Please Happy

From the plane.

Not actually sure what the metaphor is, but seemed poetic. Somehow.

If you were anything like me and weren’t allowed to have Nintendo, but became one of the best players in your friend group because playdates at others’ houses centered around the little box, and you even skipped Cheez-It and string cheese snack time and anything outside just to stay by the glowing box and play while the other Nintendo-bored owning children splashed in the pool or hula hooped in the yard — and if you’re still in a constant state of happy unbelieving and perma grin at the prospect of everyone in the entire world getting along because of our gorgeous American beacon of hope — then this game is for you.

SuperObamaWorld.

Play. Conjure happy Mario memories from childhood, and smile about our bright, bright future. (Or just get psyched to bonk your player’s head on boxes to get coins and flags for points and inform me if you find any sewage pipe portals to underground universes….)

With wars raging between The Republican Machine and the so-called Liberal Media, it’s hard to argue that what I read holds truth and what They read is bullshit. How can I argue that articles in The New York Times are any more valid than those my conservative-tending relatives consume?

With a growing suspicion of The Media , we the people turn to the only folks who have never let us down: the comedians.

I’ve watched the following video about 17 times in the past few days. I think that’s enough times to warrant a posting on my little blog. Sarah Silverman is a genius. She’s also extremely offensive, sometimes irritating and always super hot. She makes me want to be a young Jewish comedian.

I wish my name was Sarah Silverman and I wish I had made this video:

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

(Other classic, informative comedic clips can be found here and here.)

Typical tourist shot. (Nic is super excited to be there. )

Two nights ago, to let off steam and breathe in fresh air, some friends and I took a sunset stroll in Grand Teton National Park – a 15 minute car ride from home.

When some of us go to grad school or assume posts in cities next year, it’s nights like these we’ll miss: The indigo skyline at dusk, a lake so still it looks like ice, stars popping out one by one, the jagged silhouette of our majestic mountains.

And no one there but us.

Or, maybe we won’t miss it at all because we’ll be living in these mountains when the gas pumps go dry, trucks stop delivering food and we’re forced to feed, warm and water ourselves.

We may be freezing cold, but we’ll be grateful for this land full of elk, streams and acreage, where – hopefully – there will be enough logs from palatial estates to burn and enough wild game meat to go ’round that turning on each other will come later to us than our city counterparts.

Until we leave the woods for the city and/or retreat into them, it’s sunset hikes, great debates and trying to keep our chins up, our eyes open and our fun quotient high!

Minding the gap.

While I read about the election, The Media, limiting voter access to candidates, the state of our financial situation, comments on the $700 Billion Bailout, the debate to postpone the debates and the Black Guy Who Wants Real Change, I scratch my head wondering how I can DO Something to Help promote a transparent government, an intelligent administration. Do I travel to a swing state and knock on doors? Do I email my relatives to start a dialogue (I did this and have since started a conversation with two loved ones with whom I do not share political views)? Do I send letters to the editor, letters to my congressman? Do I listen to NPR until I cry?

For now (when I’m not reading the New York Times, The Huffington Post, Salon, Media Matters and also trying to learn – through Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Fox News, Christians For Social Justice and various advertising campaigns – just how our country would ever consider re-empowering Karl Rove, Dick Cheney such a secretive duo), I’ll be watching Rolo destroy the wires and papers in my computer bag. I wonder when he’ll come out (just as I wonder, of course, when the American people will demand that Rolo’s proverbial political counterpart will be let out, especially in regards to what the bailout means for us, what our financial future will look like, if we’ll continue to be ruled by empty words and fear or if we’ll live up to the innovative, dynamic, well-rounded version of America that leads the world in its vision and makes us all proud).

He’s still in there.

After spending a gorgeous, cloudy day sport climbing with some of my best friends in Sinks Canyon outside Lander, WY, we stopped by the side of the road near Dubois and got this photo. Turns out, even in one of the reddest states in the country, some people have hope. If you are still undecided about your vote, or confused about some of the topics, this could help.

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