thank you w.

"After we watched the 747 formerly known as Air Force One wing into the air and bank right towards Midland, Texas this afternoon, we were struck by just how bizarre it is that a bunch of Democrats who positively hated this man eight years ago were proudly a little teared up to see him off to retirement. That’s a fairly good measure of a man right there, if he can, without knowing or trying, change strong opinions of him in the most unlikely of places. And you can’t get much more unlikely than the lot of us, here in Boystown (Chicago), wishing George W. Bush a heartfelt and gracious goodbye — and thanking him, from the bottom of our big gay hearts, for doing the best he could, every day, for each and every one of us (whether any of us liked or voted for him or not)."

-http://hillbuzz.org/2009/01/20/goodbye-and-thank-you-george-w-bush/

diana style

In very strange ways I am sometimes upset that I missed the days of Jackie Kennedy, Sohpia Loren, or Grace Kelly. When women exemplified what it is to be of substance and true beauty whether they are the grieving widow of our President or being crowned the Princess of Monaco. There was a real pride in femininity, in being subtly sexy, and chic. Those days ended when Madonna forced herself into pop culture and somehow it became more about being current, and less about being timeless. With one exception. Princess Diana.

I was born to a mother that hand on my heart, was in love with Princess Diana. She stayed up to watch the wedding, she was coincidentally pregnant with Ross the same time Diana was pregnant with William. She HATED Princess Charles and "that ugly Camilla." I remember going to visit my grandparents and half way through the 3 hour car ride Eileen telling Ross to "step on it" so she wouldn't miss the now infamous BBC interview with Martin Bashiir. I think what made Diana so captivating was her ability to relate to women. My mom was born in New Mexico, in 1949, a world away from Diana. And yet there was a common link. They were flawed, yet strong. Silly, yet refined. Diana was truly admirable, and someone who left this world a bit better when she left.

While I admire her for wearing a short black dress as a giant "F-You" to Charles right after the divorce, and her spread in Vanity Fair is to this day, one of my absolute favorites, I was struck at an early age with her humanitarian efforts. When I asked my mom why Prince Charles didn't like Diana volunteering she said "It's because a lot of people refuse to see beyond themselves." And it was then that I vowed to never be a person that can be said about.

adam and eve

I went through a stage where I was convinced that being a female in a male's world is in a word: unfair. I read tons of books that examined why men have always been considered the "superior" gender, how our present day gender roles were created, and how women have generally been screwed in the land of the free, and home of the brave. Reading for months about this topic turned Anna Lewis into one extremely bitter feminist. But I snapped out of it, because I am blessed to have three incredibly strong relationships with my Dad and brothers. I have never been made to feel inferior or been encouraged less to do something because I am a girl. And now I can say that I happily live with a guy who is a daily reminder of everything that is wonderful about men. They are able to lift extremely heavy furniture, figure out how to build the sometimes complicated items from IKEA, and they provide an enormous amount of heat in the winter to snuggle up next to. But there are still a few things I am really really confused about:

1. Why do you have to spit? I have been walking down the sidewalk, driving a car, standing outside a bar, and heard that GOD AWFUL hawking noise and I know what's coming. It's a big ol' wad of your bile and I don't get it. I have seen maybe 2 women in my life spit, and their names were Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain after they won the World Cup. What is going on in the guts of males that the majority of them "have" to spit in public? It's disgusting, it's repulsive, and I've never heard anyone say "OMG! Did you see that guy who just hawked a giant loogie? He is so hot."

2. Adjust yourselves in the bathroom. You don't see me leaning over in public because my girls are not comfortable in my bra so do it behind closed doors.

