LIMPING TO THE FINISH

Another grand experiment is over and it was a... success?

While this year's NaBloPoMo was to be a flourishing of creative forces, it turned out to be a little bit less than that. Technical problems, a job search, and a vacation all conspired to eat up almost all my spare time. So while I had hoped to have something substantial every day, there were more than a few half-assed posts thrown in there, too.

However, there were a few posts, good ones, that probably wouldn't have existed had I not made the commitment to post something here every day in the month of November. So there certainly was some value to be had there.

As a matter of fact, there are some leftover ideas that I hadn't used from this past month that will surely find their way onto this space.

As for now, I'm going to bed.

BLACK FRIDAY

This post was supposed to be a series of photos of my friends and I having a great dinner in San Francisco. Alas, the little guys decided to throw a fit rather than enjoy the fun. So alas, no pictures. No dinner, either.

It's time to come home.

FAROE FRIDAY: A LOOK AT TORSHAVN

I'm away from the internet this week, so I don't know if there is any real news to be had in the Faroe Islands this week. Instead, let's take a look at some pictures.

I've remarked many times that there are few good photos of Torshavn, the capitol of the Faroe Islands, on the internet. Perhaps it's the beautiful countryside that causes people to ignore the only town of any real size in the Faroes. But whatever the case, it's a shame. Torshavn is colorful place that actually looks great in pictures.

Luckily, German photographer Arne List has remedied the situation. He's captured the parts of Torshavn that the people who live there see every day. And here I'm speaking specifically about the only pizza place in town. (UPDATE 12/18/08: Someone who actually knows something about Torshavn says there are 3 or 4 pizza places there. My regrets for the error.)

He also nicely captures the feeling of the residential neighborhoods...These photos are all the more notable because of the beautiful light. Torshavn isn't known as a sunny place, and the patches of good weather can be fleeting. Yet somehow List is actually able to capture people taking in the sun.Even the public art seems to be enjoying the scarce rays of the sun...A great set of photos. And thanks to Arne for letting me post them here. He's got a lot more great stuff on Flickr.

Next week more news from the Faroes... and a possible scandal? Tune in to find out.

ON THIS THANKFUL DAY...

Let us stop and contemplate the word, as spelled out in one of Julie's church-mandated craft projects...

Let us not forget that you can also use those letters to spell...(Couldn't figure out what to do with the "n".)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

NEWS FROM HOME

The photo uploading feature of this computer just isn't working. So you'll have to settle for this.

Julie and I used to live in Santa Monica on a street with a huge median. It was a mecca for joggers and people doing all manner of odd exercise. Now that is coming to an end.

Shame, I always thought the whole exercise scene there was pretty fun. And even a silly story makes me miss Santa Monica more than ever.

OVER RIVER, THROUGH WOODS...

We're getting ready to drive down to San Francisco for Thanksgiving. It's about 6 hours. With our kids. Who are two. The last time we took a road trip longer than 90 minutes with those two, we promised ourselves we would never do it again. Now we're doing it again.

Wish us luck.

THE END

Just back from my last day of work at KTVL. The 6 PM newscast was interrupted by a group of my co-workers who bid me goodbye live on the air. I was actually quite moved by the gesture. The 11 PM newscast was a relatively sedate affair. But we all agreed that something else needed to be done.

You see, the weekend crew and morning crew have had a longtime pretend paper ball feud. Its history is pretty simple. Because we have no floor director, we have to throw paper balls at the weather guy to give time cues. Sometimes those time cues don't get picked up. This often annoys Trish, who is one of the best reporters I know and a person I respect very much. But sometimes, well...

We just can't help ourselves. I was hoping to put the blame on someone else, but there's no use. I did it.I hope you don't take our little bit of fun too personally or feel the need to react with violence, Trish. But before you answer that question, ask yourself, could you hit this face?Actually, I'm sure you could.

