After our desktop Mac went down, we got it up and functioning and moved all the music to an external hard drive. They actually did that at the genius bar for us.

Yeah, my previous computer, they managed to do that with it. I was hoping this one they could too, even if they couldn't actually save it, but apparently not.

I went dancing, and felt a lot better. Dancing is good. Wish I could've done it more. Sigh.

Biden does not excite me very much. Or really at all. Meh.

Biden, huh?

Makes sense. McCain is going to hammer hard on Obama's dearth of experience (hell, he already is), and Biden has that in spades. As much as I like Clinton, she doesn't, in the end, have much more experience than Obama does.

And Biden is a foreign-policy rockstar. I expect the Obama/Biden campaign to put that front and center in their platform of Change, Change, Change. I don't think there's a single nation on the planet that has any respect for us right now, and most actively hate us. That's a far cry from the way things were in January 2000. (Which you all know.) Biden is Obama's best chance at a real prospect for actual foreign relations.

Truthfully? I would have liked to see Biden as Secretary of State under Obama, but VP is really, really a very smart move. No, Biden isn't exciting. He won't deliver the pissed-off Clinton supporters, but honestly, who could? If Obama tapped Clinton and she accepted, I still think a faction of her supporters would *still* be pissed. Biden isn't a sure way to deliver Southern voters, either.

I still think he's the smartest choice Obama could have made. The key now is how the campaign's PR positions it.

Honestly? It's a lot like Dubya and Darth Cheney, except for the fact that Obama and Biden aren't pure distilled stupidity and evil. The presidential candidate is young and, if not "folksy" (a characteristic whose use as a *good* thing in a president STILL baffles me and pisses me off), someone who can and does connect with the voters. And the veep is old(er) and has rock-solid political experience.

But with much less evil.

VP isn't supposed to be an exciting choice, IMO. Cheney, Gore, Quayle, Bush Sr., whoever Carter's VP was -- none of them are rockstars. They're not supposed to be.

So, has everyone heard of/seen the cat with four ears?

Cute! The extras manage to look like horns in the pic.

He also looks like an intelligent cat. Very "there."

I just outsmarted myself. Actually, the outsmarting occurred earlier in the week when I cleaned a big wad of receipts out of my purse. Put aside, or meant to, a receipt for an item to be returned. Yesterday when I wanted to go back to that store, I could not find the receipt. Today, I searched a little more carefully, still did not find it. And then it occurred to me to look in the zipper pocket in my purse that I have been known to keep bits of semi-important papers, such as the picture of the last haircut I was thoroughly happy about. Ta Da! I did not irresponsibly toss out or lose the receipt. I just hid it from myself by putting it away reasonably.

Kinda like the time in high school when I lost a history text book for two weeks by putting it on a bookshelf.

Biden is also believed to be able to deliver on the zingers, and he's a very solid family man who commutes daily to DC from Willmington.

His son was a student at Yale when I worked there, and both father and son were very personable fellows in that setting.

Speaking of work, guess where I am? I've softened the blow of being here by ordering some hang gliding photographs with which to decorate my office. At the moment, in addition to the pictures of the dog and my wedding, I've only got framed posters of hikes my DH and I have done (Routeburn Track, Sahale Glacier, Na Pali Coast).

sprinting in to wave and say that audible.com is offering a free audio book download to iPhone users if you join something or other... I clicked through from the NYTimes using this link (not sure if it will work here):

Free audiobook! Anyone?

[link]

Teppy is making me feel better about the Biden thing.

My main worry with him is that during his brief run in the primaries, he seemed to have his foot permanently wedged in his mouth. If he can keep the embarrassing gaffes under control, he'll be a decent choice.

Biden is a good choice. He's a likable and capable fella.

I fear it is going to be a very close race. I want to see the Dems get in to start the big job of fixing all the stuff that is broke. First we have to win in November, and that is far from certain. Then we have a huge task ahead to repair the damage done in the last couple terms. I think Biden will help both with the winning and the fixing.

Go Obama - Biden! I refuse to slash here.

eta: My fear is the same, Jessica. Apparently the gaffes don't matter so much to people as they do to news commentators though.

he seemed to have his foot permanently wedged in his mouth.

But he also gave that brilliant answer when they asked him if he could control his mouth.

"Yes."

He really is a fantastic debater, if a bit too talky.

I keep telling my DH that he needs to go make better friends with Obama's campaign guy who lives across the street (who was, interestingly, home last night for the first time in weeks - I tease that Jim borrowed our vacuum, so that must be a good trade for a job, right?) and now with Biden on the ticket, the DH is just drooling (because DH is a foreign policy wonk).

On the library book return aversion as related to depression, I do do that, but the way you can really tell I’m depressed is when I completely stop opening my mail. There will be piles of mail all over the house, and it is bad. It messes all kinds of things up in my life--including, but not limited to, money, working utilities, missed doctors’ appointments, missed social engagements, etc. And then once I feel up to opening the mail, oh yuck. That is not a fun job. My friend J and I used to get together once a week to open mail together, because it was one of her things too.

Have I mentioned lately that I have the world's best boyfriend?f

I don’t know. I might have to argue that one again. CBD is taking me out to look at a dishwasher from Craigslist later today. If we like it, he’s going to buy it for me. Ah! A DISHWASHER!!!!!!! SO exciting and wonderful!