in the news

I had dinner with Nick after work yesterday and as usual our talk drifted from library gossip to books to relationships both functional and defunct to video games to lab-grown meat and eventually, of course, to politics. And we both agreed wholeheartedly that we wanted the Pennsylvania primary to be a blow-out, one way or the other. That we will happily vote for either Clinton or Obama come November, but that we just want this damned thing over and done with. We both also agreed that we really kind of hoped it would be Obama.

And then she did it again. And I have to confess, my heart smiled this morning at the news. I'm not sure if 10 percentage points qualifies as a blow-out, exactly, but damn if there wasn't a little part of me jumping for glee at the idea that no one but no one is gonna walk all over this woman.

That said, I still really kind of hope that Obama takes the whole enchilada in the end.

Also in the news, not only my neighborhood but my very own block! Weird. I ate at Angela's not once but twice last week with Mom & Sharon, and met the new owner who was pleased that all three of us ordered French toast.

I of course had to share this oddity with my coworker & neighbor, Ken, who promptly replied, "Thanks for the interesting article. Some parts of it are scary. The hospital administrator going to the spa to take her mind off the falling stock market --when I first moved to 'Hudson Heights' it would be the hospital orderly buying a 40 ounce to take his mind off his unpaid bills."

I remember when that spa opened, right next door to the crazy shoe repair place, and Chris and I rolled our eyes at each other and practically took bets on how long before it crashed and burned. But the neighborhood's changed, and spas are the new discount liquor, and sushi is the new corner deli. I'm not sure how I feel about this, being a big fan of discount liquor, sushi, and roast beef sandwiches.

And lastly in the news, it's official! Anchorage's Mayor Begich, lonely Democrat of Alaska, has officially thrown his hat into the ring and will be taking on corrupt-to-the-core Ted Stevens this fall. If you, like me, have some odd fascination with Alaskan politics, or Alaska in general, or, for that matter, a David and Goliath thing, then this just might be a race worth watching.