But to be more serious for a moment, I should say for the record that I will miss Trish and the other people I work with very much. They're a top notch batch of journalists and have fostered an atmosphere you don't see in many newsrooms. They made KTVL a nice place to come to work. Kudos to all of you.

And I promise, I left everything else at the station just as I found it.

CHURCH SIGN SCOUTS

While the church sign here on the east side of Medford continues to disappoint (they haven't even changed their slogan in three weeks) another church on the west side is picking up the slack. Ms. Jerilyn Hassell Pool (I can't find the link to your site) found this message...
Again, by southern standards, this is no great shakes. But when you're in the Pacific Northwest, you'll take what you can get. And thanks again to Jerilyn for snapping this shot.

HATS OFF FOR MARK

A few months ago, I was in a darkened theater waiting for Wall-E to start. On came a trailer for a Disney film called, "Bolt." I thought I heard something familiar during the tralier, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

A few hours later, I was on the phone with a friend named Mark Walton. He's an animator at Disney and I call him any time I've just seen an excellent animated film, which Wall-E certainly is.

"Did you see the trailer for Bolt?" he asked me.

"You were in that, weren't you? I knew it! I just couldn't figure out where! Who were you?"

"Let it begin! Let it begin!"

That was all he needed to say to let me know he was the voice of that little hamster in a ball called "Rhino." It happened quite by accident, really. He was doing "scratch" (temporary) voice for the character, and the directors liked it so much they kept his voice instead of hiring a "real" actor to voice the part.

There's something quite amusing about a tall person like Mark (he's... 6' 5"?) playing a tiny hamster, but it kind of makes sense. With his lanky frame, full beard, and outsized smile, Mark is practically a cartoon character himself.

Now the reviews are out (most positive) and Mark is the subject of feature articles in such notable publications as the New York Times. They're saying he steals the show from the cast of experienced actors. I won't be able to see the film for another week or so, but I can't wait to hear his performance.

Those of us who know Mark are just thrilled that the rest of the world is getting a chance to meet our big, goofy friend.

Congratulations, Mark. Enjoy this fun time in the limelight. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

FAROE FRIDAY: TALKIN' BOUT, POP MUSIC

The news from the Faroe Islands is a bit thin this week. The internet is abuzz about the Faroe Islands being a part of a loan to Iceland, but you read that here weeks ago.

There's also some story about the Faroe Islands and the island of Jersey sharing tax information, but that story was just too boring to keep reading.

So let's have a little pop music. One of these weeks, I'll post my long-delayed review of Boys In A Band's newest album... perhaps in time for holiday gift giving. But in short, it's good.

But to tide you over, allow me to share a Faroese music video from the 1980s. The Faroese band Plúmm scored a major hit in the early '80s with a song called 'Stjornuskot' (shooting star). That they even shot a video is impressive when you consider there wasn't even TV on the Faroe Islands until the mid '80s.

The video is pretty silly by today's standards, and probably even by the standards of the early '80s. Let's face it, sweaters are rarely seen in music videos for a reason. But the song is pretty catchy. Enjoy...

THE INTERNATIONAL... FINANCIAL MELTDOWN

We're in the theater watching previews before the new James Bond movie starts (I liked it) and on comes a trailer for a big budget thrilled called "The International."

The International's production say the film involves an Interpol officer who is trying to bring justice to the world's largest bank. "Uncovering illegal activities including money laundering, arms trading, and the destabilization of governments, Salinger and Whitman's investigation takes them from Berlin to Milan to New York and to Istanbul. Finding themselves in a high-stakes chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk as the bank will stop at nothing - even murder - to continue financing terror and war."

I'm sure when the script for this film was written, the premise must have seemed awesome, but not it seems a little silly.

Clive Owen is saying things in the trailer like, "We've got to take this bank down." And I'm thinking, "I've got a plan. Why don't you convince the bank to make loans to people who can't afford to pay them back? Your problem will be solved in about a year."

