Weird Year, Great Trip to Australia and Going To Rally to Restore Sanity

I've been very quiet in the blog this year. I was hopelessly exhausted for over the first half of the year, but still managed to keep up with a part time job and an increasingly busy volunteer project.

The good thing that happened this year was Jim and I were able to go to Australia. We had a stupendous time. I survived jet lag, and took 1450 photos (nearly half of which I've edited).

This is my favorite photo from Australia:

September 11, 2010, the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbor Bridge, Laurie and Jim Mann, photo by John Maizels

We were in Melbourne for nearly two weeks, and Sydney for five nights. We went to Aussiecon 4 (World Science Fiction Convention), saw great sights, ate great meals and just had a terrific time. The only disappointment was we were going to New Zealand for a few days. To Christchurch. Sadly, our timing was off and the earthquake hit a few days before we were due to go. After dithering (I was eager to see Christchurch, and our B+B escaped unscathed) we decided to stay in Melbourne. Otherwise, we had a spectacular trip.

Also, being in Sydney the day that Oprah announced she was going to bring about 300 Americans to visit later this year was kind of a trip in itself - this was the top news story in Australia that day.

After a very busy two months of traveling, I decided at almost the last minute to go to Washington tomorrow for the "Rally to Restore Sanity."


So I have to go and meet a friend early tomorrow morning.

Well, it's not Quite the Republican's Waterloo...But It's Close!

I was raised to be a Republican. Heck, I even voted, when I was 19, for Gerry Ford. I worked for Republican candidates in the '70s and '80s.

But while I've spent most of my adult life as a registered Independent, I became a registered Democrat in 2004.

I believe we need a multiple party system in this country. But any rational Republican let the far right co-opt their own party somewhat during the Reagan administration, but whole-heartedly during the Clinton administration.

I'm not fond of big government. But, more important than its size is, is it a progressive, forward-thinking government? Does it try to treat people fairly? Does the government respect the Constitution? We didn't have that from early 2001 until early 2009. And yet, health care reform is somehow more unconstitutional than holding prisoners for years without charging them? What's wrong with this picture?

While my husband and I make under $250,000 (well under), I expect we will be paying higher taxes in the future. And I will not bitch about it. Not only will we be helping to pay for more American's health care (which is fine by me), we will also be helping to pay off the debts incurred during the Bush wars and tax cuts (which never were fine by me). But we won't bitch about it.

Thanks, again, President Obama and the Democratic party, for helping to bring American into the late 20th century with your health care reform plan. We will always remember who voted for it, and who voted against it.