Speechless

Except to say that I feel so damn proud right now!

I thought this would be a good time to post one of my favorite photos from the 2004 Democratic Convention.


















p.s. I purposely said "I feel proud" in hopes of being prominently featured on Sep's website "We Feel Fine" which is reporting that since the election, people are "feeling proud" on blogs 8 times more often than usual.

My Election Day Conspiracy Theory

So I have to admit that I was one of those people who thought that for sure there would be at least one manufactured catastrophe like another anthrax scare or new Bin Laden video that would magically surface just before election day to instill tons of fear in Americans to vote Republican again.

But I am pleasantly surprised to say that election day is here and despite a few implicit connections and fear mongering throughout the campaign, it has been surprisingly clean.

I had been wondering how we got away so unscathed this year when I stumbled across this article this article on how Karl Rove recently predicted that Obama would win.

At first I wondered "Why in the heck would Rove say that??" It didn't make any sense to have a top Republican advisor conceding the race publicly during the final days of the election. That's when another conspiracy theory formed in my head. This one is entirely baseless, but kind of fun to imagine.

What if, Rove, known for his dirty tricks, went to McCain and said: "Okay McCain, you're 12 points down in PA and the economy is in the tank, were going to have to get down and dirty and fight back with the only weapon we have left: fear."

But McCain, who we know has at least some decency said back to Rove: "No way man. We're going to win this on merits and only a little ethical fear mongering (think William Ayers) or not at all."

Then Rove got all pissed off and stormed away to alert reporters that he thought McCain was going to lose.

It could have happened!

Either way, I was wrong in my cynicism and now I hope I'm wrong in my longstanding worry that this country was really going to have a hard time electing an African American.

Gobama! GO USA!

Best Wedding I've Ever Had

And the only wedding I've ever had of course... but I don't think I'm being biased in saying that it was the most incredible, magical evening and Sep and I were so happy and everyone around us seemed like they were having lots of fun.

We had great photographers and they posted the first professional photos on their blog but we won't get the rest for a couple weeks. Check them out. They are really nice.

Where have I been?

I've been busy.

1) Getting Married to Amazing Man in September: Sep Kamvar
2) New Job (and Career) at Cool Company: AngelPoints
3) Three Week Vacation/Pre-Wedding Honeymoon: Europe

I feel like that is a good update. It's got some meat in it.

Where are the fundamentalists when you need them?

Hurricane Gustavo hits during the Republican Convention. Where are the fundamentalists talking about this sign from God?

Mr. McPike

I just found out that one of my favorite people in the whole world passed away on Saturday. My East High School Principal, Mr. McPike, was one of the most inspiring, amazing people I've ever met (and I don't use terms like that lightly). He had a profound impact on me and pretty much everyone that went to East. He knew us all by name, was so kind-hearted, but didn't take any crap from anyone (he was a San Francisco 49er before he became our Principal).

I was senior class president and editor of the newspaper and had a bunch of other over-achiever roles during high school and so I got to know him pretty intimately. I used to walk into his office all the time with all these crazy ideas or controversies--like my interview with a group of closeted gay students that I insisted on publishing in the school newspaper (a big deal for a Wisconsin high school in 1998), or my protest against Coca-Cola trying to infiltrate East through school sponsorship, or my crazy schemes on what to do with 98 christmas trees my class had stolen/cut down and put in the school on Christmas day. And even though I'm sure he thought I was nuts half the time and we'd argue over things, he was always so supportive and made me feel really good about taking initiative and being so involved in the school community.

A few months ago while I was home for Thanksgiving I saw him on the bus from Madison to Milwaukee. I actually got on to the wrong bus during a rest stop and there he was. I hadn't seen him in years. He looked the same except thinner and less towering. Even though I've been out of high school for almost 10 years, he acted like it was yesterday and that I had been his favorite student of his 20 some years at East. He said he thought about me a lot and had been following my career and was proud of me and he gave me a big hug. Even though he probably says that to a lot of former students it meant so much to me at the time and just underscored his absolute gift for making everyone around him feel special.

Mr. McPike will be greatly missed. But more than most, he has left legacy of touching thousands and thousands of us--as an educator, mentor, and as a friend.

Blowing on the Blokus Board

This is Ladra attempting to eat four saltine crackers at one time while Griff says something funny. He blew crumbs all over our Blokus game board.

In other related news, my undefeated Blokus record came to an end on Saturday night when I lost two straight games to Clarke Sugar.

Sure, his girlfriend's dad invented Apples to Apples and he spends an inordinate amount of time playing board games, but I lost fair and square.