Instead, Clive Owen jets all over the world having harrowing adventures and probably gets it on with Naomi Watts and then shoots some guy on a rooftop in Istanbul.

I'm sure this film will be fine, but I'm just saying my idea would be an excellent film as well. Especially if it stared Jim Kramer.

P.S. If I'm watching a movie where a bank is the bad guy, I definitely want to hear dialogue like: "Stop it right there, bank!"

BEGINNING OF THE END

Technical problems are still keeping me from posting pictures today, and demands on my time are keeping November from being as post-tastic as I had planned.

But I'll take a moment and let you know a little of what's eating up my time and energies this month. A few weeks ago, I was taken into my boss's office and told he would not be renewing my contract. That's news speak for "you're fired." And Tuesday was the first in a short string of "lasts" that will go until Sunday.

Tuesday was the "last story reported for KTVL." It was a fun little piece about a guy who is traveling around the country and doing a job per week in all 50 states. It involved me tracking down the guy at a logging site in the hills near Crater Lake. The story was a reminder of what I loved about the job. It gave me a chance to go placed I'd never see, and meet people with interesting stories to tell.

Now I've got three days off. After that, I will return on Saturday and Sunday to produce and anchor the weekend newscasts. And that will be it.

As for what's next, it's a little uncertain right now. There are a lot of balls in the air, but nothing certain enough to announce here. But I'll keep you posted as all the changes swirling about become more concrete.

But for now, I'm going to go to sleep and start getting on with my life.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

Today's post was to be a series of lovely pics of Nate and Will. Unfortunately, something is wrong with my card reader, and no photos are showing up.

That, coupled with the fact that I worked late and have to show up early, means this post may be a bit delayed. But rest assured, it will come. And when it does, it will blow your mind.

HEADS UP: THE DAY TODAY

A little more snooping around the internet has produced evidence of another British news spoof show that appears to be made by the same people who did "Brass Eye."

"The Day Today" appears to be an early ancestor of "The Daily Show," and it is brilliantly funny. In this clip, watch out for a brief (less than one second) cameo from Steve Coogan.

SOMEONE STOP THIS MAN

So I've got this brother-in-law, let's call him "Dave." And he's got a scanner and a blog and an internet connection. He's also got a stack of photos lifted from our childhood.

This is quite a serious haul. My dad worked for Kodak for about 25 years and for most of that time, we got free film and developing. As a result, there are an inordinate number of pictures of my childhood and teen years in circulation. My departure for the junior prom was perhaps the most photographed event since the Kennedy assassination.

So every now and then "Dave" scans some of these photos and puts them on his blog. This has never been of much concern to me because I know for a fact that nobody reads his blog. It is, in fact, the one place to put the photos where you know nobody will see them.

But now things have gotten a little more serious. "Dave" is on facebook, and "Dave" is in a posting mood. In the past few days, the man has posted scores of photos that date back to the Carter Administration. Some of the early ones are harmless enough...

But cuteness is a fleeting thing. And puberty was most unkind to me. So when "Dave" posts photos from later on, it ain't pretty...And then there are some pictures for which there is no explanation at all...

These pictures are much more dangerous on facebook. Unlike "Dave's" blog, where they can rest in obscurity forever, facebook pictures get tagged with my name. Then they get put in my profile. And that means my friends can see them. Friends who have no idea just what I nerd I was during those dark days of puberty. Now it's out there. It's all out there and there's nothing I can do.

I have no doubt that the photos posted to facebook represent only the tip of the iceberg and I'm not anxious for anything else to surface. So let me send a message to "Dave," if that is your real name: Julie has a scanner, too, and one day I'll learn how to use it. And somewhere, deep in my piles of junk, I've got a prom photo of you. Hmmmm, who was your date that one year? Was it 1986? Perhaps '87? Who was your date that year? Ginger Green? I don't quite recall, but that sounds about right. It would be a shame of such a photo were to find its way onto your profile.

A shame indeed.

WATCH THIS SPACE

I had hoped to write something detailed here tonight, but I've not gotten a good night's sleep in some time and I need to turn in earlier than I normally do.

But I thought I'd at least chime in here and say that there be a series of major announcements in this space over the next two weeks. I don't have time to do it justice tonight, and a few details are not clear yet. But I'll have more to say soon.

And no, nobody is pregnant.

FAROE ISLANDS: WORLD PLAYERS

The lads pictured above are members of the Faroese National Football team. They look mild mannered enough, but did you know they killed a prominent politician in Austria? They didn't exactly kill him. Ok, they didn't kill him at all. But the guy is dead, and the Faroese National Football team may be responsible.

The politician in question is Jörg Haider, the former coalition member in Austria's government and possible Nazi sympathizer. Haider created national headlines in 2000 when the ultra-conservative party he headed gained a degree of power after favorable election results.

He died on October 11th this year. Police reports say that Haider got drunk while cavorting with male escorts, then got behind the wheel of a car. About 30 minutes later he was involved in a fatal wreck.

What does this have to do with the Faroese National Football team? I'm glad you asked. October 11th was a momentous day on the Faroe Islands. On that day, the Faroese team played the Austrians to a draw. On the international stage, that's pretty much like the Faroe Islands team winning. It was a big blow to the Austrian team.

Rumor has it that the last text message Haider was from a friend telling him about Austria's inability to beat the Faroe Island's team in soccer. Is there a connection? Yes. Absolutely. It's hard not to think that, if he Faroe Islands team had been just a little worse, Austria would still have it's most famous Nazi.

The Faroe Islands are making a big impression elsewhere on the international stage. Their loan to Iceland has been the subject of of more than 20,000 thank you messages from Icelandic people. That's fine, but it's not quite enough. There are 48,000 people on the Faroe Islands. Iceland should provide a "thank you" message for every one of them.

This week's Faroe Photo is of Vága Floghavn, the only airport on the Faroe Islands. It's another from Arne List's beefy photoset on Flickr. List is a great photographer and I like the fact that he takes pictures of things others neglect. The airport is a great example of that.I like seeing pictures of the Floghavn. It helps me visualize my fantasy of actually visiting the islands one day. I can picture it better now. It will happen. One day.

HEADS UP: BRASS EYE

Through a random set of circumstances, I've been made aware of a British spoof news program called "Brass Eye." It aired about 10 years ago, and it's quite good.

For your consideration this evening, may I offer the first 7 minutes of Brass Eye's "Crime" episode. I'm sure many of you don't have that much time, so just watch the intro if that's all you can spare.

"UK used to mean United Kingdom. But ask anyone today and they'll tell you it stands for Unbelievable Crime wave."

PHOTO QUIZ

Today, we offer a short photographic quiz and ask the following question: Which of our children was denied service at Great Clips? Was it Nate?
Or Will?Let's try that one more time. The child essentially kicked out of Great Clips because he was screaming too much was Nate?Or was it Will?If you guessed Will, you're correct. The haircutting woman said she had seen "Rosemary's Baby" the night previous and was still pretty freaked out. Apparently our child reminds her of the spawn of Satan.

MEASURING THE DRAPES

On Monday, President-elect Obama went to the White House for the first time since winning the election. News reports said Obama and President Bush talked about foreign policy and the economic crisis. Michelle Obama and Laura Bush reportedly discussed local schools and the challenges of raising children in the White House.

But I'm curious about the drapes, specifically the Oval office drapes, and whether or not Obama measured them.

A few days ahead of the election, John McCain accused Obama of prematurely measuring the drapes in the Oval Office. (He meant measuring the window for drapes, but that phrase just doesn't roll off the tongue.) As it turns out McCain was repeating a common cliche trundled out by politicians who are down in the polls. A fun exploration of the "measuring the drapes" jab can be found here.

But now it's not premature anymore. Obama has been elected president, so I guess it's time to choose some drapes. And it's unclear if Obama would want to keep the "antique" drapes Bush has had for the last eight years.

If you want to see the president give a seven minute tour of the Oval Office, you can find it on the White House website. It's surprisingly interesting. For instance, did you know that each incoming president gets to design a rug for the Oval Office? I didn't. Here's what Clinton did with the Oval Office...

And Regan's take on what is perhaps the world's most famous workspace...

The White House Museum website has more information on how different presidents have chosen to decorate the Oval Office.

I've gotten way off track here. So where was I? Oh yes, Obama was in the Oval Office for the first time, and he's already won the election. It seems like he could take a few moments, break out a tape measure and figure out what size drapes he needs to bring to the White House. No time like the present, right? It seems like it would be very inconvenient to send a decorator into the White House just to measure the windows for drapes.

The meeting lasted about two hours and Obama headed back to Chicago to spend the night. We may never know exactly what happened in that Oval Office meeting between Bush and Obama. There were no reporters or aides in the room. But if you hear that the President-elect pays a visit to this place tomorrow, I think you know what went down.

CHURCH SIGN LETDOWN

Last week I got quite excited by the discovery of a church sign in Medford with a somewhat sassy message. Not quite as good as the quality stuff you find in the South, but it was a start.

Well, they changed the sign this week and, well, I don't know if this cuts it...

(Sign from the church whose name I keep forgetting is lovingly recreated with help from the Church Sign Generator.)

I actually found myself scratching my head at this one for a few moments as I drove down East Main. While I'm sure the pastor is trying to send a message about unconditional giving, I kept trying to find a secret meaning. For instance: "You may have given to the church this week, but that doesn't mean you should expect a quality sermon."

So I'm watching this church sign with great anticipation for this week's new message. The way I see it, this church sign is at a crossroads. It could go into the wonderful world of church sign fun, or it could become bland and predictable. But so help me, I will be so upset if I see "Jesus is the reason for the season" on that sign during the next two months. There's just no excuse for that.

500

Every few hundred posts, I like to take a few moments and take a look back at what's been happening in this space. And this is post number 500. I decided to skip the update on number 400, so we've got some catching up to do.

Looking back at the last 200 posts (it took just less than a year to write them), I see three distinct spikes in traffic. One came last August when I went to a Radiohead show. Any time you mention Radiohead, the fans come flocking, so that's no surprise.

The second spike came in March, when half of my face seized up, courtesy of Bell's Palsy. I'll write more on the subject later this month, but needless to say, palsy is good for web traffic.

But the biggest driver of traffic to this site came came earlier in the year, when I gave a shout out to Mormon writer and performer Elna Baker. I had herd a piece she did on This American Life, and subsequently learned that she's got a lot of talent. It seems a lot of people were looking for information about Elna Baker, because traffic went through the roof. That little profile on her is by far the most read thing I've ever posted on this blog. Nothing else even comes close. Her book, The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance, will come out next year. It's easily the most searched for term on this site.

And the post actually had real-wold consequences. Some friends in Los Angeles read the post and flew her out to LA for a show. I'm told it went well. I didn't get to go. Oh well.

Shahara Simmons and Patch the Pony are also big drivers of traffic.

As for search terms leading to this site, you'll find the usual suspects: Elna Baker, Shahara Simmons, various spellings of my name. But a new search term star is Thomas Storesund. That's right, my Norwegian buddy Thomas man in demand, if the Internet is to be believed. In the past 11 months, more than 100 people have found their way to this site by searching for the name "Thomas Storesund." Who knew?

Curiously persistent in the search term hierarchy is "My girlfriend is a prostitute." I used the term once when trying to do a white boy translation of a Dr. Dre song. But there are a lot of people searching for information on this topic. So, if your girlfriend is, indeed, prostitute and you've somehow found yourself on this site, please allow me to offer you the following advice: break up. That's just not a healthy situation.

