Friday, February 29, 2008

With a Little Help from My Friends: Hillary TX Adventure

I rarely consider myself someone who would be called "adventurous" though over the past few years I have arguably done things that one with a sense of adventure may do when displaying that sense. Tonight I completed one of two legs that make up my flight to Houston, TX where I will for the next 4 days take part in the campaign and caucus election process as only Texas would do it as a "HillSTAR" or Hillary Clinton supporter. People are traveling from all over the US to show their support for the Clinton campaign and in a move that I would have never anticipated just two weeks ago, I am among them.

I know that all readers are not Clinton supporters but hopefully you accept my position and know what this means to me.

The Texas caucuses are held after polls close and 35% of the delegates' votes are determined at these caucuses so the system in Texas is quite different from any other states'.

A very generous woman who I met at a fundraiser (which I attended because of a very generous friend) offered me the opportunity to fly to Houston at her expense so I surveyed my silly finances and decided that I could pay for the hotel and car rental and off to TX I go.

The trip has been interesting so far as it comes on the heels of a very trying week. Nothing happened to me personally but my events of the week added an unexpected gravity to this week that made me unsure I even wanted to take the trip at all. I have a renewed energy and am thankful now that I am going to be part of this history-making campaign and that I am doing something that these next few days I am participating in something that is truly important to me.

the short flight to Phoenix was colored by a conversation with a political zealot and a more moderate New Zealand transplant (Kiwi--I love that term). I'm sure the debate was not the last I'll engage in over the next few days but I was thankful that the flight was only 40 minutes long. The zealot, if that isn't too harsh, presented his opinions as fact but all in all it made for an interesting conversation. As total coincidence, he tried to punctuate some point by saying "Well, my girlfriend has MS and..." "I do as well," I replied and that changed the tone of things a bit and we had a good thought brief talk about that as well. I was able to reassure him with the latest stats on research and that was a cool way to end things.

I haven't written this much in a long time and I hope this weekend provides me with more motivation to keep writing.

March 4 is coming up quickly and this should be a good one! Go Hillary!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Clinton for President

It's been a while. Blame Valentine's Day. No, I wasn't overwhelmed by some romance and unable to pull myself away from a lover. I was working. You can imagine how many flowers I saw go out the door. Incredible!

I digress. This was a great moment from tonight's debate that it would be best not to miss.



I never got to vote for a Clinton because of my age. It was an honor on February 5th. That day was so extraordinary no matter who you voted for. It was historic and this is an exciting time to be an American. We are catching up with the rest of the world and considering more than one candidate (the white man--nothing against McCain who is a good man). The diversity alone brings about a sense of change that will hopefully survive through November and on to the Presidential Inauguration.

I met a hero of mine this past Tuesday. His name is President William Jefferson Clinton. I think that meeting will one day be talked about as a defining moment. We said nothing of import to each other, personally, but it was was a moment I never imagined would happen. I'll tell you more later.