"A man's manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait." -Goethe

"Life must be something more than dilettante speculation." Anna Julia Cooper

"The test of good manners is to be patient with the bad ones." -Solomon Ibn Gabirol

Ask everyone you see on election day: Did you vote today? Remind people how important it is.

Here's a short sale - I'd like to think some financial mishap occurred that caused them to need to take out a second and third mortgage or HELOC themselves to death - like maybe they had big medical bills. Maybe.

Most people just used their houses like ATMs. This short sale is in one of the nicest parts of Culver City. The tax bill indicates they've owned it a long time - otherwise it would be mighty high at this price.

Two years later, maybe break even after broker fees. Unlikely after almost 3 months on the market.

Culver City is cracking.

And this guy - dude, the year is going to wrap up with house unsold. Maybe it's time to lower the price? Especially when you look at the last sale (Anyone else thinking HELOC from HELL?)

The event was in the Edison downtown - absolutely beautiful club space. I literally almost ran into Jerry Brown as I came in the door - had to do a little dance and an "excuse me" (cool - he looks great!). This was the first time I've ever attended a fund raiser - I rarely give the kind of coinage you need to attend these. But I truly believe this is the most important election of my lifetime. This will be the difference between continuing to go in a direction of faith-based vs. evidence-based governance. While I find it incomprehensible that any thinking person could vote for a ticket with Palin on it, I understand that many people vote for "boutique" issues (they only care about one thing - their hot issue). I do think the economy has made many of these people start thinking, "Is it really in my best interest and the best interest of America to vote on one single issue?"

We are facing the consequences of a decade of greed, mishandling of government, incompetence, and mediocrity. It was as if the "Dumbing Down" of America was institutionalized.

Many long-time Republicans, both big names and regular folk, are waking up to the disaster this party has wreaked on this great country. I know quite a few who have switched their vote for the first time in their lives.

People finally are realizing that "Lower Taxes" is not an economic solution. There are low-tax countries in the world. They are not places any of us would want to live. We have to hope our country doesn't sink that low.

Americans must become true Patriots and be willing to pay our debt. If not, the crushing burden will weaken us for decades. True Patriots are willing to contribute to save their country from economic disaster. There is no benefit in having low taxes if your 401K has been cut in half, the dollar is worth half of what it once was, food costs double, and maybe even you end up unemployed.

Hillary Clinton spoke at the event - she is very impressive in person. Sometimes in the big events that are telecast she comes off as a bit rough - she is nothing like that in person. She was charming, even joyful, and she inspired the audience (she walked around after and shook our hands).

Bon Jovi played two songs - they were great!

I enjoyed being part of something - a movement toward a brighter future for all Americans - not just the top 1% who made a killing while destroying the wealth of many Americans, including Americans too old to ever regain the losses in their retirement accounts.

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Originally uploaded by Smash Monster

Does anyone else find this comparison not only hilarious but utterly offensive? The nonprofit that still promotes the Rosie image http://www.rosietheriveter.org/ has its own tagline: Honoring those who toiled in the arsenal of democracy. World War II was a time of great sacrifice (and, if the Republicans forget, a Democratic in office). We understood that to fight for democracy, fight Nazis who were incinerating Jews, fight the Japanese and their kamikaze pilots - you had to sacrifice. Republicans when at war say, "Sacrifice? No - only the young men and women on the front lines and their families will sacrifice. Not only will the rest of us not sacrifice, we will get TAX CUTS! Woo hoo! War with no consequences, no sacrifice, no participation by the masses!

For anyone to think Palin or her kind merit any comparison to the women who dropped their aprons and went into factories to keep the country running while our men were at War in Europe and the Pacific is absurd to the point of obscenity.

When will Americans realize that it is not the supposed Angry Left that hates America - it is the Angry Right that hates America. People who love this country are willing to sacrifice and participate in keeping the democracy healthy. The only participation in Democracy on Palin's part has been to get more than her fair share of pork barrel money (ALASKA GETS MORE PORK THAN ANY OTHER STATE IN THE NATION!)

