Seth still working but also doing everything at home. Margaret still speaking
Spanish, Mitchell in his last pre-K year. I'm going to learn to play the Mandolin.
Maybe. Still in law school.

Wherever you people are, we're thinking of you, and wish you well.

Now, for the reason I logged on. At dinner tonight, Seth started the kids on a
round of practicing a new phrase: I rest my case! As in, You smell funny, I rest
my case. Mitchie has boogers in his nose, I rest my case. He's touching me, I
rest my case. I love silliness that makes fun of me and the things I'm doing at
the same time (really, I do. I needed a little levity to help me take it all a little
less seriously...)

ah, family...

www.flickr.com jessica_misc's From Valentine's Day to the Summer of Love '08 photoset

That I feel optimistic.

My experience of the media this evening has been a rollercoaster-- from
campaign news (with opinions from such illustrious personalities as Erica Jong
and Warren Buffett) to watching the FDR "American Experience" to seeing British
Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Charlie Rose... let's just say I laughed, I
cried, I scowled, and I fell in love (but not necessarily in that order). In all,
though, as FDR said (and I will carelessly but respectfully paraphrase), I feel
things are on an upward trend.

The future looks bright, and following a friend's recent advice, I have opened a
little window in my heart to accept what may be.

So perhaps soon I will catch everyone up on the phenomenon of Margaret's
soccer games, Mitchell's deft use of the phrase "No way, Mom!", and all the rest.

I think turning 30 was like walking through a door: not momentous, but I am
definitely in a new place...

Outwardly, things continue as before-- but my internal monologue is insane.
Every time I open my mouth I feel like the crazy is trying to get out. So I try to
remind myself to not talk too much, lest it escape. So far I have very little
success, and still talk too much.

In other news, Seth continues his education in opera by devouring as much of it
as he can. He's an opera addict. His new favorites are Hansel and Gretel and
The Golden Girl of the West.

Margaret incessantly develops her own plans for her upcoming birthday party
(which I have little intention of producing after the Valentine fiasco) and feels no
need to run them by me before sharing them with the world.

Mitchell has come to a time in his life where he wants to control everyone, so I
find myself constantly brokering compromises with him. It is a lesson in
negotiations if ever I've had one.

Maybe I should put up some photos?

Everyone probably knows that Seth is very big into opera right now-- his
favorite of late has been Die Valkyrie. I was certainly raised with a pretty broad
exposure to opera, but I think I never gave it a good, serious listen. Tonight,
sitting in the dark at the computer with good quality headphones and no
distractions... with a little more perspective and having been around the block a
few more times... well, it nearly makes me want to cry. I even took a class in
college where I listened to many operas, but maybe I never really LISTENED...
With an open mind, and an open heart.

For anyone who wants to give opera a chance, I HIGHLY recommend this one
(and for everyone out there sneering and tsking... I can't help it, I love it).

I must say that Hillary probably missed a great moment when she could have
looked into the camera and been completely frank about something personal--
when she was asked about trying times in her life (that ostensibly have led to
her leadership skills). She brushed it off with a comment about "Oh yeah, I've
been through some crises" and went on to explain that nothing that had
happened to her compares to what wounded Iraq veterans are going through.
All the commentators seem to think her last comments were so great (P.S. I
love Donna Brazille-- she's my new best on-TV-friend), but to me those
comments were TOTALLY EMPTY!!! They're holding up "that last comment" as so
revealing of her and her emotions, etc.-- IT WASN'T. She could have socked us
all with an acknowledgment of the public scandals, the difficulty of being held up
next to her presidential husband-- ANYTHING-- and then come back with her
story about the amazing people at the hospital... but she totally threw it away.
She did not talk about her own broken path at all, which is a path I believe I
could respect and look up to if only I KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT IT. I was
excited by the chance to see a little of her soul, and then disappointed that she
retreated from being real.

I've been waiting for Hillary to show some mettle. In that vein, I have decided,
under Seth's encouragement, to share a letter I wrote to a friend about Ms.
Clinton and what I wish she would do-- namely, start kicking some ass and
getting a little crazy. Well, you'll see what I mean... Read on, curious friends...

Yesterday was fantastic. I started out around 8:30am, walked a few blocks,
proceeded to run up Broad Street, and then up the Ben Franklin Parkway. I
didn't see a whole lot of other people running; in fact, I saw less than I had on
more random runs by Independence Hall or up Front Street. However, once I
hit the Art Museum, it was like the world of fitness enthusiasts opened before
me-- EVERYONE WAS THERE! Big mobs of jogging club-ers, 2-by-2 college
teams, bikers, rowers on the river, and serious-looking, solitary loners like me.
Not that I look serious... in my H&M hoodie, I look more like a pile of rags
compared to the people in their super-tech running gear.

Just being among these fitness-minded people was incredibly inspiring. Taken
together with the music on my iPod, the quietness of the early morning, the
comfort of the cool air (imagine feeling hot in the winter! That's benefit enough
for me)... I don't think I had a runner's high, but I felt great. So I kept going. I
ran and ran, and then I had to turn around and run home.

All told, I was out for about an hour and a half. I probably ran for all but 15
minutes of that time. And I don't run fast... but it was a lot for me.

Then I taught an LSAT class for 3 hours. Standing. In high-heeled boots.

When I got home, I could hardly walk. My legs felt like lead, and my labored
effort to get around made me think of the difficulty of walking up a snowy hill
with skis on. It was GREAT! I felt lighthearted and physically exhausted, and
enjoyed laughing at myself when I could barely make it to the top of the stairs
at night.

I never understood why anyone would enjoy running, but now I do. Isn't that
the most amazing thing, really-- to find yourself understanding what you never
imagined you would. It happens to me more and more as I get older, and I find
it very reassuring.

My brother-in-law's birthday is tomorrow and we made him cards but didn't send
them.

When I went outside today, every extremity of my body burned with the cold.
And didn't stop burning, ever. They burn, still.

Our shower has been replaced with one that doesn't fit the nice cool shower
head Seth's parents bought for us, and it also makes an annoying screaming
sound like a gigantic teapot whistle THE WHOLE TIME YOU'RE SHOWERING...
like, teapot x 1000.

I recently bought some really kick-ass jeans and boots because I am turning 30
in a few weeks and totally freaking out about it. Maybe if people are fixated on
my boots they won't look into my haggard face.

I can't stop watching Barack Obama speeches and CSPAN pie charts. I wake up
in the middle of the night and cheer for CSPAN pie charts.

This is a partial list detailing my insanity. I encourage everyone to send me
insanity lists so I don't have to feel like I'm the only one going crazy over
here...

Listening to Radio Times this morning in the car, (the podcast version will no
doubt be posted on the Radio Times website soon) I heard Ms. Albright expound
on our (the US's) relationship with the rest of the world. Her manner was sassy
but also incredibly refined and respectable. During the course of the discussion,
she summed up the US's responsibility to use its undeniable power for the good
of all by saying something close to:

"Look, whether you learn it from the Bible or Batman, from those to whom much
is given, much is expected."

And I thought, look at this woman who can take a bible passage and redirect it
to fans of comic books and action movies. Look at this charismatic, well-spoken
woman who has an incredible insight into the affairs of the US and the world.

Why isn't SHE running for president? On the walk from my car to the
apartment, I couldn't figure out why no one was making her at least TRY for a
nomination...

Wikipedia gave me the answer-- she's not a natural born citizen of the US.
Phooey. But all is not lost because there's lots about her life that is completely
inspirational to me, including the fact that she was raising kids while getting a
PhD and generally being a superstar of all things international. I also followed
the link to her 2007 Commencement speech at Wellesley, which is a wonderful,
quick read.

Madeleine Albright, welcome to my personal hall of heroes. You are lovely and
important.

Googling these famous meat campaigns, I just discovered that Beef has not
finished selling itself. The new campaign for 2008 will be "Discover the Power of
Protein in the Land of Lean Beef". Honestly, I don't know why anybody wants to
spend money advertising meat to a nation whose citizens, on average, already
eat half a pound of it a day. Eat more meat? Ugh. I don't even want to think
about it.

But I have been thinking about it. Thanks to the popularity of books like Michael
Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and more recent "In Defense of Food", and
articles like "Rethinking the Meat Guzzler" from the NYTimes,
I'm realizing that our pace of meat consumption is bad for more than just our bodies.

So I'm awfully glad to know that my future plans do in fact rest with Temple and
the law-- now to see what I can do with it, eh? Hopefully some good...

More family updates to follow soon-- I PROMISE!!

Everyone knows I'm a feminist (meaning I think women are equal to men), but
reading this article made me realize that even I had been lulled into a feeling of
relative safety and equal standing in our society. After reading the article, I
reflected on all the instances where I had witnessed disgusting language,
violence, and degrading practices against women-- how I am not even honest
with myself about the prevalence of these things in my own life. I owe it to our
daughter, and all the women I care about in my life, to urge everyone to read
this article. Hopefully it will make us all think about what misogyny is, and that's
a beginning.

If you do take the time to read the article, thank you.

Today is Christmas Eve!

NO ONE should feel that they need to buy ANYTHING (please don't
buy anything!) for our kids, as they are awash in everything they need (and
Santa will be getting a few important things from the top of their lists). But if
the spirit has seized you and the stuff out there is just too cute to pass up, here
are some ideas for things that you could fold in pretty paper (and would be easy to mail, too):

MOVIES: We all love family movies, and do not have the following: Cars,
Ratatouille.

BOOKS: We were just at the bookstore yesterday, and enjoyed things like:
365 Penguins and The Three Snow Bears. Margaret loves those big books you
see everywhere like the Wandmaker's Guide Book, Piratology, Fairyopolis, etc.
Little Golden Books and the paperbacks with their favorite characters (like My
Little Pony or Diego) are also guaranteed to excite them.
One holiday book I liked the look of (though I haven't read it) was Lemony
Snicket's "The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming." What a great title!

Misc for Margaret: headbands, bracelets and rings (like the Target $1 aisle--
the shinier the better), small Hello Kitty stuff

Misc for Mitchell: matchbox cars, transformers (small ones!)

AND THEY BOTH LOVE-- art supplies! Washable markers, glue sticks, tape,
colored paper, glitter glue-- these things will always excite them and be used
immediately, enthusiastically, and continually until gone

As always, we like to keep things small and kid-powered.

***WARNING: Character toys-- like Sesame Street, Dora and Diego dolls,
backpacks, playsets, etc-- have been found to have high levels of toxic
substances in their paint. PLEASE do not buy these toys for anyone!***

And always consider giving to Toys for Tots, which is such a delightful effort.

Thanks to everyone who is thinking of us this holiday season-- I hope you are
enjoying these exciting, busy, chilly days as much as we are! I'll post some
photos soon...