Thanksgiving Extravaganza

Thanksgiving was awesome this year because I got to host in my tiny little apartment. With Mom and Dad in my room, Chris and I got to have a sleepover in the living room with air mattresses. Awesome. It was so nice to cook with my Mom. Homemade rolls (of course), stuffing (thanks Martha Stewart), mashed potatoes, and roasted turkey (salt and pepper are all that is needed). Then there was the exploding gravy incident because dad decided to make gravy on the stove in a pyrex pan. Chris decided to strain the glass shards from the gravy and eat it anyway (and I tried a few spoonfuls on my potatoes because, well, why not?).

After apple pie, we went to see Lincoln. If Daniel Day Lewis doesn't get the Oscar, there is no justice. Who would have thought a movie on parliamentary procedure could be funny and profound. I loved that there was actual debates about important issues on the floor of the House - and the congressmen were actually there participating! After all this history, we decided to make it a Lincoln weekend. First there was Ford's Theater and the Peterson House

Stephen Colbert Raises a Good Point

Only 4 American women have become Supreme Court Justices, but 8 American women have married princes or kings to become princesses. Why is being a princess so fascinating to young girls? What are the traditional jobs for women: nurse, mom, teacher. But seeing how 57% of college students are female, it will be interesting to see in twenty-five years what top three professions for women come to mind. Secretary of State seems to be a top choice in recent history.

But Grace Kelly sure is gorgeous in that princess wedding dress. Maybe there is no hope. Or maybe we can accept that the princess fantasy will persist outside of reality for the foreseeable future.

The MI Guys

While I'm blogging I'm watching the show Spy which I love because it involves all my favorite things: 1) mistaken identity, 2) people that are secretly geniuses, 3) spy agencies! and 4) very tall, well built actors with a sense of humor. It doesn't hurt that all the action is done with a British accent.

So that covers the boys at MI5, now on to MI6. Saw James Bond's Skyfall last weekend which Joy describes as a chick flick. And really there's nothing more thrilling to a chick than Daniel Craig checking his cuff links after jumping onto a moving train while chasing the bad guy. I like action movies, especially when accompanied by clever dialogue and dexterous fighting scenes that are beautifully filmed with continuous camera shots.

Fun Fact: MI means military intelligence and had many divisions which were basically consolidated into MI5 and MI6 after WWII. Conspiracy theorists still think there is a MI17 head office dealing with extraterrestrials. I am eagerly awaiting British Scully and Mulder.

Into the Wild(life refuge...)

This weekend Joy and I celebrated veterans and America by visiting 3 wildlife refuges. 1) Back Bay W.R. of southern Virginia had a great stretch of beach that was home to huge pods of dolphins, which were clearly showing off for us. They were surfing the waves and hunting fish as if they owned the place. Which of course, they do.

2) Chincoteague Wildlife Refuge on the Delmarva. Recently 'renovated' by Hurricane Sandy, the road to the beach was closed to cars, but still walkable. This was the site of kite flying and sand castle building. Confession: all my sand castles look like Dome of the Rock because it's the most stable sand structure I can build. Afterward we went looking for birds and found ruddy ducks, great egrets, snowy egrets, blue teals, and great blue herons. The egrets were especially good at catching fish. Joy and I also did a scavenger hunt in the local Chincoteague Museum.

3) Blackwater Wildlife Refuge also on the Delmarva. Great bike trail and home of bald eagles (and other birds of course like banded hawks and your assortment of wading birds and gulls). We saw 3 bald eagles today. It was really beautiful estuary in the middle of pastoral fields. Turns out the refuge is right next to where Harriet Tubman was born, worked as a slave, and then escaped into freedom, only to risk it all over and over again as a conductor on the Underground Railroad right through the Delmarva. Someday I want to be a "nurse, scout, and spy."

Lastly, Joy and I stopped in marvelous Cambridge where the High Spot Gastropub had changed my mind on oysters. I have now come to the conclusion (along with Joy), that oysters do not totally suck. Especially when fried, covered in buffulo sauce and dipped in blue cheese. And then chased with chicken and waffles lovingly doused with jalepeno enhanced maple syrup.

And now fun facts: 1) Horseshoe crabs have 10 eyes, but still can't see very well. Females can get to be over 3 feet across! Females have "scissor" legs and males have "boxing" legs. We had a very enlightening presentation at the Delmarva Discovery Center. 2) 25% of Chincoteague has Mediterrean features because a little boy from a Spanish shipwreck washed up on shore hundreds of years ago; he was named James Alone (because he was the sole survivor). 3) Again - because it's important - oysters do not totally suck.

Since this isn't Facebook...

I can say whatever I want and don't have to get involved in a pointless Facebook war. So YAY! I got to vote and my vote mattered because I'm in a swing state. We've really got to do something about this crazy electoral college because it really is ridiculous. Fun fact: the easiest way to find out who people want as president is to add up votes and then use this equation A > B. This is the face of my 2012 election:

Nate Silver uses facts and math to report on the election. He presents things logically to let the number speak for themselves. Someday, I want to be as statistically savvy as Nate Silver. To the results! President Obama has another 4 years to get universal health care up and running. The only rational, practical way to improve our health outcomes as a nation is to have coverage for everyone with an emphasis on preventative care. My hope is that with this new system that the insured middle class will no longer need to fear bankruptcy whenever they are hit with a major illness or unemployment. I hope Congress and the President can come together to enact Simpson-Bowles debt reform and that Elizabeth Warren (new Senator from Massachusetts - YAY) will take on wall street and banking reform. Just say no to credit default swaps. I was also very excited to hear that Utah voted their moderate, practical Congressman Matheson back in. Also, Tim Kaine won in Virginia. Double YAY! His opponent employed my old, crazy boss (who shall remain nameless) and that's all the information I needed to decide he's not the candidate for me.

A Day at the Museum

I love the National Gallery of Art. I hadn't been there in awhile, but one visit and I remembered all the reasons why it is awesome. First of all, there are fountains in the middle of the museum. Second, a DaVinci. Amazing. Third, they have portraits that help us remember our history, like when George Washington had background scenery disguised as a black person.

Fourth, we can see the original emo 19th century teenager. Or Liberace's great great grandfather.

Fifth, they have this amazing painting by Wyeth.

Sixth, there is the fantastic tunnel connecting the original museum to the funky east wing. The tunnel is a big highlight, I'm not going to lie.

And seventh, they had a Roy Lichtenstein retrospective which helped me realize the power of polka dots.

Fun fact about the National Gallery Art: it stands on a former railway station which is where President James Garfield was shot in 1881.

Happy Halloween - Or why I got scared on the way to work

Arriving at work on Halloween revealed 7 ambulances in the ambulance bay. Seven! And it wasn't even 11 AM yet! The picture only shows 4 of the 7, but trust me it was scary.

My favorite part of Halloween/fall is the explosion of pumpkin based foods. LOVE IT. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin stew, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin bread pudding, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin mouse, pumpkin spice cake, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin chai latte, pumpkin ravoli, pumpkin soup, pumpkin zombie decorations (Joy made them, and they are awesome). Fun fact: the world's heavist pumpkin was 1810 pounds which was grown in 2010.