The only true Tea Party sign

Finally Done

My crazy month is finally over. It was fun and a little exhausting. But it sure was pretty.

Love Will Guide Us

If you cannot
sing like angels,
if you cannot
speak before thousands,
you can give from
deep within you
You can change the world
with your love.

Love will guide us
Peace has tried us
Hope inside us
will lead the way.
On the road from
greed to giving
love will guide us
through the hard night.

Thank you Rob Hardies for a much needed reminder of love not fear in a time of uncertainty. There is a man outside the metro that I see every day who will receive my $5 grocery store gift card. I hope that it will help him this week. And what is another $5 on my weekly shopping trips? Where it's a bag of chips or block of fancy cheese for me, it could be a day's only meal for someone else.

While I'm hesitant to give cash to people asking for help, the grocery store cards can be a good aid. It's not the best solution, but in times like these, we cannot wait for the best. I'm reminded not to refuse from doing the something that I can do.

I need a metal spork

Or maybe even a set of four. After all, who doesn't want to eat off a spork once in a while.

I was making ramen last night and was just entirely indecisive about whether to use a fork or spoon. A fork grabs the noodles, but misses the warm, filling broth, while a spoon gets the broth, but all the noodles fall off. Which is when I uttered my desire for fine spork-ware. I've yet to find it through Oneida or any other flatware retailer, but I think I've stumbled on to something brilliant. Imagine just one utensil at the table for that home, quick meal. Little clean up and all scrumptiousness. I also think it would work particularly well for mac-n-cheese.

So what led up to this late-night ramen meal was my first USDA grad school class of the semester: Microeconomics. It's such a wonderful thing to actually experience intellectual stimulation in a day. I was a little worried about how I'd last through a 3 hour class on Monday evening. Surprisingly, I found myself so much more awake and engaged for that three hours than most of my previous 8/9 hour day. It's a wonder what interest and engagement can do for my energy and stamina.

What's even more exciting is my professor. He's got this wizened, older gentleman feel about him and he talks in a very deliberate, slow cadence. It's great for taking notes, but it also gives this air about him that he's in no hurry and you can take a little time to understand what he's saying. Sometimes it's funny, others take a second to go through some disagreements and apply his reasoning to them. The one thing I've always been frustrated about in economics is how you tend to learn in this bubble of theory. The assumption that people are rational and will do what's in their best interest (buy at a lower cost) just doesn't play out in the real world. The fact that he not only addressed this, but made a joke of "no, no one has ever seen two gas stations across the street from each other with different gas prices," just made my heart warm. I really have no problem learning the theory and bubble rationality of economics, but sincerely admire the admittance that it's just not the case in the real world.

I raise my spork to learning in a bubble.

Proud Ticketholder

I got tickets to one of the Obama Inaugural Balls!! Can I just say how ecstatic I am. I hope I get to go to the DC Neighborhood Ball-- so excited that it's being included. The tickets are available through the Presidential Inauguration Committee for a donation. Because I only made the minimum, I get placed in a ball based on my zip code. Well, that's fine with me. Maybe I'll even meet some neighbors.

I'm so excited I can hardly contain it. Now I have to go pick out which of my 18 gowns (no joke) I'll wear!

The Truth Revealed

One Lucky Australian.

If you want to get technical,

VODKA is practically a health drink if you just call it potato juice. . .
which it really is, anyway.

~New Year's card from my mom