Now, think about the Republican memes: fiscal responsibility blah blah blah - and then look at reality. The states with the LEAST pork are the blue states: California is 49th and New York 50th. Republicans love pork (maybe this is why they feel an exaggerated fear of terrorism beyond the actual threats - afraid Islam will take away their pork - grin). Don't get me wrong - Islamic extremists are a real threat, but we have far more deaths by other causes than terrorism and you are indeed far more likely to die being hit by a drunk driver or be shot dead (indeed in 2001, the year of 9.11 almost 30,000 people were killed in the United States by firearms - almost 10 times the number - talk about "terror"!)

Frankly, this crazy-christian (not normal Jesus-based Christianity), gun-loving, caribou-killing-from-planes lady is so unimpressive it is amazing that she has duped people so quickly. Have we really become a nation of nim wits? Do we really now have a whole party that boos the educational institutions that have created the brain power that has made us the economic powerhouse we are (maybe not for much longer if we get another 8 years of this). If one thing should have turned people from the Republican party, it should be the booing at the fact Obama has an Ivy League education. These venerable institutions have created physicists that keep our defense strong, doctors who keep cancer patients alive longer than ever in history, scientists who discover the "next great thing" that will keep America on the cutting edge. Should we all be country hicks who use leaches to treat our illnesses? (not to mention the fact their freaking leader Bush is Ivy League educated - what hypocrits!).

Republicans are so much angrier than Democrats. They are angry that all Americans don't have universal beliefs that match theirs (yikes! so they hate democracy?).

If you want 8 more years of declining stock markets, corporate fraud and corruption, tax breaks for Paris Hilton and the uber-rich, obscene profits at the expense of American jobs, go ahead, vote for this pair.

If you want to have the historically strong economy found under Democratic administrations, and if you want diplomats not arrogant bullies in office, vote Democrat this year.

If you want to live like a Republican, Vote Democrat (FDR quote from a time when there were MANY Rosie's in our population!)

So last Friday, a few hours after getting home from New Mexico and absorbing the mind-blowing idiocy of the Republican Party, I decided to create a piece of flair:

Within a few hours a few hundred people had picked it up. Less than a week later, over 7000 people had shared the flair with other users. I was pretty surprised by how popular this rather primitive graphic was - people must feel really strongly about the ticket!

I created a new flair today as another mockery of this mindless ticket:

Wonder how this little gem will do? Unfortunately some crazy right wingers might actually pick it up and think it's serious. Yikes!

The show opened with some marble reliefs and readings from Shakespeare. My first reaction? These are not real people. That must come later. Wrong. Apollo and the Nine muses came next - stunning human recreations of Wedgwood statues. The masterful "paintings" kept coming: Degas, Toulouse-Latrec, and of course the annual finale, Da Vinci's The Last Supper.

My favorite moments when they allowed the actors to move during the transition to the next "frame." You honestly cannot believe when they dim the lights, bring them back up, and those people you just saw moving into position look as if they are part of a canvas.

This was a show I have wanted to attend for years and FINALLY did the whole re-dial over and over to try to get tickets (it sells out every year). It was well worth it and I plan to attend every year!

So here I am trying to get back into the swing of things.

Last week I made a trip to Florida to visit my mom (see puppy pics below) and had a nice time in the humid, mosquito-laden swampland.

On the estate front: the will was allowed! Amazingly, The Uncle from Hell did not try to make trouble. Even my aunt's long-time attorney was shocked. Now it's just onto estate taxes, distributing, and getting things in order.

My aunt left me her house on West Yarmouth (Cape Cod), which was such a sweet and lovely thing to do. We always had a special connection and being named after her was a great honor. I have missed Vera terribly but I feel very privileged to have spent so much time with her the past two years.

Work has been particularly hectic - I was asked to take over content and SEO for the whole company (vs. just the Aspen youth division) so that has meant a lot of focus on learning the whole landscape of their Internet strategy and network and catching up on updates and changes. The sites sat pretty idle over the last year, so it was like a tsunami of work at first. I've now gotten into the rhythm of it and I'm really enjoying the broader content work.

I have found four new freelance writers who are wonderful - but the best finds were two full-time writers - I could not have imagined I would get two people so perfect for the job! It makes life so much easier when you have talented, diligent colleagues.