Missing pieces

I started making jewelry back in the day when I had a lot of time on my hands, waiting on teenaged daughters to get home from dates. Couldn't sleep anyway, so why not make something. Crocheting and knitting was out -- yarn makes me itch. Tried painting, I don't have enough perspective so everything looks flat. Id' already torn my house apart and renovated it, so nothing new there. Woodworking was out -- way too much dust.

I've always been keenly aware of jewelry that women wear. While my tastes tend to be conservative, I love the bling. So I started making jewelry. Every time I traveled, I would try to find bead shops. People would ask me to make their wedding jewelry, and excitedly, I would. Over the years, I've bought tools and beads galore and made jewelry. People would buy what I made, what I didn't sell, I'd stick in a drawer, and sooner or later someone would need a quick gift, and viola! Perfect.

This has been going on for a few years, until about a year ago I found myself buying more and more crystals, beads, and components, always meaning to design something new. Invariably, I would get started on a design and discover, dang it, that I didn't have the right size something, so back to ETSY or Fusionbead or wherever to get what I need, get inspired by something, and buy even more to make, and the cycle would start all over.

Well, recently, I figured I definitely didn't need to buy anything else until 1) I beefed up my inventory and 2) sold something. In one of those many trips to Fusionbead, I saw a pair of earrings that I thought would be perfect for my girlfriends who ride Harleys, either riding it themselves or on the back of their SO. Much to my surprise, everyone loved them! GREAT! Except... yep, didn't have enough components. So back I went...

The earrings are great, but they're kinda simple to make. They are expensive because of the components and crystals, but they don't take much talent to put them together if you have all the right tools. So I started yearning for some custom work, to work on a new design.

One day, while selling those expensive earrings to a young cousin for her biker mom, she lamented she couldn't afford my jewelry because it was expensive. Now don't get all pissy with me, I did give her the F&F discount on her Mom's earrings, but even so, they are expensive for a young woman to buy in multiples. So I mentioned the reason they were expensive: they were either sterling silver or pewter, neither of which are cheap right now, and throw in the crystals, and they end up being pretty expensive when you add in labor and shipping. So I offered to make her some non-sterling silver/pewter earrings.

So excitedly, I started going through my inventory of beads and components and developed a design that I think she will like. I started threading crystals onto headpins and starting the loops, and when I had just about finished wrapping about 20 crystals, thought "let me put this together to see if it looks good!" So I start stringing the wrapped headpins onto the chandelier and found... DANG IT! The headpins were too thick to put more than 1 crystal per loop. No, no, no! My design calls for lots of dangly crystals! Then I remembered some of those headpins were much easier to bend than others, and discover... there were thin 1" headpins mixed in with thicker ones... and the thinner ones work in multiples in the loops... but I only have 4 thin headpins... sigh.

I guess I'm going to Hobby Lobby tomorrow. Ashley's earrings will languish yet another day.

Raised Confused

To me, as whatever I am — I was raised by a fundamentalist Pentacostal mother and an agnostic father, so if asked what faith I was raised in, I just say “confused” — COEXIST is exactly what I believe in.

To me, if you believe in a higher power, whom I call God, if you strive to follow his tenets (or doctrines, although to me, that has a negative tone), if you believe in and try to act as Christ did (or Buddha or Mohammad or whomever), if you discard the stuff that man put into HIS words (women are to submit and not lead in the church for our bible, and kill the infidels if they don’t convert in the Koran), all of whom say, at their basic level — love one another and spread the good news by your actions and love, then who am I to say that your faith is wrong?

It is my basic problem with fundamentalists in both Christianity and Muslim faith. Why is it all or nothing? Even Christ said to follow the prophets’ teachings, even when he said to follow him, that he was the truth and the light.

Sometimes I feel cursed by my upbringing. Sometimes I wish I could just blindly follow the protestant faith, but I get hung up on that this is the only way to go, and that all others are doomed to the alternative to heaven.

