Thursday Thirteen #9

I have just embarked on a summer as a staffer on a political campaign, and what a year to be doing this. Here is a quick recap of the first 2 1/2 weeks:




Thirteen Things I have been doing this summer while working on a political campaign. I... 1. ...flew to a city that I have never been to before. After one of the worst days of delays and flight cancellations I have ever experienced, I landed at 1AM, found my way to a hotel, and then worked that day 9AM-8:30PM, meeting the entire staff for the first time. 2. ...slept on a couch at the deputy finance director's apartment before moving in with the family of a supporter. I quickly got used to the family's habits and 20-year-old cat that yowls in the middle of the night. 3. ...began working 12 hour days, 6 days a week. This Sunday will be my last Sunday off. It will be 7days/week from July on out. 4. ...spent a little bit of time downtown exploring the city. Honestly, it is not quite as great as everyone told me it would be, but I am somewhat impressed, and I have plans to see even more of it this weekend. 5. ...went canoeing with friends. I so wish I had more time off to explore this great state! 6. ...went to a festival and a nursing home as a representative from the campaign. The nursing home was so fun - half the people thought I was the candidate and the other half wanted to tell me about WWII. 7. ...met the candidate who, by the way, is one of the most awesomest people I have ever met. 8. ...had lunch twice with the candidate and a few staffers. The candidate said this is something they try to do once a week in order to "maintain the illusion that campaigns are actually civilized." 9. ...went to a fundraiser at a beautiful house with great food. It kinda, no it really made me wish I worked in finance. They get to go to the events all the time. 10. ...had a truly deep conversation with the campaign manager about flavored tootsie rolls. (Office conversations are great in the evenings. Everyone is tired and lets loose a bit - the results can be pretty hilarious). 11. ...went to a chocolate factory and tasted the BEST chocolate I have EVER had. They make all kinds of flavors like one that tastes like wine, and one that has Chai flavoring. And of course, that chocolate tasting was all very serious official campaign business. Quality control for fundraisers, you know. ;) 12. ...made tons of fundraising calls! Yes, this week I am that annoying person who calls you. The end of the quarter is on Monday so we are in overdrive. Almost all other aspects of the campaign have shut down and everyone, even if they do not work in the finance department, is expected to make fundraising calls. 13. ...took a twenty minute call from a "colorful" voter who had thought through her own plan to deal with Iraq, decided an Indian member of our staff is actually Polish (???), and went on and on about something involving sabotaging oil fields in I guess the Middle East (this was where I kinda lost the conversation).




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It's been great so far and things are only going to get more active, more crazy, and more amazing as we get closer to E-day! I'm still crossing my fingers that the national party will send a celebrity of some sort our way to help out.


p.s. I also got to see the candidate dive stomach first onto an exercise ball when the candidate thought no one was looking!

Bone Marrow Drive

15 minutes, 4 do-it-yourself cheek swabs,
3 page questionnaire, 1 envelope,
and the chance to save a life.

Thursday Thirteen #8

Way Way WAY overdue

Thirteen Things that I'm using as an excuse to explain not having blogged for awhile (as always, with pictures) 1.I had a huge research paper due on international education policy (a month ago) 2.I had finals (again, a month ago) 3.My grandfather and cousin died during that time. My grandmother is now in the hospital. 4.I said a temporary goodbye to new friends and my new hometown 5.I moved out (fourth floor, no elevator) 6.I went to visit family in California 7.I visited friends in New York (more pics to come) 8.I finally made it home after a hellish day of foot, taxi, subway, bus, and plane travel from New York 9.I have been catching up with friends, packing, and organizing 10. I had an interview for a position for next fall that I applied for (I got it!) 11.I saw the Sex and the City movie (not a great excuse but...) 12.I went to an organizing meeting to talk about how the Democratic Primary went in this state and what we can do for the fall 13.I am getting ready to spend the entire summer on the west coast working on a political campaign, and I will also be attending the convention in Denver! Therefore, I have been spending money like crazy on plane tickets, train tickets, bus tickets, housing, and getting headaches dealing with all of these schedules!


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Movie photo from: http://pblosser.blogspot.com/2006/10/statism-post-modernism-and-death-of.html