3. The argument of "Who is better at sports? Men or women?" I have never heard a woman bring up this subject and yet countless guys feel the need to remind us, that women do not play football and the WNBA is kind of a joke. Hey guess what?! WE CREATE A HUMAN LIFE INSIDE OUR BODIES. An actual human lives inside of us for 9 months and then we have to rely on nothing more than our bodies to push it out. WE DON'T CARE IF YOU CAN DRIBBLE A BIG ORANGE BALL BETTER THAN WE CAN.

never again

a few months ago i signed up for project 2,996. instead of focusing on the monsters that orchestrated the attacks, the goal is to remember the souls that lost their lives that day. i was randomly assigned a name: mrs. dianne snyder.

a quick google search left me with tears streaming down my face. dianne married her high school sweetheart, and had two children, a son and a daughter. she loved to play tennis, garden, and bake cookies. she lived in massachusetts. she was a flight attendant for 19 years. and on september 11th, 2001 she was on flight 11 when it crashed into the north tower of the world trade center.

8 years ago today, my high school principal announced that two planes had flown into the world trade center and another crashed into the pentagon. over an hour later, flight 93 headed towards my beloved washington, d.c. would crash into shanksville, pa. my immediate thoughts went to those on the planes, as my mother has been an employee of united airlines for over 30 years. my stomach sank as i tried to remember if my mom had a flight scheduled for that afternoon, and didn't calm down until i heard her voice telling me "they've grounded all planes. i'm home."

and so my heart truly goes out to the snyder family, i can't imagine what this day means to you. but i honor your wife, your mother, your sister, your aunt, your daughter and the bravery i am sure she showed as the tragic events of that day unfolded.

we will never forget.

talk to the hand.

"you lie."

& i think that's all i have to say about obamacare.

george w. obama

"President Obama has irked close allies in Congress by declaring he has the right to ignore legislation on constitutional grounds after having criticized George W. Bush for doing the same." - associated press


"It's extremely disappointing," said Anne Weismann, the group's chief counsel. Obama is relying on a legal argument that "continues one of the bad, anti-transparency, pro-secrecy approaches that the Bush administration had taken. And it seems completely at odds with the president's commitment . . . to bring a new level of transparency to his government." - la times

During the previous administration, all of us were critical of (Bush's) assertion that he could pick and choose which aspects of congressional statutes he was required to enforce," the Democrats wrote in their letter to Obama. "We were therefore chagrined to see you appear to express a similar attitude.

2009 is soooooo the new 2000.

ahh sank ya feds!

i'm very excited to get my tax return in a few weeks and the reason why is because i'm incredibly materialistic. kidding. but i do get to break away from pinching pennies and treat myself with some much deserved "yay i survived 2 winters in chicago" shopping.

1. tickets to germany (btw, still no idea if i'm flying out of o'hare or dulles.)
2. longchamp le pliage messenger bag in brown (i have a vice, and it is longchamp bags)
3. navy tory burch flats (i think k&co will celebrate this purchase more than myself)
4. blackberry! finalllllly



and if you are judging me, look at yourself. after all, i'm the one helping the economy!

gotcha!

candidate obama said he would pull the troops out in 16 months and president obama realizes he had no idea what he was talking about so "i promise to withdraw troops with in 16 months of my presidency" translates into 19 months or maybe even 23 months.

i "promise" this won't turn into my own personal soapbox. i just wanted to document on the world wide web that amature hour starts...NOW!

"The Obama campaign, which relied heavily on new technology and appeals to younger voters, had more in common with the marketing of a celebrity than a presidential candidate. The posters, the logos, the messaging, even the carefully scripted (in a visual sense) public appearances were all part of a carefully managed plan to excite the public in ways that are new to presidential politics. But there is a downside to all this, which the Obama White House has been quick to figure out: the level of excitement the campaign generated is not, in a word, sustainable."-Peter Roff

YES WE CAN!

if you know me at all you know how extremely emotional i have been the past few days. i was just so excited, i literally had butterflies in my stomach all week. i couldn't believe that the countdown was almost over. greatness had arrived. some of my biggest questions would be answered, my fears put to rest. my life had been on hold for months, and now, now i could start living again.



and plus, now that obama is in office apparently we won't have to pay for anything anymore. gimme dat piece of the pie.