My God is an awesome, loving God. That I know. I believe that Jesus Christ is my lord and savior, he is the son of God, and that he was crucified for my sins, and raised from the dead. I try mightily to follow his teachings, to do what Jesus would do. This I know in my heart to be the truth and the light, the path I am to follow.

But do I disagree with some of the Buddhist tenets? No, in fact, I find the Dalai Lama to be a wise man, and although I disagree with his pacifist view, I find his teachings to be enlightened… but I am not a Buddhist.

I know a lot of Muslims who do not believe that I’m an infidel and that I need to be beheaded. I have had interesting (although at times tense) conversations with them about world affairs. Once they realize I’m not going to turn them in as a Muslim radical or try to convert them to Christianity, we have very interesting conversations about our faith… but I’m not interested in converting to Islam.

I also have friends who are Hindu, and we have interesting discussions, too, although I get confused about all the different gods, customs, and tenets they have. But then again, I get confused with all the saints and customs of the Catholic, too — especially when they start talking about the stations of the rosary… wha?!?

The only ones I have disagreements with are atheists, but maybe it's because the ones I've met seem so angry that others have faith. But maybe that is only the people I know, maybe others are okay with OPF (other people's faith - LOL). In my darkest times, when I thought God had abandoned me, I flirted with atheism, but luckily, I was covered by God's grace, and came to understand that while I was searching in the wilderness, he was there, watching my back. He never left me, I just was looking in the wrong places.

But I digress… look, if Billy Graham met with the leaders of the world’s religions, then I think we should. If Jesus Christ, at a tender age, went among the Jewish rabbis to discuss the Bible, and he diverted from that to build Christianity, then why should we dismiss others’ prophets and beliefs that diverted from ours (specifically Islam, which diverted AT ABRAHAM!!!)?

But do I believe all these people, these friends, are going to hell if they do not convert to Christianity? No, I do not. This is where I divert and everyone wants to label me as a Universalist or Humanist… but I’m not that either.

What I believe is that my God, who I worship and adore, in his grace, looks at people of faith in this fashion: do you believe in me, no matter what my name is? Do you live your life as I have taught you, no matter what name you give my son(s)? Does your love shine through to people you meet everyday? Do you do the good works I tell you to do?

Then I love you, no matter what your religion is, and I have a place for you in my kingdom.

So, yes, I want the COEXIST sticker on my bumper (actually, I hate bumper stickers, but I keep searching for the COEXIST cling for my window... sorry, digressing again). I love them all, I will do my good works to whomever without whether they belong to my faith or not, and I hope, by God’s love shining through me, that they become interested in my faith. But if not, then it is in God’s hands — not mine. Coexist. I will not wreck a crusade upon you to convert you to my faith. I will not harm you or your family by disparaging YOUR faith to convert you forcefully to MY faith.

Coexist, and may God bless you and keep you.

illegal aliens and cryin' indians

So, my daughter posted a cartoon up on her Facebook today that made me react to it in a couple of ways. It's funny how you will react to a cartoon. It is important to gauge your initial reaction, because that is what the political cartoonist is trying to do, evoke a reaction. My initial reaction was, Ha -- he should have made the American Indian the "Crying Indian" from the '70's Ad Council commercials. Here's one of the best ones, but they all end in the Amerind crying.



Beyond your initial gut reaction, try to see if there is anything else going on. Look at the cartoon again... there was this deep tickle in my brain. Why did I think I had heard this before? I knew that there was an immigration bill being worked on, but the gut reaction (as lampooned in the carton) was that the Tea Party was viscerally against the bill. One of my uncles sent an email that basically said the same thing as the guy in the cartoon. Being one of a few middle-of-the-roaders in our vast family, I get a lot of emails from both sides. And phone calls. My Dad, God love him, is pestering me to watch Glenn Beck. I just tell him I don't want the brain aneurysm that will come within 15 minutes of watching Glenn OR Keith Olbermann. I grow tired of reading that this is a "Socialist Regime" and that this President doesn't know how to govern because he was just a "community organizer" in the "Chicago Mafiaoso." At least once a week, I get at least one forwarded email sent from at least 3 uncles. I finally sent a message to a dearly loved (even though I disagree with him) uncle saying I was done, because it took me more time to research the truth than reading his emails. Of course, the email I sent was debunking another one of the forwarded (thrice) emails, and I got no response back. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

