Flowers

I turned 31 a couple weeks ago. I had a wonderful time visiting my Texas family and meeting baby Allison, my precious niece.

Frank and Kristin hosted me for a couple of laid back days and general family fun, and Mom took us all out for an incredible birthday meal.

To cap off such a special weekend, I came home to a beautiful gift from Dad and Janet:



These flowers got me thinking about the whole concept of giving flowers--so many of us always say "I'm not a flowers and candy kind of girl" but in reality they still make pretty much all of us melt just a little inside. Why is that? I've never figured it out myself.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who made my birthday so special this year!

Protocol for Moles

So a work-related incident today made me wonder whether there should be something like protocol for moles. Not the mammals, but the spies. With any public policy issue, when sides are taken, it's not terribly unusual for either side of the issue to try and infiltrate the other camp--learn strategies, identify weak arguments, etc. In those circumstances, the moles generally keep to themselves and keep their ears open.

What about those occasions when one side is hosting a semi-public (not closed, but by invitation) forum to present that side--how should the moles behave in that circumstance? It's understandable that there is a desire to see both sides presented (which is why I'm such a fan of the Federalist Society, by the way). But is it appropriate to ensure your side is presented through disruptive behavior? Going beyond polite questions and into the realm of rude comments not-quite-so-quietly spoken to a neighbor and disruptions with statements and name-calling rather than an actual question.

Tonight as the speaker I had the ... experience of this type performance from an attendee at a small meeting. The kind of thing that makes you wonder when people use the term "civilized society" you know?

What intrigues me most about this kind of behavior is that after that mole leaves the room, the folks left behind (even the ones that are his friends) are left apologizing for his bad behavior. It's an embarassment to the position the mole represents.

Kinda like Joe Biden and the Democratic party, you know? But of course that's an issue for another day.

Babies are so inspiring!

So it's been a while since I posted and I've finally had just the right inspiration: visiting and meeting my beautiful niece Allison for the first time. The best birthday present I could have had. Of course the icing on that particular cake was seeing Mom, Frank, Kristin, Lisa, Laura, and Carter as well! Here are some fun pics of the experience:

Conventioneering

I'm sitting here at the Freedom Fest 2008 Convention, as I have been for the last 7-8 hours, and it has struck me as an interesting phenomenon: the convention. This particular gathering is about celebrating freedom and liberty. Naturally it's most heavily populated by libertarian attendees and exhibitors (the Institute for Justice included). But I simply did not expect so many financial and investment advice organizations. I'm surrounded by them--literally, nine of twelve booths in my row have something to do with financial or investment advice.

The other thing I wasn't prepared for: the Conventioneers. Not just regular attendees, but those deserving of a capitol "C". The folks that attend and with apparent glee corner the unsuspecting exhibitor (who must keep the friendly smile pasted on) to blather on about totally irrelevant topics like the speaker's ancestory, family history, and views on men v. women (that gentleman got about 15 minutes of my time, but he's definitely had the folks across the way cornered much longer). It's like the fun of the convention is in having row upon row of captive audiences. Maybe it's a form of therapy for some (that guy who's still talking across the way comes to mind).

In a lot of ways this is a fun and great experience--I'm getting to meet in person many of IJ's supporters, donors, and fellow comrades in arms. That's just cool.

The Conventioneers, however, are why this could never be more than an occasional thing for me!

Please consider joining us ONLINE June 23!

Guam: Graduation!

Last night was the big graduation and we just all had a blast--and yes, tears were shed. We'll leave it at that. The ceremony took place at the base movie theater, complete with an open concession stand (we skipped the popcorn tho...):

Here's Katie walking in with the processional:

As you can imagine, John spent most of the evening in this position (we've got the whole thing recorded, of course):

Here is the actual, official receiving of the diploma:

Naturally, the pictures and video for the rest of the evening all have Katie's big smile--for some reason she just couldn't stop smiling!

The official moving of the tassle from one side to the other:

A very special part of the evening was a surprise to me, the graduates presented each mom with a rose in a tribute to the parents. Katie's moments with John were especially touching for us all!

Naturally, the big conclusion was the traditional tossing of the caps:

And of course, the family pictures to finish things up:

Guam: Baccalaureate

Yesterday we got to start the graduation fun with a short Baccalaureate service at the base chapel near Katie's high school. It was a nice ceremony, I enjoyed the speaker and they had a candle lighting ceremony for the seniors. I didn't get great pics, but here are a few: