Obama’s speech on race
OK – I finally got to listen to the whole thing in its entirety. I have never heard a better speech from a politician in my lifetime, or one more appropriate to our time. Please don’t limit yourself to what you’ve heard on the news – go listen to it. It is now the most downloaded ever video on YouTube. It is 37 minutes long – and he wrote the entire thing himself.
You can find it here. Go listen, for the future of the country. We need this type of honesty, intelligence, personal fearlessness, and character in office.
Here’s another video from Portland that’s pretty interesting – it’s Obama’s comments on getting endorsed by Bill Richardson. Listening to what Obama says about Gov. Richardson, I wonder if we’re seeing a possible vice-presidential candidate… He’d be a very good one, far better than most people had any idea of during the election.
Vignettes from a new life
So today, I am really, truly moved to Olympia. Even if it’s to a temporary furnished apartment with the rest of my belongings crammed into every square inch of a 10×20 storage unit :) Our first few days here (this being myself and my cat, Sophie), we’ve been a little off-kilter, not sleeping well, jumpy at all the new noises. The heaters turn on at random times, and every time they do, I can still feel Sophie start next to me. There’s a little neurotic dog who will get used to us and bark less eventually. Other than that, the apartment and the property are pretty much perfect.
I haven’t had a second to relax, really, between getting back from Mexico and packing the house, getting the utilities and mail transferred, moving, trying to work, etc. I think the day and night that I can finally relax I will start to feel at home here. Sophie was feeling better yesterday after she got to stretch out on the ledge in the sun and explore the front porch a little. She is no longer meowing loudly and plaintively at me, like “when are we going HOME??”
The famed Olympia Farmer’s Market is opening in two weeks, and I can’t wait. It’s open Th – Sun, so I should be able to go every week and get fresh and locally-produced food. Yay!
Seen today on a bumper sticker: “B.A.D.D. Bicyclists Against Dumb Drivers” :P Very Olympia.
Yesterday was like a mini-amalgamation of all the different things I am trying to do with my work life, with five different income streams converging. First, I spent the morning in conference calls on environmental consulting issues. Then, I had a noon training session on the new technology for InstantAssist, an online conflict counseling start-up I am involved with (more on that in a later blog). I managed to fit in some quick editing that I do freelance on Guru.com, and then it was off to meet a new mediation client and introduce them to the process they will be going through as they mediate their separation and parenting plan. Finally, I did a tarot reading :)
All paid except the InstantAssist training, which is still in start-up mode. I had some issues with my headset that I hopefully solved tonight (by buying a better one… for $29.99). It’s interesting to look at the breakdown of income for the day:
Environmental consulting $240
Editing $60
InstantAssist -$30
Mediation $250
Tarot $35
Of course, the rest of this week I’ve hardly had time to work. But all in all, it seemed like an interesting and worthwhile day. Mexico was also interesting from the standpoint of my eventual hoped-for lifestyle. I worked about 3 hours a day, slept a LOT to the sound of soothing waves, read books, talked and played games with my family, walked, and just generally had a very nice and relaxing time. And still made enough money to support myself, especially in the local economy. So I came back feeling like my plans are not entirely ridiculous.
And tomorrow I am going out to look at houses that have been on my “to-see” list for a while, but which I’ve been too busy to visit. On the week-end I may fit in a little relaxation :)
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