ANYWAY, back to the political cartoon. So when I saw the cartoon, I was still processing an earlier fwd'd email. So my secondary reaction to the cartoon was I think they "doth protest too much, methinks" (to use Shakespeare's line). Or was it that someone had said something about pardoning illegals during my daily read through blogs? So I researched it (duh). Go ahead, google "Immigration Reform and Control Act" -- I'll spare you all the time I was researching this so that you can cut to the chase. This bill, signed into law in 1986 by... RONALD REAGAN. In this law, which gave us the lovely I-9 that every new employee must have 2 sets of ID to prove that they are a legal US citizen, it also pardoned any illegal aliens that had lived continuously in the United States since 1/1/82. Let me repeat: the Demigod Republican President Reagan pardoned * illegal aliens* that had worked continuously in the US since 1/1/82. I don't think you'll hear that on Fox News.

Of course, there was a process that had to be undertaken to allow the illegals to become registered legal immigrants. As this 2006 article for the Washington Post by the original authors of the bill, describes it as a 3 legged stool that never could stand on it's third leg: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401179.html. Of course, they were talking about a bill that was still in the works in 2006, and it never made it to Dubya to sign.... OH, that's right: another Republican President tried to guide another immigration bill through. Again I save you the research (but you can always google "George W. Bush +immigration), and send you to http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2742643820070629.

So obviously, the paradox of again folks beating down a bill before it even gets a chance to get to signature obviously makes the conservatives happy. So again, we sit here 24 years later, with no true immigration bill that makes anyone happy. And we need one. So where do I stand on illegal immigrants? I don't think it is fair for us to ration out immigration to the rest of the world while our southern neighbors send workers over our porous borders.

Shocked? Well, wait for it... back in 1994, my now ex-husband had a landscaping business. He watched other landscaping businesses beat his bids on new lawns while their trucks drove by with a passel of Mexicans in the back. One of his builders told him, when he asked how is it that they could bid so low, "you need to get you some Mexicans." My ex was a pretty good joe, even if we did end up divorced, and we talked about what to do over and over again. The problem was we couldn't get good employees to do the menial work of throwing sod and sifting pine bales. It's hard, dirty work and you really have to enjoy making a mud pit beautiful. Very few self-respecting white or black men wanted the jobs. We paid for ad after ad in the AJC and local papers. We visited labor pools. If we got someone to work, most likely they were passed out after lunch or begging to be let go. So, one day, when my ex had won a bid, he discovered that he had no workers to install the lawn and bushes. So he approached a builder who had Mexicans framing up a house and asked if he knew of any Mexicans looking for work. He was provided with a phone number of a Mexican who spoke English pretty well, and the next day, two earnest young men was dropped off a pickup truck at the job site. Miguel and his cousin Manuel worked circles around my ex and his one hired hand (a project manager). My ex tried to do the right thing by asking for SSN and driver licenses, but nobody seemed to understand what he needed. When he explained it to his contact, then we were given a SSN and a drivers license with one of the guys' names on it. Didn't quite look like Miguel in the picture, but we had what we needed to pay SSN and payroll taxes. Manuel we let go because he couldn't provide the information. Somewhere a Mexican legal immigrant has a SSN account that is probably bulging. One day, the INS showed up on the job site and took our Mexican away, along with dozens of others. Mexicans were scarce after that, and we went back to newspaper ads and labor pools, but my ex's business never recovered. His business went bankrupt, he had to let go his one project manager, and he went back to work.

