Iowa Caucus and My Mom

I am originally from Iowa. My mother, who is 80 years old, has lived in Iowa her whole life. She has never attended a Caucus.. until now.

First let me tell you a little about my mom. She's a "greatest generation" woman, widow, and Catholic with a ton of kids. Probably always voted the same way her husband did. This year, in the freezing snow, she decided to attend her first caucus.

Another thing about my mom, she is not an opinionated woman. This woman has trouble deciding anything including what kind of salad to order. A trait no doubt of women from the WW2 generation who always had their husbands to make all the decisions. Then they find themselves widowed and unable to decide anything without help. Expressing an opinion seems a little scary, "what if my friends don't agree?"

MY mom went to the caucus AND wore a Clinton button!! She wore a little volunteer sign for getting there early, and actually TALKED! When someone asked her "why should I vote for Hillary?", she actually gave a really political intelligent answer!! When she got home, she called her lesbian, activist daughter and said "Guess where I've been?!!" all full of excitement.

It really gives me hope and makes me really proud of my Mommy!!

Yet another reason I like John best...

"In April of last year, Gov. Lynch and the state of New Hampshire passed a bill officially recognizing civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. This courageous act showed us that the idea of America – fairness, justice and equal opportunity – can become a reality when we have the courage to stand up for what is right."

John Edwards about New Hampshire's new civil unions law in a press release

Juno

I saw this movie last weekend. If you like smartass, witty independent movies, I recommend.

Juno is a smart teenager, but she still got pregnant from her dalliance with her geeky classmate Paulie Bleeker. What's a young woman to do? Her spunky friend Leah has an idea: go shopping for parents to adopt the baby. When she comes across a well-to-do suburban couple who is desperate for a child, Juno thinks her problems might all be over. But in reality, even more difficult choices and mixed emotions arise for Juno as she struggles to find her place as a daughter, student, mother, and, ultimately, adult.

Starring:

Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Olivia Thirlby, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney

Keys to the Kingdom

VanityFair

Between them, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have made 13 of the 100 top-grossing movies of all time. Yet they struggled for more than a decade with the upcoming fourth installment of their billion-dollar Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Annie Leibovitz gets exclusive access to the set, while Lucas, Spielberg, and their star, Harrison Ford, tell Jim Windolf about the long standoff over the plot, why critics and fans will be upset, and how they’ve updated Indy. (READ)

Annie Leibovitz snaps Cate Blanchett on the set of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: