My neighbors

Our neighbors also fall into this category. A confederate flag hagging in the window, and an Obama sign on the front yard. This article below is from Martinsville, Indiana (south of Indianapolis) .

Martinsville Reporter Times- “Couple with differing views displays Confederate flag, Obama sign side by side” Brenda and Harold Livingston don’t talk politics. People in the world of politics, however, are talking quite a bit about the display in their front yard and the perceived mixed message it presents. The front yard has a flag pole with the United States flag on top and below it a Confederate battle flag. A few feet from the flagpole is a sign supporting the presidential candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama, the first African-American running as a major party’s presidential candidate.

http://www.reporter-times.com/stories/2008/10/30/news.nw-384922.sto

Back in 1964...

I am taking 2 weeks leave of absence from my regular job to help run the Goshen Obama office. It's exciting. Indiana hasn't seen this kind of action since 1964. It feels great to be working a campaign in the town in which I live after doing a couple campaigns (albeit very rewarding ones) in places that I just dropped into for campaign work. People are dropping into the office who haven't volunteered for a campaign since the 60s, or who are in their 60s and voting for the first time.

On Monday I drove an elderly Puerto Rican couple who has lived in Goshen for 21 years to the polls to early vote (I am one of the few people in the office who speaks Spanish). The woman neglected to tell me until I had her in my car that her husband was in a nursing home. So we went and picked him up. Then after waiting 2 hours in line to vote early he was told he didn't have the right ID even though he is a citizen and registered to vote. So then we went to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to get him a duplicate drivers license (he had lost his original) and go through the same process again to get him a new drivers license. This included a lenghty eye exam. Keep in mind I can't understand this couple's accent, and the whole election/voting and eye exam vocab is new to me. But, after about 5 hours, the happy couple voted for Obama. "Que gana Obama!" they exclaimed.

I hope to write some of my reflections on the campaign soon, but alas, we've got history to make here. So I'll leave you with this New York Times article from 2 weeks ago about my new home, Elkhart County, Indiana: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/12/america/indiana.php

Fond Summer Memories I: Demolition Derby

I went to my first demolition derby this summer, and I, um, well, I kinda liked it. I'll let the photos and video speak for themselves. I think my favorite part was watching the kid in the photo to the left, with real scrawny freckly arms and a rat tail. Every time a driver made a hit this kid would leap up and flail his scrawny freckly little arms into the air and let out a great big shout of demolition joy.





I found it ironic that at various points throughout the event, the announcer would either call out "DeeeeeeeeeeestrUction is the name of the game, folks, Destruction's the name of the game," or "Saaaaaafety's the name of the game, folks, Safety's the name of the game." Well, which is it?

This photo here might provide an answer:





And here's some video of the start of the action: