Harvey just sent me some very cute photos of their recent weekend at Wapato Point with my mom & Rich.

Saturday night I stayed very late at my mom's house, chatting. Finally I dragged my butt to the car at 3:30AM. My car wouldn't start. I then realized that my gas tank was nearly empty and I was parked on a very steep hill. Doh! I went back inside the house to beg rescue from my mom. She put on her shoes and coat and we went to the shed where we, thankfully, discovered a couple of gas cans (neither very full). After trouble with retracting nozzles, gasoline on hands, and one false car start, we finally prevailed. I was able to back up the driveway and drive to the gas station down the road where the nice gas station attendent let me wash my hands while I refilled my gas tank. I guess Benjamin had a point all those times he told me not to wait so long to get gas. :-)

I spent yesterday evening at my mom's house hanging out with her and Carol. Rich too, until his bedtime. ;) See more photos.

On Thanksgiving we went to Vashon. We finally got onto the ferry dock after an hour. Then we went to see Ariel and the new baby, followed by the Thanksgiving celebration at my dad's house.

Rossi wins in recount by 42 votes

Both candidates gained votes in the recount but Rossi is still ahead by 42 votes. There is talk of a third hand recount if the Democrats can afford to pay for it. Read more in The Seattle Times article.

A few years ago a friend of mine wanted imagery for "yonic" buttons. This picture would have been a good one.

Great book site

This is a great site for finding books, particularly used books. It is a site that has the inventory of tons of bookstores all over the world; it helps you locate the book you're looking for and then purchase it from the seller. I have placed one order that I haven't received yet, but my experience so far has been very good. Also, the prices are lower than Amazon. Note that the local used bookstore chain Third Place Books includes their inventory on this site but Half Price Books does not (they don't have a computerized inventory of any kind). Check it out - Abebooks: New & Used Books, Textbooks, Rare & Out-of-Print Books.

Stepford Wives

Last night Benjamin and I watched the new version of The Stepford Wives. It was interesting to see how they had modernized it and there are certainly some amusing moments, but there are gaping plot holes and it does nothing to best the book. I think they did change the ending, but it has been so long since I read it that I can't remember! I haven't watched the first film version from the 70's so I have no idea how it compares to that, but Ira Levin (the book's author) is a master and his books are wonderful. He's written many famous stories that were turned into movies including Rosemary's baby, The Boys from Brazil and Sliver. This has inspired me to get some Ira Levin books from the library to re-read them. :)

Never surrender

This is a nice campaign aimed at Democrats dissolusioned by the results of the election. Learn more about the Never Surrender Campaign.

Sunday

Sunday I slept in really late after staying up late playing with photos. I killed the couple of hours between when I woke up and our dinner engagements by playing with photos and sending email. For dinner Rob & Steph came over and Steph brought taco stuff she had made. It was amazing! She hand-made corn tortillas and she also made pico de gallo, chipotle salsa, "Mexican" rice, steak, and chicken. She made a coconut dessert, too. Ohmygosh was it yummy. :-) After dinner the boys played Dawn of War in the basement while Steph and I watched Shrek 2, which was very amusing. Not a bad end to a slow weekend.

Republicans pass so-called "Abortion Non-Discrimination Act" amendment

This is a disturbing new twist from the anti-abortion legislators. On Saturday November 20th, the House and Senate passed the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for FY 2005. The bill contains the Federal Refusal Clause or the Weldon so-called "Abortion Non-Discrimination Act" amendment. It allows health care entities (broadly defined to include hospitals, HMOs, health insurance plans, or any other kind of health care facility) to refuse to provide any abortion services, information or referrals to abortion services - even if the woman asks - and in extreme cases of rape or incest. Send email to your senators and representative in protest of this amendment. More info from Planned Parenthood and NOW.

Organizing photos

vs.

I spent a time this weekend playing around with and comparing two digital photo organization software titles: Adobe Photoshop Album 2.0 and Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10 (the library portion). I am sad to report that the Microsoft product seems to be better overall.They both have significant issues, and both are reputed to be improving these in their next versions, but from what I've seen so far the Microsoft product wins the race. The top three reasons MS DIS wins: Better performance working with large numbers of photos, keyword tagging is easier and more robust, and it handles "offline files" better (files it can't currently access over a network, etc). The things Adobe PSA does that MS DIS doesn't: Calendar view with "event" concept, supports PSD files, the ability to "hide" files in your collection without deleting them, and the inclusion of video and audio files in the library (MS DIS claims to include video but it doesn't say what file types and it doesn't work with mine). I have done brief experimentation with the Adobe PSA archiving functionality and read about it quite a bit in the online user forums. Their archiving functionality is pretty limited - you have to use Album to archive or it won't understand where your photos are - and I read online that there are a lot of bugs trying to archive large quantities of photos (>1 CD) at a time. Note that neither of these products currently supports the RAW image format for my camera (Nikon Coolpix 5400 NEF files), though I've heard this is being added in the next version of both products. Other solutions? If you're wondering if I considered other products the answer is: sort of. I looked at Extensis Portfolio online and it looked like the feature set was similar and it didn't support my RAW files either. Plus, it was $200 I didn't feel like spending. I didn't look further than that.

Saturday

We didn't do a whole lot this weekend. We originally had plans Saturday night to go see my in-laws' new house and to have dinner with friends, but both were cancelled so Benjamin and I went out to Beso Del Sol together and then walked down 45th in Wallingford and stopped into Flourish and Rubato Records before getting a caffeine hit for Benjamin at Starbucks.

New ultra-compact digital camera?

I went to a digital camera talk this morning and got to play with some new camera's from Glazer's. There are some amazing ultra-compact cameras available now. I am very tempted to purchase one to supplement my nicer Nikon with something small enough to carry with me 24/7. I'm looking around and so far the top contender is the the Casio Exilim EX Z40 / Z50 / Z55. Other possibilities are Pentax Optio S5i or the Canon Powershot SD300. The Casio EX Z50 and Pentax Optio S5i are nearly identical physically and appear to use the same Pentax lens. My guess is that Casio and Pentax made this together and are each selling a slightly modified version of it. DP Review stats on the Optio S51 and the Exilim EX-Z55 indicate that the Pentax is superior in all ways but the LCD size and battery life. Admittedly the differences are small. Check out the features side-by-side on DPReview.com.

Microsoft just launched a Microsoft Design web site. It is nice to have a place where design @ MS is really highlighted. I know MS product design has a LONG way to go, but keep in mind we are a group of ~300 people in a company of ~57,000, so it is slow progress.

New baby!

Ariel's daughter was born early Tuesday morning. Her name is Samantha. :-) See more photos.

My husband sent me flowers!!!

After Gameworks, Benjamin and I went to see The Incredibles at Pacific Place. About half way through the fire alarm went off and they evacuated the building. Luckily we got to watch the second alf after the fire department cleared the building.

Tonight we went to a surprise birthday dinner for Peter at Benihana. Amy really surprised him! After dinner we went to gameworks for a while.

It was very foggy this morning. I wasn't able to take a photo on the bridge, but you couldn't see land in any direction; it was pretty trippy.

Returning books on CD to the library.

I am such a dork. I just made a map for my husband of the traffic shortcuts on the way home. :-)

A unique error message

Humans are very amusing creatures. I think those at my office are perhaps especially amusing in our workplace behaviors. It is interesting to see what people are particular about. For example, food. Many of us have secret stashes of this or that essential item hidden away in our desks. The SPOT team has a cappuccino machine; Niels has a coffee maker; Simon has Armenian mint tea in fancy teabags, an electric teapot, special brown sugar, olive oil & balsamic vinegar; Bill has a hand blender and the ingredients to make smoothies; some people have beer fridges or liquor "cabinets"; I have Splenda packets, salt & pepper, and parmesan cheese. This doesn't even start to tap into the non-food items (aromatherapy spray, lotion, toothbrush, etc, etc). What accoutrements do you have in your office?

People who knowingly leave their laptop's sound on during a meeting, despite the periodic sounds it is making, deserve to be kicked under the table.