My Faroe Islands project launched some 18 months ago had its greatest success last week with my debuit on Faroese National Radio. Over the last 11 months, several hundred hits from the Faroe Islands have been logged, from at least 200 unique visitors. When you consider there are only 48,000 people that live in the Faroes, that's no small accomplishment. And once again, to my readers on the Faroes, I say, "Hi." I will continue pandering to you for as long as I possibly can.

I end each one of these annual naval gazing sessions the same way, so let's keep the tradition up. This blog started as a writing exercise, then also became a way to keep my parents stocked with baby photos. I don't know who I expected would read this thing, but there is a small band of you out there who don't know me, but read this anyway. I think that's really cool. Thanks for stopping by when you have a chance. I'll keep trying to fill this space with stuff worthy of your attention.

PAC-MAN FEVER

Many years ago, I was driving down the QEW leaving Toronto. It was about midnight and I was listening to CFNY. On Saturday nights, they used to broadcast from a dance club (RPM?). I was getting sleepy, when the DJ began playing a techno song based solely on the music from Pac-Man. It made me laugh so hard, I nearly drove off the road.

Now, some 16 years later, somebody has taken some footage from Tron and made a music video for this song. Enjoy...

FAROE FRIDAY: ON THE AIR, WITH ME!

This week's Faroe Friday features... me! That's right, I'm the subject of this week's Faroe Friday. Why, you ask? Because I made my Faroese broadcast debut last Tuesday.

It stems back to an Internet friendship I have with Faroe Man. He's got a Facebook (does anyone know if you're supposed to capitalize "facebook"?) friend who is a journalist with Faroese National Radio (pictured above) and who was in the US covering the election. They wanted to call people across the country and talk to them about the election. Because of this tangled web of friendships, I was one of the people who got the call.

At about 2:00 Tuesday afternoon, I got a phone call from a lawyer turned broadcaster named Elin (pictured above). She asked me several questions about the election and the mood in our little corner of America. Then, she called again 30 minutes later, and that conversation was broadcast live on Faroese National Radio.

And when I got off the phone, I realized something: I'm a foreign correspondent now! Kind of. I've spent my whole journalism career secretly pining for a foreign correspondent gig without ever realizing that my current location was perfectly foreign to somebody else.

It also got me thinking about the power of the Internet. About 18 months ago, I didn't know the Faroe Islands existed. Once I stumbled upon them, I decided to devote a post per week to sharing something about the islands and trying to connect with the people who live there. Now I'm talking to the Faroese over the radio. I'd be lying if I didn't say I think that's just about the coolest thing ever.

This week's Faroe photo comes from Arne List, he also provided the picture of the Faroese broadcast center at the top of this post. It's of the waterfront in Torshavn. Just out of frame to the left is the home of Radio 2. I wasn't on the air at Radio 2, but they've got a great view from their studio. The blue building is the home of Samvit, which is a combination of the Faroe Islands Tourism Board and their business development organization. I know some people who work there now. They're good people.

And as for the people at Faroese National Radio, feel free to call me anytime.

A MOMENT FOR McCAIN

In all the hoopla and analysis, let's take a moment to send some good thoughts John McCain's way.

In many ways, it's a shame to see what his campaign turned into. The plucky and fun insurgent campaign from 2000 became this bloated affair with no real direction.

Many years ago, I once thought McCain might make a good president, and eight years ago he may well have. But times changed, and McCain found himself on the wrong side of history. He's a decent man who loves his country, but it wasn't his time.

But McCain really did put Country First with his concession speech on Tuesday night. He was gracious and genuine in the face of what must have been a difficult defeat.

It's going to take a lot of work to repair the nation after eight very long, very bad years. It's going to take a president who is pragmatic and who represents everybody, not just the people who voted for him. It's also going to take people like John McCain who are members of the loyal opposition, but who are willing to build bridges across party lines.

