Snow Day!

Warnie and Boo,

You know, this doesn't happen to most adults. But I'm reveling in my snow day, brought on by a nasty little nor'easter. Well, not so little. The state basically told everyone to stay home, and the university canceled all classes. It reminds me of the time Warnie and I got caught in Harrisonburg, somewhat. A strange stolen space where none of the silly requirements of day to day life matter anymore, simply because the weather has trumped it all.

Of course, the basic requirements still exist: food, warmth, etc. and hopefully the storm won't knock out power or cause too much destruction up and down the coast. Right now it's the best Valentine's day present I could get.

Anyway, I actually wanted to post a bit about going to see Barack Obama on Monday night. We went to the fieldhouse, which was a strange venue for the town hall meeting, but packed, which was good. The College Democrats President and Vice took it upon themselves to introduce the Senator, which was AMAZINGLY BAD. If Bozek and I had gone up there and talked about our days, and then said, "Oh yeah, Sen. Obama is here" the crowd would have been more jazzed. But despite that, he still managed to get the people going. Including the people with the stadium style signs behind him that said Go Barack! if they got their act together and did it in sequence. Through much of the talk, they said "O Arack!" which I thought was kind of funny.

I think, and I mean this in a positive way, I've lost my ability to be awed by political pageantry. That's not to say that I've lost my ability to be inspired, or even moved. I just no longer buy into much of the theater of it. Who claps when, how big the American flag is, blah blah blah. Maybe it was just the format, but I felt like it was much more like a press conference. I got some answers I wanted, some I wasn't so sure of, and generally got to weigh the issues in my own mind. I think some of the people missed that part of it, by getting caught up in the other part of it.

But in the end, I was pleased. I'm not sure he's the guy for the presidency--he didn't drip charisma as much in this forum as I would have wanted. That being said, I think anyone who doesn't put him in as a running mate would be foolish, and I think his ideas were actually very good. He spoke in specifics and in terms of current legislation, which was a nice change. Even if he remains in the Senate, I think Barack Obama is doing good things for the country. I'll have to see the rest of the field before I make my final decision on who I support for president, but if he ends up being the guy, then I could vote for him without hesitation.

Ok, off to the old typewriter. Maybe I'll get a poem out of the snow.

Happy Valentine's day to you both.

Jack