) this job is. Great! Class let out early, so I went to my internship and worked for a couple of hours on the article (which is also for the internship. Shh.).

Was actually feeling like I had made some progress, interviewed a woman, got some other good contacts....then I realized that because of the stupid PC I work on there, the changes I had made had somehow not saved. I've done this before on this computer, so I should know that when you download something from an email and don't save it right away on your desktop, it disappears. Ludicrous!! I did all this work, hit save, and then couldn't find the document for the life of me. Called IT who was no help, and then just frantically tried to remember the quotes this woman had just given me.

When I had done all I could do, I left for the day, not even helped by the piece of toffee my nice co-worker shared. I walked out of the office and could see the bus waiting, but knew that there was no way I was running on the snowy sidewalks with a sore throat. So I managed to miss that bus by about one minute too. Then I'm standing waiting for the next one, and some crazy man (maybe not crazy, maybe just Tourrette's) walks up and starts yelling nonsense at everyone.

Then I started thinking, if I had Tourrette's and couldn't control what I say, wouldn't I try to tell people? Would I wear a sign? Something like, "Please ignore my offensive rantings, I really can't help it"? Just a thought.

The biggest bummer is that tonight is supposed to be Date Night for RL and I, and the dumping snow and throat yuckiness are making me think that's just not going to happen.

At least there's Tuesday...right?