Long Time Gone

I'm taking a break from what feels like throwing Obama flyers all around town (and what is actually walking to specific homes in specific neighborhoods to talk with people but finding most not at home). I'm even talking to people at Starbuck's, people on the street, and construction workers about Obama. Pretty exciting. Apparently, a bunch of people will be descending on Oxford this weekend, so the house where I'm staying is probably going to get crowded, with three Chicagoans arriving tonight. I'm pretty tired, but took my first shower, which is chill-inducing, even indoors. The weather isn't too bad; some [melting] snow on the ground. I confess I ate at Taco Bell today; it was cheap, convenient, and flavorless. Fired up and ready to go!

This morning began to the anthem of my cell phone's alarm ring and the barest hint of daylight glowing through the gauzy white curtains in my bedroom. Not sun, mind you, but whatever Ohio skies consider to be the indicator of morning. We're meeting at 10:30am somewhere here in Oxford, a town so small there's no chance I'll get lost. Another memory from yesterday about the Obama movement is when I finally found an outlet for my laptop at Chicago O'Hare, I managed to drop it, and the guy next to me made small talk. He says he thinks that Obama is so liked by the people that if he's elected president, Congress will not have the power to oppose him. This guy is from Lake Placid, had been skiing in Vail, and talked about how he'd been involved in politics for decades. The girl who had been sitting in his chair earlier told me that she liked my Obama bumper sticker, and while she is not a Democrat, will be voting for him because she "hates Hillary" a...

I sat down for lunch at O'Hare airport with two guys and got one of them into Obama! And one of them informally offered me a job in Boston. But it's in food service :-(. An interesting day. I was trying to draw a guy from Kentucky into a conversation about Obama (heaven forbid I begin to remind myself of a door-to-door religion salesperson), only to learn he's voting for Huckabee! Shocking. But, he wants to go into business and earn a lot of money, so I supposed Huckabee would be his man. And I hear, too, that Huckabee is charismatic, knows his stuff, and can work a room. Sort of like a cherubic Reagan. Sort of. I'm here at Miami University (not in Florida) in Oxford (not in England), Ohio, in a beautiful house with a nice young woman who's offered to put me up through Wednesday. I felt very grown-up as I rented a car for the first time by myself, and wandered through the dark night around Cincinatti and through several small towns onto a two-lane highway u...

Bad news from the financial front: I'm having a hard time making ends meet; students loans coming due soon that are not deferable that I cannot pay for. Disability no longer pays enough to cover the basics, and I am starting to panic. I cannot find a job despite my best efforts. Suggestions?

I wasn't actually on sabbatical; rather, I took my opinionated opinions to facebook, where it's easier to interact with friends and make new acquaintances (and play too much "Scrabulous:). Lots of fun, but this blog is a labor of love, and I have no intention of abandoning it. Stay tuned.