Politics and Mike

We are surrounded with politics. He said, she said... It's the best and the worst of this country.

That captivating "Hi Daddy" last night... the chilling stories of the small cell in Viet Nam... and the courage, beyond anything I could summon up...

The words, the pictures, the questions and answers. Wondering what do the Clintons have up their (collective) sleeves? Is McCain too old? What exactly is that change I am supposed to believe in?

What a statesman Kennedy is (in spite of the fact that there is very little I agree with). The solemn, almost tearful look on Maria Shriver's face while her uncle spoke, which said volumes.

All of these things are what makes our country great. That sounds like a canned statement, but today I am really reflecting on that fact.

My intern Mike is twenty something and a great asset to my group. He has the day off tomorrow. He is going to Baltimore and he is going to answer somewhere around 10 random questions. If (when) he is successful, he will undergo a computer search for any suspicious passport behavior. And then, all hurdles passed, he will say the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And he will repeat words that will result in his becoming a citizen.

I watch the events of the political season with some cynicism, but then the joy on Mike's face as he says 'awesome' when he is talking about the prospect of becoming a citizen of the US reminds me...

We are a blessed nation.
We are blessed people, individually and collectively.
And the agreement, disagreement, cynicism and lofty ideals -- they are all ingrained in the foundation that results in Mike's smile.

At its best and at its worst... I'm proud to be an American.

And so is Mike. An early congratulations to the newest citizen, Mike.

If you were born on my birthday...

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19 June 1951

Your date of conception was on or about 26 September 1950 which was a Tuesday.

You were born on a Tuesday
under the astrological sign Gemini.
Your Life path number is 5.

Your fortune cookie reads:
You were born with the skill to communicate with people easily.

Life Path Compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 5 & 7. (Melanie is a 5! Don is a 7!)
You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 3 & 9. (Brad is a 9)
You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path number 8.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 6, 11 & 22.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2433816.5.
The golden number for 1951 is 14.
The epact number for 1951 is 22.
The year 1951 was not a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/6/1951 and ending 1/26/1952.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Rabbit.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Elk; your plant is Mullein.

You were born in the Egyptian month of Mesore, the fourth month of the season of Shomu (Harvest).

Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 15 Sivan 5711.
Or if you were born after sundown then the date is 16 Sivan 5711.

The Mayan Calendar long count date of your birthday is 12.16.17.10.12 which is
12 baktun 16 katun 17 tun 10 uinal 12 kin

The Hijra (Islamic Calendar) date of your birth is Tuesday, 14 Ramadan 1370 (1370-9-14).

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 25 March 1951.
The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 29 April 1951.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 7 February 1951.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 13 May 1951.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 20 May 1951.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Tuesday, 2 October 1951.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Sunday, 22 April 1951.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 6 February 1951.

As of 8/15/2008 11:43:43 AM EDT
You are 57 years old.
You are 686 months old.
You are 2,982 weeks old.
You are 20,877 days old.
You are 501,059 hours old.
You are 30,063,583 minutes old.
You are 1,803,815,023 seconds old.

Celebrities who share your birthday:

Zo‰ Saldana (1978)	Brian 'Head' Welch (1970)	Paula Abdul (1962)
Kathleen Turner (1954)	Phylicia Rashad (1948)	Salman Rushdie (1947)
Gena Rowlands (1930)	Louis Jourdan (1919)	Pauline Kael (1919)
Pat Buttram (1915)	Lou Gehrig (1903)	Guy Lombardo (1902)
Moe Howard (1897)	Wallis Simpson (1896)	Blaise Pascal (1623)

Top songs of 1951

Cry by Johnnie Ray	Because of You by Tony Bennett
How High the Moon by Les Paul & Mary Ford	Sin by Eddy Howard
If by Perry Como	Come On-A My House by Rosemary Clooney
Cold, Cold Heart by Tony Bennett	Too Young by Nat King Cole
Be My Love by Mario Lanza	Mockin' Bird Hill by Les Paul & Mary Ford

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 8.17103718199609 years old. (You old hound dog, you!)

Your lucky day is Wednesday.
Your lucky number is 5.
Your ruling planet(s) is Mercury.
Your lucky dates are 5th, 14th, 23rd.
Your opposition sign is Sagittarious.
Your opposition number(s) is 3.

Today is not one of your lucky days!

There are 308 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 58 candles.

Those 58 candles produce 58 BTUs,
or 14,616 calories of heat (that's only 14.6160 food Calories!) .
You can boil 6.63 US ounces of water with that many candles.

In 1951 there were approximately 3.6 million births in the US.
In 1951 the US population was approximately 150,697,361 people, 50.7 persons per square mile.
In 1951 in the US there were approximately 1,667,231 marriages (11.1%) and 385,144 divorces (2.6%)
In 1951 in the US there were approximately 1,452,000 deaths (9.6 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

In 1951 the population of Australia was approximately 8,527,907.
In 1951 there were approximately 193,298 births in Australia.
In 1951 in Australia there were approximately 77,298 marriages and 7,269 divorces.
In 1951 in Australia there were approximately 81,788 deaths.