So... what do you think? There are hundreds, if not thousands, of American companies who knowingly employ illegal aliens because they can provide a SSN and Drivers License that are not legitimate. The 1986 law did not have the clause that put verification onto the shoulders of the company employing the aliens (which is why we didn't have to verify that the SSN and DL was legit, nor did anyone else). The problem is not the illegal immigrants. It is that there is a source of labor jobs that no American seems to want to do: dangerous, filthy, dirty jobs that most white and black people do not want to do, and these wretched heaving masses of humanity would give up their life for a chance to do it.

If the current immigration bill would have the teeth that caused companies to have to actually verify the employ-ability of a candidate before the first pay check is issued, this would be a short discussion. Verifying could be as simple as a photo being taken of the SSN holder, with pertinent data like sex, age, and last known city/state, that an employer (or more likely a contractor) could query the SSN and up pops the pertinent data and picture. Easily verifiable. Heck, use the customer service/contact center software that is already out there -- this is do-able, use the technology that large firms already use to identify their customers. Just use it for the federal government agencies that employers have to deal with anyway.

We will never solve the problem of illegal aliens unless we go after the companies that use them, or we come up with a way to make it easier for the companies to hire their allotment of temporary workers, and ship them back when they are done... unless there is another company who can't find workers to do the dirty, dangerous jobs. I think any bonafide company who can show the feds that they have tried to fill their positions with verifiable Americans should be allowed to hire temporary immigrant workers. All they have to do is show that they have tried and failed for a period of time.

Some will scream that it still doesn't fix the problem of the illegals flooding over the border. No, but it sure cuts down on the open spigot of jobs that they fill.

An interesting discussion with a college student regarding healthcare

B is a friend of the family who I've known for about 4 years now. He is an intelligent young man, and I enjoy discussing current events with him. Below is a discussion regarding healthcare that spilled over from a facebook post talking about the people I knew that didn't have healthcare and were sick and scared. Maybe you will find it interesting, too...

Everything fronted by a S: is in my humble opinion, based on the research cited below and personal beliefs. I in no way consider myself a PoliSci expert!

S: You know, I really appreciate you talking with me like this. It is refreshing not to get bashed for being more liberal -- thank you. Dad would enjoy discussing politics with you, although he is pretty far right and likes to "argue" versus debate. OK, let me respond point-by-point:

B: You say that it makes no sense to you that we are the only industrialized country without univeral healthcare. Here are some reasons why it makes sense to me-

S: I’ve done some more researching since we talked, and have found that actually, we’re not the only industrialized country – we have company – Turkey, India and Mexico don’t have universal coverage. Of the technical industrialized nations, we’re the only one. See http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/15/howard-dean/dean-says-us-only-democracy-without-universal-heal/.

B: 1. I can't think of one U.S. government agency that runs effectively and efficiently. I have little hope that the government can also take on 20% of our economy and not turn it into a money black hole.

S: I understand your concern, but there are some federal agencies that DO work that I have personal experience with: The US Forest Service, which is a self-sufficient agency due to their parks and foresting trees to sell. The Corps of Engineers is semi-self-efficient in that they also manage parks and their dams generate energy they sell, but what they "do" (creating watersheds, developing dams, etc.) are generally for the public good. They were slammed regarding Katrina, but as Dad noted, they had presented plans to Congress to fix the problem, but neither Congress nor the State of Louisiana funded the plan. I know that when I worked for them, there were many plans to fix problems that were not funded, so I’m not surprised that some of their areas were shown not effective in the ExpectMore.org site http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/index.html.

Having said that, I don’t agree that 80% of the agencies are effective. I don’t buy that an agency is effective as long as they are “adequate.” I think, as the website’s URL states, we should expect more. A grade of C may be adequate, but if someone is spending my money, I want to see something better than a C grade. The vast amount of agencies, though, are not working, but if you study why it is because they are not fully funded. For instance, the USDA, which governs our food supply, doesn't have enough funding for the inspectors that we need. Self-governance by corporations is laughable and dangerous.