Trustworthy Electronic Election Results without Trusted Machines

There is an interesting talk coming up at the UW on electronic voting. If you can't go in person, note that this will also be broadcast online live and on-demand as well as on UWTV (TV broadcast is significantly delayed). http://www.cs.washington.edu/news/colloq.info.html Andrew Neff, VoteHere.com Tuesday, November 23, 2004 @ 3:30 pm @ UW, EE-105 Electronic devices and systems potentially offer many of the same benefits to the process of conducting elections that they have already delivered to the worlds of finance and business. Unfortunately, the requirement for ballot secrecy, along with the high degree of complexity possible in today's devices, makes it impossible for the general voting population to directly infer that systems tasked with collecting and counting votes are behaving accurately and honestly. Recently, verifiable mix net and homomorphic tabulation protocols have effectively solved the problem of publicly counting encrypted ballots, thereby eliminating the need to trust special vote counting software and hardware. Our focus in this talk will be on describing a new protocol executable by voters while in the poll booth, that eliminates the need to trust the vote casting software and hardware as well. By way of a challenge-response scheme, the voting device is prevented from casting an encrypted ballot which is inconsistent with the voter's intent without showing evidence thereof -- evidence which the voter can easily detect by simple inspection. To prevent vote tampering after ballots have been cast, each voter is given a receipt which can be used to audit the public ballot box. However, because part of the voter's proof of ballot correctness is derived from direct observation in the poll booth of the temporal sequence by which the receipt is formed, the receipt is meaningless to someone else. Voters can thus track their own ballots through the final count, and dispute any discrepancy between it and their intended choices, but they are not provided with any evidence that can prove to someone else which candidates -- or issues -- they voted for, even under the treat of coercion. Refreshments to be served in room prior to talk.

Retrain our use of language

You may have heard George Lakoff, David Domke, the Rockridge Institute and others recently talk about the Republicans' effective use of language and repetition to frame the political debate. I think it's time for Progressives to have breakout sessions practicing this new terminology until it becomes habit and feels natural. Practice saying equal marriage rights rather than gay marriage, progressive instead of liberal, tax investments instead of tax hikes, and perhaps even anti-choice instead of pro life. You can also use the Rockridge Institute's 3 Step Plan to map out your values to enable you to speak from a more values-based position that will present your views as more grounded, moral, and consistent.

Kerry Won. Here are the Facts.

Is this article by Greg Palast, infamous jounalist, a conspiracy or a more carefully-considered view of vote counting in Ohio and New Mexico? Your thoughts are welcome.

My mom knitted a hat for my co-worker who is currently undergoing chemotherapy. I tried it on to see how it was. :-)

Saturday I visited my mom, Rich & Carol (the pug) in Tacoma. This is Carol persistently pulling out all the stitches on a baseball.

There was a Husky game on Saturday and the long line of busses down both sides of Montlake was quite impressive.

Image from Robert J. Vanderbei at Princeton. See larger version and read more.

Pondering the future for "progressives"

This is a letter from a UW Math professor, posted with his permission. I think it does a good job of asking the hard questions on many of our minds right now. Emphasis was added by me.

Dear friends, The election is over, and I'm stuck. I spent all day yesterday and much of the past two weeks working with MoveOn PAC to mobilize Kerry voters, and we felt we were part of an unstoppable force, so I wasn't prepared for what happened. Since I don't seem to be able to focus on my work very well today, I thought I'd try some keyboard therapy. Where do we go from here? I don't mean "What action should we plan at our next organizing meeting?", but something bigger -- maybe something like "Where can we point our headlights in this darkness?" I have to admit, my first impulse is just to go back to bed and say to the Republicans - and those who voted for them - "OK, you broke it, now you fix it." But then I remember what our local octogenarian radical Abe Osheroff says about focusing on the process rather than the goals. Here's one way he put it: "I've come to a place in my life where to be goal-oriented is building in future defeat. I'm concerned with the road I'm on and the direction in which it goes. Whether it will achieve or not achieve what I would like to see happen is secondary to the fact that I live in a moral and ethical way. I don't need to be assured that someday we'll have a wonderful society. And frankly, I don't think it will happen." (The entire interview, at http://www.ravenchronicles.org/northwest/amerconversation, is provocative and worth reading.) So, what road are we on, we who thought this election could turn America toward something better? I think I'm stuck at a fork in the road. On one path are waiting at least half of the 59 million people who voted for Bush - decent folks, scared folks, people who want to believe that America is a moral place and a safe place and still the greatest country in the world. They don't *want* to make billionaires richer at the expense of their children's health care and their own Social Security checks, or to turn our government into a police state, or to blow Iraqi children to smithereens; but they're convinced that these frightening and uncertain times might require unusual measures, and they're not ready to embrace gay marriages. We lost them somewhere along the road. Down this path, we'll put some of our cherished progressive goals on hold, we'll reach out to moderates and principled conservatives, and we'll try to reconstruct a Democratic party more or less in the image of the one got Bill Clinton elected, twice. One that can regain real power, or at least enough to stem the fearful tide of Bushism. Then there's the other path - the one where we'll finally stop picking candidates just because they seem more acceptable to the moderate swing voters, and instead put our energy into living and working for the country most of us believe America could be: a country that uses its vast wealth to lift up the poor and suffering, that sees universal health care as a right, that spreads democracy and freedom by smart example instead of by smart bombs, and that leads the way to an energy economy that can last a thousand years. On this path, we'll support leaders who are passionate and eloquent about what they truly believe, not about what they think the swing voters want to hear. This is a long, long path, because these leaders probably won't get elected next time or the time after that. But perhaps we'll build a third party that more and more people will come to see as a real alternative to the corruption and paralysis of politics as usual, and if it doesn't get a president elected it might at least insert an authentic and inextinguishable new vision into American politics. I know old Abe would march off down this path without looking back. For my part, I'm afraid that the first path will sap our energy and compromise our ideals so far that we'll become nearly indistinguishable from the Republicans, and in the end we'll inevitably lose to the real Republicans (as we did yesterday). But I'm afraid that the second path will take so long to gain a real political foothold that Bush and his successors will run the country irrevocably into the ground, or turn it into an authoritarian nightmare, before we have a chance to convince anyone but the choir. So I'm stuck. I think I'll just stay here for a while, because I can't see anywhere else to go. Jack

The US isn't as red as it looks on TV

Check out this map that shows the states as a gradation of red to blue based on the percentage of Democratic vs. Republican votes in the state. It's not as bad as the stark red & blue version.

"Bad was yesterday - today we start again. We never stop and we just keep chewing on their ankles until they fall down. Then we jump on their face. (The Rocketdog theory of political combat.)" - Bob Nelson 11/03/04

Make Election Day a national holiday

Send a letter to your representative and senators to make Election Day a national holiday. Let's keep increasing voter turnout!

The trees don't realize Bush won. Their leaves are still turning beautiful colors. ;-P

This is the Dear W letter I just sent to Bush via the Planned Parenthood Action Network.

Dear President Bush, Now faced with four more years of your presidency, I personally cannot allow myself to stand idly by while you and your anti-choice allies continue your attack on the social issues that I care about. This victory does not give you a mandate to advance your assault on social issues, such as women's health, environmental protections, and equal rights. I respect that you are a religious person and believe that abortion and homosexuality are wrong, but that doesn't mean you should prevent others from making different choices. Jesus directed us not to judge one another, to leave that up to God. So instead of spending the government's time and energy limiting the rights of those you disagree with, why not focus on making good decisions for yourself and your family, and praying for the rest of us. I appreciate your personal convictions, but please realize that part of being a free country is about letting everyone make their own choices. I hope you will reconsider your positions and let each American find his or her path.

Sincerely, Corinne

Maybe I am naive in thinking it's not an issue to share with you how I voted, but oh well. Here's how I voted and the election results for each. Initiatives

• I-872: Lousiana-style primary (top 2 vote getters regardless of party) – I voted No, but it passed
• I-884: +1% sales tax for education – I voted Yes but it didn't pass
• I-892: Gambling – I voted No and so did most other people
• I-55: Charter Schools – I voted No along with the majority
• I-297: Additional regulations on “mixed” radioactive and nonradioactive hazardous waste at Hanford – I voted Yes, so did "they"
• King County Alternative Proposed Charter Amendments 1A and1B to reduce the county council from 13 to 9 – I voted No and on part B said if it passes then reelection in 2007; It passed with option A
• King County Advisory Measure No. 1 on whether the council should propose a new transportation plan in 2005 – I voted Yes and it won
• King County Advisory Measure No. asked if a transportaiton plan were proposed how we'd like to see it paid for – I voted for a gas tax but an excise tax on vehicle value was the most popular choice
• I-83: Monorail recall - I voted No and it was successfully defeated

Partisan races I voted Democrat for every partisan race. Here's how they turned out.

