Here’s a good clip of Obama campaigning in Indiana.

One of my personal low points occurred in the late 1970’s when I attended the nomination/election of the next editor of the school paper at Penn State. The then-current editor-in-chief, having realized that his hand-picked successor was not the popular choice, went into a 15 minute, character-assassinating screed against the other candidate. That part didn’t bug me … it was sort of par for the course with this guy. But what bothered me was that it worked … for the few minutes that it required to force though a vote, the majority of a group of otherwise intelligent people were swayed. It’s thirty years later and I’m still appalled that it could happen.

Watching the Clinton team take a similar road in a desperate attempt to escape the quicksand of their failed campaign brings it all back. She needs to stop, if not for her sake, then at least for mine!

I spent the weekend planting 10 Frontenac grape vines in my backyard, after having been inspired to give it a try by my friend Bob. I have no interest in making wine, but this is going to beat staring out at cooking grass all summer. Assuming I prepared the ground correctly (hours excavating New England soil that is best suited for producing rocks of various sizes), and pruned the vines correctly, and … well, with me I guess it’s a bit of a gamble, but grape vines are strangely resistant to rotten growing conditions. I got a great deal of info from Jeff Cox’s excellent book, ‘From Vines to Wine‘.

The birdhouse that Jake selected and painted seems to have weathered the sub-prime scare, and a couple of sparrows have moved in. So I have that, my grape vines, and after next weekend (hopefully) a rain garden to stare at instead of my computer screen. I think this Reality thing is the next Big Wave.