The Corps of Engineers can’t forestall the disaster they foresee unless they get funding to stop it.There actually have been some statistical surveys done that rate how the federal employee feels whether their agency is effective. I have found in my 35 years of working that the employees’ attitudes about their employer pretty much reflect how well the company/agency is run. Unless they are all idiots like utility employees (monopolies breed stagnant employees, I found).

In any case, this link discusses the OMB’s survey and ranking by agency: http://www.themonkeycage.org/2009/03/post_177.html/ One thing the government has done VERY well is their own federal health insurance plans. I was wrong when I said that the judicial, legislative, and executive branches didn't pay for their own insurance -- they do, as federal employees, have the same options (and payments) as the rest of the federal employees. Dad clued me in on that, and Politifact does the research: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/aug/11/barack-obama/obama-gets-right-federal-health-care-benefits/

B: 2. Competition brings ingenuity, lower prices, and more effective care. The system we have now simply is not competitive which is why costs are so high. If we create a public option where we have a program that can continually lose billions of dollars though government spending how will other health care companies compete?

S: The current insurance companies have become cartels that restrict the number of companies and benefits (similar to Oil cartels that set production limits to keep supply and demand pretty equal). They are directly against anything that will reduce or dilute their monopoly. Their lobbyists are strong and influential. Look at who are backing the senators on our healthcare reform committee. Corruption is rampant. If you look at a "public option" such as what Switzerland and the Netherland has, whereby private insurance companies provide a menu of options to the public -- which are required to pick one and pay (sometimes subsidized for the poor), I think you will see something similiar (maybe?) to what you are talking about? See http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/09/matt-miller/analyst-says-netherlands-switzerland-achieve-unive//. I like politifact for obvious reasons -- it helps me to understand what is true and what is bull. Also, on the competition angle, see http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/may/19/mitch-mcconnell/some-private-health-insurance-can-surviv/.

B: 3. It is human nature that if something is free your going to use it more than if you had to give up something to get it. People are not going to curb their doctor visits in healthcare is free. When I go the doctor now I am already waiting around 45 minutes to an hour to see the doctor. If we add in another 50 million people what will the lines be like? There are only so many doctors, surgeons, and nurses out there.

S: I see the logic behind your argument, but there are vast -- VAST -- numbers of Americans who cannot afford insurance OR healthcare (latest number I saw was 46 MILLION Americans without coverage). They wait until it is too late to seek help, and many times it is too late to fix a problem that could have been easily caught and resolved. If there is more demand for doctors, and the tort reforms on malpractice is actually approved into law, then there will be more people going into medical school, so the "law" of supply and demand will come into effect, because it will become a better paying job due to the supply of patients being there to support the doctor's salaries... at least that's my argument.

B: 4. Nationalizing healthcare will compromise patient confidentiality. This isn't a huge deal to me personally but I do find it a noteworthy consequence.

S: Hmmm... you might want to check those HIPAA laws and procedures. They won't go away. Will there be more access to patient records? Yes. Under the current plan, the e-tizing of our health system will occur, and information will be available to be transferred from one medical professional to another. Doctors’ offices, labs, and Insurance carriers would have to agree to standards so that the databases could be easily linked, apples to apples. I think that's a good thing.

When I was so sick in 2001-2004, I ended up having to carry my medical records around with me – literally, a file, a hard copy -- to ensure that all the specialists who were treating me could see all the test results and other Dr’s guesses to what was wrong with me. It was a nightmare trying to give them access by signing and waiting for the other doctor to send to the new doctor. Especially if you were leaving their practice! The doctors could remove any record that he felt could be used against him – even if it went doctor to doctor and not via hard copy by me.

Under the plan, HIPAA laws will still enforce the confidentiality of patient records, but will allow patients access to those records and patients can sign so that another professional can access. Easier than getting copies from one doctor to another, believe me.

