Bartlett for President?

Kathleen-
I got to work Monday, and my students told me that Martin Sheen (aka Jed Bartlett, my favorite president ever), was visiting campus Tuesday.

So I arranged for my lunch break to fall during his visit, and heard an impassioned Mr. Sheen talk though a power outage (which meant no microphones, he just projected). He was funny, smart, and compassionate, and even though it was Martin Sheen, and not Jed Bartlett talking, I couldn't help but think of how much hope and eloquence I found in the West Wing when it was on tv.

Here are the best of my pictures from the event (you can tell which Senate candidate he's campaigning for by the backdrop).



Given the election, I suspect there'll be more political posts from me in the next few weeks, and I think anyone who knows me can guess that I'll be voting for Obama...but I still sometimes wish that someday I'll walk into the voting booth, and see Jed Bartlett's name on my ballot.

I'm a Bad Blogger

Kathleen-
Ugh, apparently this wasn't my best summer/early fall for blogging. Summer busyness combined with an early start to the school year here, the RNC, and Fall travel season have completely killed my will to blog. But today, I want to blog, so we'll go with it!

Since my last post: I turned this:

Into this:


and filled my freezer with fresh pasta sauce.

We went to an excellent concert:

Went frisbee golfing in northern MN:

Played with bumper boats:
We had a great baby shower for Maya:
for whom we made a fun group blanket, and I made the tiniest and most adorable baby booties (if I do say so myself).

I had occasion to drive into downtown Minneapolis before dawn:
I just got back from Texas (ack, Texas!) where I saw a giant statue of Sam Houston on the side of the interstate.


I also explored 2 yarn stores in Houston, one of which I just saw the sign for out of the corner of my eye, the other of which I sought out. Both were great, both contributed to my stash.

And somehow, by the time I got back from Houston, it was Fall in Minnesota.
Nothing like autumnal weather to get the knitting going. I'm working on Christmas presents, a long abandoned scarf, and itching to start something new for mindless knitting.