• Kerry lost the presidency
• Murray kept her Senate seat
• the Governorship is still too close to call (!)
• Jim McDermott kept his congressional seat
• Brad Owen won Lt. Gov.
• Deborah Senn lost for AG
• Laura Ruderman lost for Sec. of State
• Mike Murphy won State Treasurer
• Brian Sonntag won State Auditor
• Mike Cooper lost as Commissioner of Public Lands
• Jim McIntire won State Rep for dist 46. pos. 1
• Phyllis Kenney won State Rep for dist 46. pos. 2

Non-Partisan races

• Sup. Of Public Instruction – I voted for Billings; she lost
• Judges - I voted for Becker (she lost), Madsen (unopposed), Sanders (he won), Grosse (unopposed), Darvas (she won), and Washington (he won)

Heartening story on a day of devastating news

Before talking about the devastating election news, a more positive entry. This is a story from a co-worker of mine that he said I could share with you.

My Mom is a Christian (in the truest sense of the word). She was raised in the Methodist church (my grandpa was a Methodist minister), and now is a deacon of the Nazarene church in our hometown in Oklahoma. When I came out to her 12 years ago, she was always telling me how worried she was about my soul, and that she was constantly praying for me to be changed, or to see the error of my ways, and give up this “lifestyle”. She always cried when I called because of this, and my brothers threatened to come up here and “beat it out of me” needless to say, I was concerned when I got a call from Mom last night asking about same-sex marriage. I give you this background to help you realize what I was expecting, and how shocked I was about her reaction. There was a ballot initiative in Oklahoma that would outlaw same-sex marriage and civil unions of any sort, and she wanted to know what my partner and I had to say about it (I just assumed that since she had this Christian background, and identified herself as a Christian, that she would be on the side of the conservative religious right in this, and I was wrong). I explained to her that even though I have been with my partner for 12 years now, and our bank accounts and all possessions are combined, if something happened to him, his family could come in and take everything we have together, prevent me from making medical decisions on his behalf, challenge legal wills, and a multitude of other things that are taken for granted in a hetero marriage, and that even common-law marriages have more rights than we do currently. I explained that we are being made second class citizens based on the simple fact that we are the same sex, and no other reason. I also explained to her that there are a small number of people who would like to take all our rights away, and this is just one step of many towards that end. She listened thoughtfully, asking clarifying questions, and we talked for about a half-hour about it, then I braced for the firestorm of condemnation she would normally unload on me when I called previously, and it never came. When I had finished explaining everything to her that I felt about it, she had made up her mind to vote against the measure in Oklahoma on the ballot today because as she put it “God meant for everyone to have choice in their lives, that is all about being human and anyone that takes that choice away is acting like God, and that is blasphemy, and I won’t be a part of it” she went on to say “I don’t think it can be changed or should be changed that you are gay, I don’t know if you were made that way or not, but as long as there is a possibility that it is internal and cannot be changed, I cannot judge anyone based on that. Besides, the Bible says there is only one judge, and we should not be putting ourselves in his place”. She said since my partner’s family had disowned him when he came out to them, that he was now her son with all the rights and privileges accorded to that position. I was more than floored by this, and got a feeling coming away from this that although I thought many years ago after coming out to her I would never have the same close relationship with my Mom as I always had when growing up, I now realize our relationship has just moved to a whole new level of respect and understanding. Above all, I realized with just one phone call that hope is never lost, only delayed. It took 12 years for my Mom to get to this point, and I know the world’s perceptions and many decades of discrimination will take a while to change, I have a hope that I didn’t have before this phone call that eventually the true Christians like my Mom will win out, and eventually basic rights will apply to everyone equally no matter what. I don’t know what I may have done in my former life to deserve a Mom as loving as mine, but I want to make sure I continue that into the future. Sorry about the long letter, but this is an encouraging sign I thought should be shared. BTW, my Mom & Dad are also voting for Kerry, are pro-choice, and believe we shouldn’t have gone to Iraq. Thanks for reading. ~RHamm

I find this story heartening not only because it shows that people can change and that there is a chance of conservatives and liberals finding common ground. In addition I found Rob's explanation of why same-sex marriage is important one of the most concise and convincing I've heard. I plan to commit it to memory for the next time I have the opportunity to sway someone. ;)

Puppy cam is keeping me company this morning. Yea!

I worked 24 hours this weekend. Went to bed at 3am this morning and got up at 7am. We're making bug fixes to the demo now and then I'm gong home for the day. I'm in that weird state between tired and alert. I feel alert but crappy and not sleepy. But if you laid me on a bed for 10 minutes I'd be out like a light. :)