B: 5. You cannot sue the federal government. No one can be held responsible if mistakes are made. There will be no legal liability.

S: I think this argument is based on the government actually hiring the medical professionals as employees, yes? That is not part of the plan that I can find so far, so if there is malpractice by a medical professional, the professional, not the government, are still liable (with exceptions of tort law).

B: These are just a few reasons why I'm against it. There are alternatives to this plan some things I have read are
-Allowing families and businesses to buy insurance across state lines to increase competition.
-Creating laws which protect people from being denied coverage based on a pre-existing condition
-Creating group plan choices to work together to get a group rate.
-Passing laws that end frivolous law suits that drive up costs.

S: As far as your alternatives, they actually sound like the Obama plan: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/mar/05/tom-coburn/obama-health-plan-does-not-include-government-run-/.

The only problem with passing tort laws to limit frivolous lawsuits, I think the term frivolous may be in the eye of the beholder. I know that J should have sued her Plastic Surgeon for the botched job he did with her reconstruction after the double mastectomy and radiation treatments she had. Basically, she is nothing but inflexible, painful scar tissue from her armpits to her new belly button. But, due to the tort laws we have here in GA, no lawyer will touch her. Because it was “reconstructive” and done by a Plastic Surgeon, no one will take on the case of it being malpractice. Even though she will probably be on massive amounts of pain killers for the rest of her life and spent over 6 months with open, oozing sores from MRSA while the plastic surgeon stonewalled her about pain and the wounds. He finally did go back in and try to fix the issues, but nothing can be done (at least according to him). No other plastic surgeon will consult with her because of the botched job – they don’t want to fix what he messed up, because in doing so, it would infer he messed up. Sad.

B:Healthcare costs are spiraling out of control. One thing I wish I could get accross to people is that the government relies on the people, not the other way around. Obama says this program will not increase deficit spending. This is technically true because our current system is costing 5% more every year and he compares his plan to projections that assume we do nothing about the current problem.

S: Hot off the press: healthcare bill ESTIMATED to be $829 billion: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33214558/ns/politics-health_care_reform/

B: We cannot just keep printing money. If we continue down this path of trillions in deficit spending it will devalue the dollar to the point where it is worth virtually nothing. We cannot continue borrowing forever. Think about the long term consequences of printing all of this money. What are we going to do when we RUN OUT of money? It's not too far away if we continue to spend like this.

S:I don’t disagree with any of your statements in the last two paragraphs. It’s funny, I’ve spent most of the day (in between work) to research and respond to your questions. It was just (at 6:00 pm) that the Baucus Bill is ready to be voted on. Since the process of bringing a bill to the President for signature is onerous, it makes me wonder if we’ll see anything before the end of year break.

There’s a cool interactive graphic on msnbc.com that shows where we are and what is left to do:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32634644/ns/health-health_care

Finally, on the gold standard, your gold link. Here’s the thing with gold – every recession we have that causes the dollar to drop, everybody starts toting the gold standard. Google “which countries use gold as their standard?“, and you will see thousands of links (along with the one below) that talk about the highs and lows of gold standards. It is literally used as a weapon at times, to force a country's currency into the gutter. News releases like the one that you linked causes gold to go up on the world market, and suddenly we have folks (who have been speculating in gold) pouring gold into the market, causing the price to go down. Unfortunately, a lot of folks think this is the time to buy gold, and they will soon find their hard earned dollars go bye-bye until the next time a press release like this gets into the mainstream media.

Interestingly, when I researched this, it stated that all countries listed in the press release have stated they did NOT release that information and had no plans. Of course, it could all be propaganda, but I don’t want to delusion you on that score.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard

Again, thanks for the discussion. It is really refreshing, and I hope to see your counterpoints!

Compassionate Fiscal Conservative is not an Oxymoron

Everyone who knows me, knows I have voted democratic for most of my adult life, even though I am registered Republican. At 18, you tend to align with your parents; mine are Republican. The last Republican I voted for was Ronald Reagan. I have voted either independent or democratic overwhelmingly since 1980, although my ballot is a hodgepodge of parties. I either vote my conscience or, in disgust, vote the incumbents out by voting for fresh blood. Dad always said, if the country needed to go in a different direction, "Vote the b@stards out." He just meant vote the democratic incumbents out. LOL.

Whenever my Dad hears that I'm not voting in lockstep with him (e.g., Republican), he always says, "But you are a fiscal conservative!" This, finally, helps me answer that question of why, as a fiscal conservative, I vote overwhelmingly democratic. Because 1) the democrats tend to leave us with a much more balanced budget (and usually surpluses, as in the case of Clinton), and 2) they are much more compassionate than the Republicans. So, Dad, I guess I am a Compassionate Fiscal Conservative and because the Republicans can't seem to be able to tolerate such a creature, it is time for me to change my political registration to Democrat. Finally.

Andrew Sullivan over at the Daily Dish (one of my coffee break regular reads) hits the nail on the head here: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/09/the-gop-vs-fiscal-conservatism.html

How well do you know your husband?

Here's a chance to see how well you really know your husband. Cut, paste and fill in the answers, then forward . . . shoot, you know what to do. The real challenge is to send it to your husband to see how right you really are.

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? Military or Game channel

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ranch, and a ton of it.

3. What's one food he doesn't like? tomatoes or onions, it's a toss up.

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order? Sweet tea.

5. Where did he go to high school? Morrow

6. What size shoe does he wear? 14

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Guns (he's a hunter)

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Tuna

9. What would this person eat every day if he could? Hot dogs

10. What is his favorite cereal? Lucky Charms

11. What would he never wear? Loafers

12. What is his favorite sports team? Georgia Bulldogs

13. Who did he vote for? McCain (we were a house divided)

14. Who is his best friend? Me

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Crunch on ice (terrible habit!)

16. What is his heritage? native born Atlantan (rather rare, we're mostly transplants), then Scots-Irish.

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? Red Velvet

18. Did he play sports in high school? Nope

19. What could he spend hours doing? sitting at his computer, playing WoW or some other computer game

20. What is one unique talent he has? ... his strength? The man is built like an ox. He's also a pretty decent bowler.

Dear President Obama:

You have run an almost impeccable campaign. The only thing I would have done different (as IF I would ever have the intestinal fortitude to run for public office!) would be that when you heard of some dirt on McCain that wasn't true, especially if you found out that one of your supporters was spreading it, you would publicly denounce it AND put it on your website.

That's about it. I have loved how your campaign kept the news going out in text messages, emails, blogging, pictures, etc. I especially LOVE the flickr account that has been set up in your name that has the personal photos of election night (you can see here at the Obama account on Flickr). The picture of you and Michelle on the couch and your feet are up so that your shoes being worn down can be seen. Between the shot and the pensiveness of your face, it makes it my favorite; but all of them are wonderful. I sincerely hope that you can continue to use all these channels to keep talking to the American people as you lead our country back to dignity. Somewhere I read someone suggesting that you survey and poll the american people when major policy decisions have to be made. What a thought -- somewhere the American people can go to let you know what we think of your policies. It is almost mind boggling. Of course, you have been elected our president, and we trust you to rule fairly and abide by the constitution, but it's just the thought that ordinary people could go somewhere and tell you what they think... it's just mind boggling.

I think the thing I love the most about the pictures on Flickr is the comments from around the world, talking to you as if you actually read the comments. Part of me hopes that someone tells you or Michelle about it, so you can see the comments from ordinary people from literally around the world.

Every time I see a shot of you, Michelle, and your children, it just warms my heart and I automatically pray for you all. That's something, coming from me, who rarely prays. But I do pray for you, and our country. God bless the USA and God bless the Obama family!

If you haven't seen the videos of the will.i.am songs, you MUST go watch and listen:

Yes We Can
We are the Ones

Yes.We.Can!!!