Hearing McCain speak on Tuesday made me think we may have both of those elements in place this January.

HISTORY MADE

What a day. What a long and wonderful day. I'm home after covering the elections for about 12 hours and I saw more than a few things I didn't expect.

I was at the county elections office for about an hour this afternoon. There I saw people shouting and pumping their fists after they finished filling out their paperwork to fill out a provisional ballot. I saw people honk their horns and smile widely as they dropped ballots off. Saw the mailman beaming as he showed me a stack of ballots that people had sent via overnight mail (cost: $14).

When I saw how excited people were in a non-swing state to vote, I knew this race was all over. A few hours later, I was at the Democratic victory party in Ashland. The polls on the West Coast closed at 8:00. Moments later, the TV networks called the race for Obama. I saw hundreds of people stand up and shout. I saw many of them start crying. On giant projection screens I saw people dancing and cheering in Times Square, in front of the White House, and in Europe.

It was hard not to get swept up in it all. Hard not to think that you were seeing a moment that people will be talking about for generations.

In his moment in history, I see the seeds of greatness. We may have just elected a great leader, a transformational character in our history. This troubled time calls for greatness, and Obama may have what it takes.

Of course, there is always a chance we've just elected the second coming of Jimmy Carter. And even if he's not, it seems like it will be impossible for Obama to live up to the expectations placed on him in the US and by people around the world.

But what the hell. The American people have voted for hope, so I will offer a little hope myself tonight. So allow me to hope that Obama really is as good as everyone wants him to be. I'll hope that America has turned the corner on 16 years of divisive, wedge-issue politics. And I'll hope that, indeed, America's best days are in the future.

And in an age of fear, it's actually nice to hope, even if it is for just a few moments.

HERE AT LAST

It seemed like this day would never come, but here we are, it's election day. And while there is a lot of excitement about this day, I'd be lying if I said there was much drama. Only a few dozen people in New Hampshire have voted, but I can already make the call, and it's hardly bold: Barack Obama is the next president of the United States.

There, I said it. You don't have to be in the tank for Obama to look at the map and realize there's no way McCain can win this thing. The new winning strategy McCain's people keep forwarding has too many "ands" to be taken seriously. As in: "If the poll numbers are wrong AND the youth vote isn't as strong as predicted AND newly registered voters don't show up on Tuesday AND Pennsylvania goes our way AND we retain most of the Bush states, then we win."

In contrast, Obama's map is all about the "or." They can take Virginia OR Ohio OR Florida OR North Carolina OR a few Rocky Mountain states and win. The numbers just don't add up in McCain's favor.

Despite the fact that the outcome of the presidential race is all but certain, voter turnout here has been through the roof. Voting (like many other things) works differently in Oregon than elsewhere in the country. The elections office mails each voter a ballot about 17 days ahead of the election. Then the voter can drop their ballot in the mail or leave it in a drop box at the elections office.

As of Monday afternoon, more than 60% of voters in our country had returned their ballots. At times, traffic at the drop boxes was backed up for more than four blocks. I can only imagine what it's going to look like when the sun comes back up this morning.

And what it will look like this evening is history. And not that bad kind of history that keeps happening to us, but the good kind. The kind of history you brag about being a witness to, like the moon landing or the fall of the Berlin Wall. It's about time we had a little good history happening.

Good history isn't a guarantee of good times ahead. In fact, there are likely some very bad times in our immediate future. But for one day, I guess it's ok to steal away a small moment and smile.

HALLOWEEN RECAP

The little guys are finally getting old enough to understand holidays like Halloween, so we got them dressed up and went trick-or-treating. Will was dressed as Superman...

And Nate went as Batman...Rather than simply walking from door to door and begging for candy, we decided to to drive all over town visiting friends and begging candy...They did a pretty good job at scoring candy, but they're still not quite sure to do with the stuff...No need to worry, little guys. I'll take care of the candy. You just worry about staying cute.