If you haven't played Blokus yet you should run out and get it. It's a really fun game.

Schiavoni Tattoo

A couple of weeks ago, my little cousin, who recently joined the Navy, emailed this picture out to the whole Schiavoni family with the following message:

Check out the new tattoos I got... Pretty bad ass.

After a few days of getting no responses, I replied-all asking if we should get matching family tattoos. Still no response from the rest of the fam. They must be too proud.

Just Cold

My dad sent me this forward which I thought was classic. My family from Wisconsin but I now live in California, have lived in D.C., and have close relatives in Florida. I've experienced our nation's capital shutting down for a couple inches of snow, and the roads practically closing down in San Francisco freeway for a sprinkle of rain. Meanwhile, my dad will drive up north in his 2 wheel drive Buick twice a month in 20 below weather through white wash snow storms where you can't see the car that is 50 ft. ahead of you. And they are right about the school never closing. Us Madison kids were always jealous of the kids in tiny school districts in northern Wisconsin who would get a snow day for 4 ft. of snow (vs. our 2 ft.) because they didn't have enough plows to get out to the rural areas.

COLD IS A RELATIVE THING. . .

60 above zero:
Floridians turn on the heat.
People in Wisconsin plant gardens.

50 above zero:
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in Wisconsin sunbathe.

40 above zero:
Italian & English cars won't start.
People in Wisconsin drive with the windows down.

32 above zero:
Distilled water freezes.
The water in Lake Michigan gets thicker.

20 above zero:
Floridians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats.
People in Wisconsin throw on a flannel shirt.

15 above zero:
New York landlords finally turn up the heat.
People in Wisconsin have the last cookout before it gets cold.

Zero:
People in Miami all die.
Wisconsinites close the windows.

10 below zero:
Californians fly away to Mexico.
People in Wisconsin get out their winter coats.

25 below zero:
Hollywood disintegrates.
The Girl Scouts in Wisconsin are selling cookies door to door.

40 below zero:
Washington DC runs out of hot air.
People in Wisconsin let the dogs sleep indoors.

100 below zero:
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Wisconsinites get upset because they can't start the Mini-Van.

460 (-459.67 F below zero):
ALL atomic motion stops (absolute zero, on the Kelvin scale.)
People in Wisconsin start saying...'Cold enough fer ya?'

500 below zero:
Hell freezes over.
Wisconsin public schools will open 2 hours late.

Not Another One!

Can someone please explain to me why it seems like every big name politician has some type of extreme skeleton in their closet?

Our own pipeline of exciting future presidential candidates keep taking themselves out.

Today, of course, it was Spitzer.

Is there some personality trait that applies both to those who seek validation through public office and those who seek sex with prostitutes/pages/aides?

john.he.is

If you've seen Obama's "Yes We Can" video, don't miss McCain's john.he.is video:

No He Didn't!

I can't believe Putin really would have said this re: Hillary:

"At a minimum, a head of state should have a head," Putin said.

Maybe it's an issue of Russian-English translation?

Could a Recall Be Part of a Marketing Strategy?

On NPR this morning they made an announcement that See's Candies had recalled their semi-sweet chocolate chips because they may contain....gasp...traces of milk!!

Apparently some people are allergic to milk (which I'm not trying to trivialize).

Then the announcer said something like: See's Candies is one of the oldest and largest candy companies in the world.

I know this may sound cynical, but doesn't this seem like great PR for See's? I'd never heard of them before the recall and now I know they are a renown candy company. And I don't think any less of them for accidentally mixing in some milk (if it were formaldehyde that would be different). In terms of losses, how many people to you really think returned their bag of chocolate for fear of dreaded traces of milk?!

It just struck me that as long as they don't get sued by someone with a milk allergy, they would have to pay huge money to get the extensive press they'll get from this recall.

Schiavoni Files Endorses Obama

A lot of people have been asking my thoughts on the presidential election.

Until now I haven't been too public about my strong support for Obama. I think this is because I have had a lot of feminist guilt surrounding my decision.

But here's why Obama is my guy:

Yes, their policy positions are similar. But Hillary's "experience" will make her more effective at Governing right? Wrong. I don't believe Hillary's “experience” is going to translate into better policy. Honestly, I have a hard time believing either one of them will get anything done at least during their first term. Obama because he's too green, and Hillary because she will be looking to the next election, playing it safe, continuing to listen to her pollsters and consultants who tell her she must be tough and unwavering to compensate for being a woman (think cluster bomb and Iranian Gevolutionary Guard votes).

