Pregunto yo que pasa hoy con el mundo, Que está tan absurdo...

I spent Thanksgiving on Long Island with a good friend of mine and her entire extended family.  My friend is Indian.  As her mom picked us up from the train station Wednesday night, she began to tell us what was unfolding in Mumbai.  

It was unnerving and surreal to spend all day Thursday cooking with the television on in the background, my friend's parents switching back and forth between CNN in English and Hindi, watching the coverage that has been labeling the terrorist attacks as "India's 9/11".  Don't get me wrong - we had a blast spending the entire day in the kitchen, cooking up a delicious feast for all the guests who came over later in the evening, but conversations amongst all the relatives kept going back to specific family and friends who were currently in Mumbai and what time people had last spoken to them over the past couple days.  

We came back to my friend's house this afternoon from a successful Black Friday shopping excursion and were numbed as we sat in front of the news coverage again, appalled that the death toll was continuing to rise, the gunfire raged in unpredictable spurts behind the journalists in front of the Taj hotel, the hostage situation and number of injured going back and forth.  For now, the siege has apparently been declared "over" and that these particular terrorists have been killed, but I have a feeling that this terror is far from over....

My heart goes out to all those directly affected by all this cruel, inhumane attacks.

I love my alma mater

One more reason why Madison is simply the best university around....

YES WE CAN

Ladies and gentlemen, we made history this evening.  

I have never been so proud to be an American, to live in the greatest city, the greatest country on Earth.  I am so proud to see my country wake up and take a stand for what they believe in, to make their opinions heard.  I am proud of my country for proving that we can see past racial barriers that once blinded us.  I am proud of my generation for tearing down the stereotypes that called our age demographic apathetic and uninvolved with politics.  I am proud that we did not give up faith in the strength and potential that we have as a country.

The sense of HOPE that maybe, just maybe, we could make this change happen grew with each state that was painted blue tonight.  I had butterflies in my stomach, not from the beer, but from the excitement as I looked around the bar and saw every person around me holding their breath and then cheering with each additional victory, as it became clear that we would not go home disappointed.  The countdown to the moment when the West Coast polls closed contained more anticipation and promise of a new beginning than any New Years countdown I have ever experienced.  People were dancing in the streets, shouting from the rooftops.  Thousands crowded in Union Square and sang our national anthem.

One of my best friends, Alex, had attended the Obama rally in Berlin earlier this year.  I remember her telling me about one banner that had stuck with me.  The World is Waiting to Love America Again.  That moment has arrived.

America, we've made the first step in the right direction.  This is just the beginning.  Now it's time to make that change that we have all declared tonight that we want.  Let's make this happen.  

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer"

 - President-elect Obama

run like hell....

I love living in a city that reveres running so much that there are fireworks in the Park the night before the Marathon.  Tonight the Empire State Building was lit up in the ING Blue, White, and Orange and tomorrow the streets of New York will be filled with 39,000 runners traversing all five bouroughs.  I'm so excited to be volunteering at the water station at mile 25 tomorrow, watching some of the best distance runners in the world - Gete Wami, Catherine the Great, Paula Radcliffe, Kara Goucher, Abdi Abdirahman, Ryan Hall, Paul Tergat, Hendrick Ramaala - approach the finish line in a city that has been so influential in the running boom over the past few decades, indeed the city that ignited all major urban marathons around the world.  If all goes well, I intend to run this course in 2010.

"The marathon is a charismatic event.  It has everything.  It has drama.  It has competition.  It has comaraderie.  It has heroism.  Every jogger can't dream of being an Olympic champion, but he can dream of finishing a marathon."

    - Fred Lebow, the brains, heart, soul, and passion behind the NYC marathon