the simple purchase of earplugs has made my sleep much sounder, and helped drown out the construction (well, mostly demolition at this point) right outside my bedroom window. i'm actually feeling somewhat perky today.
since i live in the boston area, it's only fitting that i let fly with my non-expert opinions on the event that's engulfed our bucolic coastal town this week...
the dnc.
i didn't attend but did spend the evenings i wasn't at work watching either the pbs or c-span coverage of all of it. and last night at work i put the kerry speech on all of our tv monitors (with sound). i expected the club to be quiet last night, but was surprised. people must have had just about enough of being quarrantined. it turns out that a lot of people were given the week off, and many left the city because they didn't want to be swept up in mass security and traffic entanglements. the roads were all pretty quiet, and i've heard that business did suffer downtown...there wasn't the reality of delegates sweeping through like a swarm of locusts eating and drinking their way through town and leaving a path of exhausted but happy waitstaff in their wake.
getting around by car was a bit of a pain for people coming in from outside the city. many exits off major highways and thruways were closed, and traffic was re-routed to obscure secondary roads many people probably didn't know existed before this week.
so financially, for businesses in and around the area, i think the convention was a bust. boston just isn't set up to comfortably hold such a large event without inconviencing most everyone who lives here. if there is an upshot (and i believe there is), it's that the convention appeared to be a shining moment for the democrats. my two favorite speakers were jimmy carter (how can you argue with the wisdom and well articulated vitriol of a former president who has won the nobel peace prize?) and barak obama. i'm already looking forward to voting for either mrs. clinton or mr. obama, or any combination of the two in a future presidential election. and bill clinton was, as usual, brilliant. his recent appearances have made me long for the days of a president who can think and act at the same time. i'd gladly vote for him again, if that was possible.
while i sadly missed the john edwards and al sharpton speeches (had to work...but i was able to download the transcripts of all the major speeches), john kerry delivered. and i am happy. i loved the pre-emptive tone of his and many other of the speeches...i hope the attempts to cut the republican attack dogs off at the knees are successful. all they can do is look petty, meanspirited and bitter if they are let loose to do their worst. and the heartfelt tributes to 9/11 will make the republican attempts to capitalize on it when they're in NY ring hollow and seem contrived. brilliant strategies, and i hope they work.
if this convention helps put kerry in the white house, then all of the inconvenience was worth it. and then some.
so that's my political wrap. i have hope that come november i won't have to pack my bags, books and chihuahuas and move to canada or new zealand, although i certainly wouldn't mind either of those options.
congratulations on reading this far. i hope you are well, happy, and ready to enjoy your weekend. this is for you:
since i live in the boston area, it's only fitting that i let fly with my non-expert opinions on the event that's engulfed our bucolic coastal town this week...
the dnc.
i didn't attend but did spend the evenings i wasn't at work watching either the pbs or c-span coverage of all of it. and last night at work i put the kerry speech on all of our tv monitors (with sound). i expected the club to be quiet last night, but was surprised. people must have had just about enough of being quarrantined. it turns out that a lot of people were given the week off, and many left the city because they didn't want to be swept up in mass security and traffic entanglements. the roads were all pretty quiet, and i've heard that business did suffer downtown...there wasn't the reality of delegates sweeping through like a swarm of locusts eating and drinking their way through town and leaving a path of exhausted but happy waitstaff in their wake.
getting around by car was a bit of a pain for people coming in from outside the city. many exits off major highways and thruways were closed, and traffic was re-routed to obscure secondary roads many people probably didn't know existed before this week.
so financially, for businesses in and around the area, i think the convention was a bust. boston just isn't set up to comfortably hold such a large event without inconviencing most everyone who lives here. if there is an upshot (and i believe there is), it's that the convention appeared to be a shining moment for the democrats. my two favorite speakers were jimmy carter (how can you argue with the wisdom and well articulated vitriol of a former president who has won the nobel peace prize?) and barak obama. i'm already looking forward to voting for either mrs. clinton or mr. obama, or any combination of the two in a future presidential election. and bill clinton was, as usual, brilliant. his recent appearances have made me long for the days of a president who can think and act at the same time. i'd gladly vote for him again, if that was possible.
while i sadly missed the john edwards and al sharpton speeches (had to work...but i was able to download the transcripts of all the major speeches), john kerry delivered. and i am happy. i loved the pre-emptive tone of his and many other of the speeches...i hope the attempts to cut the republican attack dogs off at the knees are successful. all they can do is look petty, meanspirited and bitter if they are let loose to do their worst. and the heartfelt tributes to 9/11 will make the republican attempts to capitalize on it when they're in NY ring hollow and seem contrived. brilliant strategies, and i hope they work.
if this convention helps put kerry in the white house, then all of the inconvenience was worth it. and then some.
so that's my political wrap. i have hope that come november i won't have to pack my bags, books and chihuahuas and move to canada or new zealand, although i certainly wouldn't mind either of those options.
congratulations on reading this far. i hope you are well, happy, and ready to enjoy your weekend. this is for you: