Too much to write about

I woke up half-sick on Sunday, and I'm only just starting to feel almost better - nasty symptoms, headache, vaguely queasy and not wanting food, but at the same getting that rumbly stomach that feels like it's going to eat itself if I don't, tired - the last two nights at about 10:15, I just had to immediately go to bed; do not pass go, do not read a book, just hit the pillow. I must be recovering - tonight after class, while I was waiting for the bus, a girl next to me opened her to-go cup of student union chili and it smelled good; a few hours earlier when I walked into the over the noon hour faculty meeting where someone was finishing off a salad with parmesan cheese, all I could do was remember how mom used to say it smelled like vomit, and try hard not to.

It was a bad sick, though, because I never really stopped doing anything - I had a dinner at the house on Monday, so I cooked all day Sunday, during the ice storm that deposited 3 inches of slush with 4? 5? 6? inches of snow on top - shoveled some of it, too, after a walk to the corner store for more flour.

During the day Monday, after shoveling that additional who knows how many inches of snow on top of the now-frozen slush, I worked at home, until the dinner. 10 people canceled and one got added, so all the food I had prepared for 23 was shared among only 14 ... It was nice to stay in, but I just did not feel that good - the high point was probably taking the two loaves of the Cook's Illustrated almost no knead bread out of the oven - they were perfect even though one of them was destined for the freezer. The low point was John calling saying he and the car'd just been in a little fender bender.

Tuesday I went out and voted for Obama. I guess I am still a little put off by the criticism that he's empty words, but I decided that I have been in way too many situations where someone in charge has carefully laid out all the cogent reasons why we can't do some very good idea - or at least why it will be so difficult - hell, I've been that person myself often enough. What's wrong with saying things that just make people feel good? Isn't that what a leader is supposed to do? He (or she) can hire others to get the hard things done. Worked for Regan didn't it?

I heard an NPR commentator, visiting British business scholar (I think, but I can't find it), talk about how you Americans are simply being unrealistic to expect to find a leader and a manager in a president, and that made sense -

Even the remnants of the Grateful Dead united for Obama (it was kind of like Phil Lesh & friends plus Bobby & Mickey) - on February 4th, they played a show at the Warfield in San Francisco, introduced by Barack himself [although I now understand that Obama was actually participating via videoconference, which explains how he could look out at a sea of Deadheads and say "young people like you" - he really wasn't looking out at all]. I have the show in my iPod now, thanks to the Internet Archive.