This soda siphon is my favorite memento from our time in Buenos Aires. It says La Primitiva Soda, Industria Argentina. We bought it at the Sunday antiques market at Plaza Dorrego in the neighborhood of San Telmo. Early in our trip we sat in this square and watched tango dancers as we drank Fernet and Cokes at an al fresco cafe.

The Sunday morning market stretched beyond the square to surrounding blocks that were closed to traffic. All sorts of elegant old housewares were for sale as well as gaucho knives, photos of old buildings and local crafts aimed at tourists. There were street performers, notably an octet with an upright piano and three accordionists, stilt walkers on cobblestones and a one-woman band playing plastic cups.

Here is “Oui on peut” (”Yes we can”), a song by Louisiana zydeco musician Dirk Collins and a host of others. Ted & I heard this last weekend while streaming New Orleans radio station WWOZ. Aw, chers.

I also found the Obama reggae song we heard on Turks & Caicos radio. It’s called “Barack Obama”, it’s by Cocoa Tea and it’s catchy. You should watch it.

These songs are a reminder that the world is excited about President Obama (omg! I just typed that for the first time, squeee!) and is behind the U.S. People who have been so screwed by past policy (Louisiana, the Third World) are stoked. So am I.

World’s Coolest Dog Photo Winner!

Dogster & Catster just announced the winners of their World’s Coolest Dog & Cat shows. Rawr!

Today I cast my vote for Barack Obama. A snapshot of where I was during such an emotional time in our history seems like something worth keeping.

Shortly after this photo was taken I did yoga to keep myself steady. This is California, people.

And for the love of all, No On 8! I don’t understand the fuss over people getting married. Gays getting married doesn’t affect anyone’s marriage but their own; banning gays from marriage won’t help anyone’s sad-sack relationship. It’s fascinating that the red states have the highest divorce rates. Maybe instead of telling people they can’t get married all those churchies should be telling people how to stay married.

Here’s a post I wrote in 2004 about gay marriage that is still true.

In the department of lifehacks I’m no Gina Trapani. I’m practical and fairly organized but sometimes wonder “Why didn’t I think of that?” However, I have one “Why, I did think of that!” for my dear readers.

We keep a household grocery list on a marker board. When it’s time to shop I take a photo with my phone to create an instant grocery list. No more lists forgotten on the couch or left in the car. Ta-da.

I got a job.
I watched 3 hours of Gossip Girl on a Saturday night, killed braincells.
Moxie ate my blog.
Thoughts of upcoming election make me want to pass out.
Twitter.

Ted Rheingold signs Skeezix the cat as the latest Catster blogger!

Voting machines in some states are not up to par.

Watching CNN I see that Obama is up in the polls in swing states. 42 days to go!

It seems fair to assume, however, that Sarah Palin’s enthusiasm for “abstinence-only” sex education, which is shared by Sen. McCain, helped to cause her daughter’s misfortune. As a politician who insists on lecturing adolescents to abstain without teaching them about contraception, she may never have informed Bristol how to protect herself from an unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. Her views on reproductive rights — including opposition to abortion even in cases of rape and incest — are too extreme even for her running mate.

The Alaska governor probably assumed that her daughter — no doubt a regular churchgoer like the rest of the family — was saving herself for marriage according to religious doctrine. Meanwhile, daughter Bristol probably understood that Mom, loving but ambitious and deeply dogmatic, was the last person she dared to ask for advice on birth control.