You know what, Mr. President? You are my friend! And I think we look pretty good up there!

Adam and I were two of over 26,500 people at the Obama-Feingold-Barrett rally on Library Mall yesterday. I showed up at 3:30, when the gates opened, and walked to the end of the line… six blocks away. We only got as close as the bottom of Bascom Hill. I left about five minutes before the rally ended, knowing I had a half-hour walk ahead of me and only 15 minutes of light and spied Obama through a fence from University Avenue. He was a brownish spec wearing a white shirt, basically, and was distinguished only by the fact that he was gesturing more broadly than the Secret Service would allow anyone else in the audience to do!

Feingold's appearance was a pleasant surprise. He mentioned some billboards here that feature Feingold and Obama's faces ("Feingold and Friend") and Russ said, "You know what, Mr. President? You are my friend! And I think we look pretty good up there!"

I think so, too.

Sarah wants to share a milkshake with a Ron Johnson or Scott Walker campaign staff member...

I was supposed to start volunteering at Russ Feingold's office today, but I'm still way too sick and on top of that, I don't want to get any hard-working Democrat sick... maybe I should visit Ron Johnson's campaign HQ instead, where I can sneeze on a staffer. Maybe Scott Walker would even shake my hand...

New digs.

We just moved in yesterday (as in, moved the furniture yesterday - thanks, Adam - and spent our first night here) and it already looks and feels even more like home than the last place... it's really wonderful.




Living room – still under construction… we’re going to IKEA this weekend or next for a bookshelf, sofa and coffee table.


Bernd’s new pride and joy, a 42” LCD TV. You can also see my desk in the next room and our bicycles in the hallway.


We each bought a Philip Singer print at the Art Fair on the Square. This is the one I purchased :-)


Kitschy $1 Eiffel Tower vase from St. Vinny’s down the street, and drum from East Africa.


Walk through the living room to the dining room…




My desk! I love my whale mug from Goodwill. The fan was a favor from a friend’s wedding last spring.


Turn sideways into Bernd’s office/man cave.






Go back through the dining room into the walk-through pantry.








I guess I only took two shots in the kitchen…






Cross the hallway into the bathroom.








And then there’s the bedroom, where we’ve really only assembled the bed!


I do love my Ugly doll, though. He looks so terrorized tucked into bed.

Nonetheless.

I read something of absolute beauty today, a rarity.

What can a simple man do in front of a huge fire?

He could run away, leaving to their fate the others who cannot flee or have nowhere to go. He could also stand and whine, sit and level accusations. Or he could fill the teaspoon in his hand with water, time and time again, and pour it on the flames...

The teaspoon in the simple man's hands is very small and the fire is very big. Nonetheless.

-- from The Order of the Teaspoon by Amos Oz; Yedioth Ahronoth, 18 April 2002.

On the plus side, the next week-and-a-half means
- Madison World Music Festival (!!!!)
- Willy Street Fair (!!!)
- Obama on the UW-Madison campus (!!!!)
- Wicked (!!!!)

and

- moving into our apartment tomorrow, finally!

and

- my old boss is willing to send me out to work for the State of Wisconsin as soon as a position opens up!




On the downside, Bernd and I are both super sick, and our apartment still looks more like a battlefield than a habitable space...

Warn me that you'll steal my heart next time.

We survived! We got back super late last night (1:30 or so) and only stayed awake by blasting really terrible pop music that we would find odious and intolerable in any other state.

I only have one picture, which Bernd uploaded to the Internet on the fourth day of our trip. Here I am at Black Canyon of the Gunnison!



Awesome! That was, admittedly, not on a trail, but the caged viewing area was so boring and I only stepped on rocks - not plant life or soil - to reach my preferred vantage point. And there were no small children watching who could be influenced by my bad behavior, although Bernd plunged eagerly after me as soon as he lowered his camera...