kamalagarwal
Cheers episode count for Wednesday evening: just five! That's about 100 minutes. It might have been six episodes, but the wifi connection through Apple TV kept crapping out and it was very annoying. Finally I did screen mirroring and played it from my iPad, and even that started to have technical glitches.
Before that, I actually watched one of Shobhit's news magazine shows with interest. Rachel Maddow interviewed Senator Kamala Harris, who is running for president officially now -- Shobhit is already throwing his weight behind her; he even sent $10 to her campaign a few days ago. (Shobhit noted she raised $1.5 million within the first day after her initial announcement.) I'm considering making a contribution myself. I was very impressed with her and found her incredibly personable and accessible -- these should not be vital things, but in the internet age, they are. Fair or not, Hillary Clinton had so much baggage and so much battering from opponents over decades that every single move, every single word out of her mouth, was quite clearly politically calculated. It was impossible for her to come across as genuine much of the time. Kamala Harris clearly does not have this problem.
Her extremely limited experience in the U.S. Senate will indeed be a challenge for her -- I think Shobhit is right that, had Hillary won, she would have been able to find common ground with Congresspeople she's had years-long relationships with, even Republicans. This will not be something Harris can do, just as it wasn't really something Obama could do. I do have somewhat of a counterpoint on this, though: Congress is undergoing a lot of turnover these days, so that may not be as vital as it once was. And, Harris's extensive background in both city and state government as well as law enforcement will be a huge benefit to her. The real question will be whether she can handle President Fuckwit with as much finesse as, say, Nancy Pelosi.
I'm not sure it matters who it is, I kind of dread the idea of more presidential "debates" with that vile excuse for a human being. Maybe the Democratic candidate should simply refuse to do it. That's not likely, but the man is a fucking creep, can always be relied on to be a fucking creep, and why should anyone be obligated to subject themselves to a fucking creep?
I just got back from lunch with Karen at Six-Seven at the Edgewater Hotel. Last time we had lunch, we talked about the possibility that we'd have to find a temporarily different spot to meet for these lunches during the "Seattle Squeeze" if traffic was too terrible while Highway 99 was closed through downtown. But, Seattle seems to have really done well at getting people to prepare and make alternate plans, because there has yet to be any particular "carpocalypse." In fact, in certain areas the traffic is notably better -- one of those areas being right by my office. So, Karen declared this morning that sticking with the Edgewater should be fine.
It actually took me a little while before realizing how very much I had to update Karen on: when we last met for lunch, it was merely Thursday afternoon of the tequila saga that lasted fully Monday through Friday the week of January 6-11: I had to tell her about buying the bottle of my own at Total Wine & More that Thursday evening, and then exchanging bottles with Erin the Broker the next morning on Friday.
And! I told her about exciting things coming up: Shobhit is poised to book his trip to India within the next couple of days; I intend to have at least Ivan and Jennifer visit on separate weekends while he's gone (a tentative plan has already been made with Ivan for February 20-23; I still need to bring it up to Jennifer, which I will do once I know Shobhit's travel dates); Shobhit plans to return with his mother for her first visit since she stayed with us for seven weeks in the spring of 2008, and he plans to have her here for three or four months. I'm actually hoping three at most, because I'd much rather have her out of our hair by the time our anniversary comes around June 14, the very day after which is Britni and David's wedding.
Also, and this is unusual, but since the check was brought to us not split, Karen insisted on just buying my lunch today. I'm the one always arguing that these things aren't a contest, but I should still keep this in mind and buy the lunch myself sometime in the future.
I guess I should get back to work now.
[posted 1:27 pm]