Obama, on the other hand, may take a little while to get up to speed on how to govern effectively, but he will still represent a fundamental change in leadership for this country. Him even just sitting in the oval office will do so much to heal the domestic and international wounds of the last eight years. Also, the fact that Obama has come this far and has built the team he has (including campaign and endorsements), means that he does have an uncanny ability to bring in talent, make good decisions, and execute.

Obama will be stronger against McCain. Hillary is too polarizing to entice independents (and even some Democrats). McCain also will turn out independents and some Democrats who don't like Hillary. We will be forced to bank on him not being able to turn out his base (low voter turnout) to win. But don't forget that as much as the conservative base hates McCain now, they hate Hillary worse. Meanwhile, no one vehemently hates Obama. Obama will mobilize the Democratic base, independents, and a whole new generation of first time voters. McCain vs. Obama will be an exciting race about old vs. new instead of status quo vs. status quo.

I just talked with someone who hasn't voted Democrat in 16 years and he voted for Obama. But, if Hillary gets the nomination, he will vote for McCain in the General. I think there are a lot of others out there like this guy and not too many out there who voted for Hillary that wouldn't support Obama in the general.

Authenticity matters to voters. Hillary, when she's authentic (like she was at the Jan. 31 debate), is amazing. But she's chosen again and again to play it safe and listen to her pollsters (again, I feel the need to bring up her annoying votes and inability to admit she made a mistake with her vote to authorize the war in Iraq). Also, this is not totally related to authenticity, but I felt her decision to trot out Bill after South Carolina (who shot his mouth off) made us all remember what it was that we didn't like about the Clinton administration. I just don't want another 8 years of that kind of divisive, highly calculating, Clintonista governing.

It does seem time for a new generation of leaders to step up, and Obama exemplifies the best of what we've got in the pipeline.

Appendicitis

I always thought that political topics would dominate the contents of my blog, but lately, it's been my tales of random emergency procedures (see Spinal Tap and X-Ray for recent examples).

Well, I've got another one. And, similar to Spinal Tap, it wasn't that serious but because of negligent doctors, it sucked pretty bad. And I am feeling the need to vent again (so feel free to stop reading now because it's a kind of gross story and probably TMI).

So I woke up a few weekends ago with the worst pain in my belly. It was high up near my lungs. I started projectile vomiting and about 3 hours later I decided I couldn't stand it any longer and went to the hospital. UCSF. They wouldn't process me right away so I had to sit there vomiting in the waiting room which is always a pleasant. They finally took me back and did all sorts of tests. You need a CT to tell if you have an appendicitis (and a bunch of other things), but they told me I shouldn't get a it because there is a 1 in 200 chance of me getting cancer from it eventually.

They also said it was most likely stomach flu but if it was my appendix we could wait until it burst (he actually said that in Britain they won't operate unless it bursts--i've come to learn that you can easily die from sepsis when your appendix bursts).

So they sent me home. I stayed at home in agony for about 12 hours until the pain localized on my right side and Sep's friend Matt Ladra who is a resident at St. Mary's felt my belly and told me to come on in to his hospital where he was working later that night.

I went in, they did a CT, and found it was classic, massively infected appendix. And for the record, they were SO much nicer at St. Mary's than at UCSF.

Surgery was the next morning and went fine. But then it took me like 2 whole weeks to recover! It was ridiculous. I can't help but think if I hadn't been sick for 36 hours longer than I should have been that I would have recovered a lot easier.

Oh and this is a non sequitur but guess how much the hospital billed the insurance company for my 2 day hospital stay? $55,000. Isn't that insane? I'm still waiting to see what I'm going to have to kick in. I feel very lucky to have insurance. What do people without insurance do when they have an appendicitis?

Diagnosis: Our health care system is just all around messed up.

It's getting exciting!

I'm on MTV!

Okay, so it's MTV's Political/Social Website and I'm on for like 2 seconds. But it's a cool piece on my company so you should watch it anyway.

Fakhr El-Din

Check out this article in the New York Times on restaurants in Amman, Jordan.

I wonder if they went to restaurant Fakhr El-Din and had the crispy sparrows dish on my recommendation.

Undecided

The Iowa Caucuses are tomorrow and I have to admit I'll be following the results closely. I (who normally has a strong opinion about everything) am for once an "undecided voter." It's weird, but I can put up great arguments for all 2 (and even 3) of the top Democratic candidates (which I'll spare you from).

But I won't spare you from Andrew Sullivan's compelling piece in the Atlantic on Obama, which if you haven't read yet, you definitely should. My mom made me read it over the holidays. And honestly, I was leaning one way, but after this article I am now standing up straight.

If anyone knows of an equally compelling article for any of the other candidates please let me know!