Your birthstone is Alexandrite

The Mystical properties of Alexandrite

Alexandrite can assist one in centering the self, reinforcing self-esteem, and augmenting ones ability to experience joy.

Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)

Pearl, Moonstone, Opal

Your birth tree is

Fig Tree, the Sensibility

Very strong, a bit self-willed, independent, does not allow contradiction or arguments, loves life, its family, children and animals, a bit of a butterfly, good sense of humour, likes idleness and laziness, of practical talent and intelligence.

There are 132 days till Christmas 2008!
There are 145 days till Orthodox Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you were
born was full.

Copyright © 2006 Paul R. Sadowski (http://www.paulsadowski.com)

Person Don and

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Pandora

I made a new discovery, thanks to Don. Since Apple is now allowing (even encouraging) third party software on the iphone, there are a ton of exciting things out there. But I haven't found anything as cool as Pandora (no, not even the Light Saber or the bubble wrap that you can pop).

Pandora allows you to create your own 'radio station'. After you open your account, you search an artist and Pandora plays a selection of songs, by that artist and others that are similar. You have the option of giving each song a thumbs up or a thumbs down and by doing that, you shape your future song choices for that station. How cool is that?

In a mellow mood? Create a station based around that. Feeling rockin? Just add a different station with a different theme! I'm tellin' you it is the best.

Oh...did I mention it's free?

That's what I'm talking about. I LOVE my iphone!

Getting to Know Me

I'm reading a book that has inspired lots of thought. It's called The Success Principles written by Jack Canfield (the Chicken Soup for the Soul guy) and I came to it by way of another book, The Secret, brought to me by Oprah. I'm early in the book and already thinking so seriously about the things he has to say, that it is hard to imagine what has filled the remaining pages.

Anyway, the latest task from the book is to make a list of 101 goals you want to achieve before you die. And like all well written goals, they need to be measurable. THAT is a challenge. It's easy to say I want to retire with plenty of money to live a comfortable life. But how do you measure that? And when you are looking at 101 things, I've found that you can get pretty down into detail. So prepare yourselves... I am going to be working toward those goals ( I don't have 101 yet, but I'm still working on it, and I have started working on them...). Some of them involve you who read this blog, so you'll be learning more as time goes on.

In the meantime, Chris, will you teach me how to make spaghetti sauce?

Life

It's hard to imagine being more blessed than I am. I won't go on drawing comparisons to any particular number of years ago, but I will just tell you that I have almost the best life I can imagine. I have found my soul mate, my best friend and the man I have been looking for longer than I knew and I get to wake up next to him every day. I have two kids who have grown into adults that I like...not just love, but like too. They have found partners for their lives that make them happy...and who are their best friends and soul mates. And that fact is so apparent that I see it--and it makes me smile inside. I have a sister who is my friend--my confidante, the other me, and her husband who could not be more my big brother if we shared the same parents. I have married into a family that is just wonderful. I love all my steps and in-laws and I am so glad they are in my life. I have the two most adorable grand children in the universe and I am soon going to have the four most adorable grand children in the universe.

If there is anything that I regret about my life...it's that Mom and Dad aren't here to see me so happy. I know they had worries and concerns about their younger duaghter. Hey Mom and Dad...just look... look!!! Thank God I know that they see, even if they aren't here.

Sometimes you just have to say when you are MAD

I've settled into the doldrums of winter. It's cold. When I get home from work, I just want a blanket and the couch. I'm reading a good book. I don't have time to blog. American Idol is on. I really don't have time to blog. But today (while watching American Idol) I have been moved to relieve myself of some anger via the blog. By the way, this isn't about politics...exactly.

Yesterday Michelle Obama said “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country" WHAT??? Can I clarify that? She wasn't proud of this country when we...WE .. caused the end of Cold War? When she saw the people tearing down the Berlin Wall one stone at a time? When millions of American flags were hung in yards, taped to office cubes and windows and waved from cars on September 12, 2001? When our government underwent an orderly transition of power in spite of questions of hanging chads and popular vs electoral vote?

Doesn't pride in these things come down to belief in America? And, if she doesn't hold her country dear and believe in America, why would she want to .. and why should she .. be first lady? I don't know either.

10 Day Forecasts

Just in case you were wondering... 10 days from now the weather in Kona is going to be sunny. 80 and sunny. I think it's going to be the same 9 days from now, but I won't be there. But 10 days from now, I'll be feeling the sun, smelling tropical smells ...and suffering from jet lag. Also, since I've heard that if you drink lots of water jet lag is reduced, I'll probably be spending my share of time in the bathroom.

I'll be checking the weather every day now, so if there are any changes, I'll let you know.

How about Dick Clark?

I watched New Years Rockin Eve last night through the fog of my head cold and was amazed. How about him? His career is about as long as my life. I remember being a very little girl and my sister hurrying home from school every day to watch American Bandstand. He was almost one of the kids then, he was so young! Anyway, I just give him a lot of credit for fighting back through the disability of such a severe stroke to be able to hold his own on the broadcast last night. He must be quite a man.