i'm off to kentucky in a matter of hours. this girl is getting married.

... that was then and this is what she always has been: a friend for life. :)

dropping a note

oh my. this warmed the cockles of my insides. i must get this book.

Notes Left Behind

sureeee thing.

;)

a favorite

I love our President.

*clicks tongue* success!

made this for mom's birthday. took me two days. this thing was huge. and, success!

is the charm city cakes hiring?

?!

found something i wrote a little less than a year ago. i must have been either really bored on the metro or really observant. either way, i am not sure what to think of this.

It is November 3, 2008. I am on the metro on way home from work and I can sense it. I can smell the stress here in Washington. I can feel it in the air. I can taste it. I can see the faraway look on people's faces when riding on the train. Maybe I cannot hear; yet, I am listening to what is arising. Two big games: tonight the Pittsburgh Steelers are playing at the FedEx Field, home of the Washington Redskins. Tomorrow night, in the light of democracy, the face of our country, begins a new chapter for us all, as one. Our fate will be sealed... either John McCain or Barack Obama will finally bring this nation to a higher (and hopefully for the better) level.

Football and presidential election, I got my game face on. America, you inspire me.

I confess. I am a martyr, a traitor to DC natives - I badmouth this place all the time. However, it is dawning on me that what America has been waiting for is in my backyard. Moreover, I have been "literally" turning my back on to what people desire for: hope and change... It is all happening here at home in Washington, DC.

Also got me thinking about Bush's years in the White House. Have he been tending after his backyard? How can he walk through his own backyard, being so blind? He sends our people overseas, taking away their lives, away from their families.

In Bush's backyard, in the DC I like to say I don't like, there are mothers and children who experience the kind of life Bush will never understand and allows himself to be blind about-- instead of giving the people of his backyard a helping hand and/by bringing families closer together, he pulls more apart by, needless to say, sending people to Iraq.

How would you lead when it is a question of ethics?

That is what democracy is to me. It is not about what to do when we have been down spiraled in a financial fiasco; it is preserving the true meaning of America.

We see the result of ethics through action, not words. Leadership is action.

What do they say? It starts in your own backyard.

The Last Lion

long time ago, when i was probably ten years old or even younger, i had the chance to perform at a charity in washington. i was to sign a song while marvin hamlisch, a well-renowned musician doing what he does best: playing the piano.

after performing, i turned to someone and went, "there was a guy sitting in right front of me and he cried. he had tears in his eyes while watching me."

"that was senator kennedy," she said, smiling at my confusion. "ted kennedy."

that was one of my most vivid memories, and to this very day, i still remember the look in his eyes. i can't begin to describe how humane they were. i have repeated this story from time to time over the years.

politics may not be the same without him, but he is finally with his loved ones. john and robert (and the rest of the "camelot" family) have been waiting a bit too long. i swear i'd burst at just the thought of them reuniting. :)

a well-written obituary on the senator: http://tiny.cc/Q3ol1

THE KENNEDY BROTHERS DURING THEIR PRIME TIME

LITTLE JOHN SALUTING AT HIS FATHER'S FUNERAL

while we are at it, i'd tell you that this picture gets to me every single time for, like, forever. i'm still in search of the original copy of that certain photograph. this was on the day of john jr's third birthday and he claims he doesn't remember doing the salute. his mother, jacqueline, rehearsed the salute with him before the funeral but for some reason, he could never get it right. jackie eventually gave up on him and only hoped he'd get it right ... and, well, we all can assume that he did. :)

for what they have contributed to the people of our country,

i salute to the kennedy family.

Water for joy

this is one of the most powerful pictures i've ever seen. i saw this at the chelsea market last may and couldn't take my eyes off it, so thought i'd share this with you. the joy on this boy's face is far too great for words.

http://www.charitywater.org/