Reflections on the US Elections
It's already been a few days since Obama's historic victory and I've been riding an emotional high ever since I saw the words "Barack Obama - President Elect" sprawled across my television screen at 5 a.m. on election night. I was literally sitting alone in the living room, with tears in my eyes and a smile across my face, while Margreet and Noa were sleeping peacefully upstairs.
I stayed awake for another 2 1/2 hours afterwards listening to the speeches and taking it all in. There are times in your life when you know the world is changing before your eyes and you just can't let go.
It's a feeling I have never felt before, but one I have heard of, when people mentioned how they felt about John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. It's a feeling of inspiration and hope, pride and humility.
It's not so much that the United States have finally elected a black person - a feat I was hoping I would see in my lifetime - but that we, as Americans, have elected a person who brought us a message of hope and change that didn't sound political and that didn't bring out the cynicism and apathy in us.
I started paying attention to the election only after it became a 3 legged race - between McCain, Clinton and Obama - and my impression at the time was that I would be OK with any of the three. I admired McCain for his personal history of service to his country, as well as his senate record of reform and bi-partisanship. I admired Hillary Clinton mainly because of her relation to Bill Clinton and I believed that her ideas would be similar to his. I did not know much of Barack Obama, but I liked what little I knew.
Thus, as a Democrat, I thought I would support whichever candidate came out of the democratic primaries.
Then came the defining moment for me. In response to growing reports of his ties to Reverand Wright, Obama made his "A More Perfect Union" speech. This speech convinced me that in Barack Obama, we have found a leader who is well spoken, intelligent, honest and grounded, who is comfortable speaking about race, social injustice, abortion, foreign policy and other polarising issues without being divisive. I felt that Obama could unite Americans, black and white, men and women, Democrats and Republicans. I felt that Obama could repair America's standing in the world.
Every time I listened to him after this, I became more and more convinced that he was the right person for the job. I felt bad for Hillary, as I felt that she would have made a good president too, but I was really hoping Obama would win. Unfortunately, knowing California would overwhemingly vote for Obama, and therefore my vote wouldn't make a difference in the overall race, I didn't bother to register to vote until it was too late. Now I regret not having participated in this historic event. I do wish, however, that the US would change to a popular vote instead of the electoral college vote. The current system gives more weight to votes of people from certain states (Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania) and less to others (California, New York, Texas). But that's another topic.
But in the end, Obama's message of change won out and ushered in a new day.
Watching the celebrations from around the US, one could easily forget that over 57 million Americans voted for McCain. To those people, I say that I hope you give our new President a chance. He will make a difference.
I believe it.
The YES WE CAN song
The following lyrics are from the inspirational Will.i.am song "Yes We Can". The words are drawn almost verbatim from Barack Obama's speech following the New Hampshire Democratic primaries. The video of the song (below after the lyrics) made me cry for the first 50 times I watched it :)
"It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --
Yes. We. Can."
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Dinnertime at the Weiners
I welcome you to watch a video I made during our interesting dinnertimes. Noa is starting to say words now. The latest word is "doei", pronounced "doo-ee" which means "bye". When she says it, it cracks us up each and every time.
Hope you enjoy it...
Hope you enjoy it...
Day Trip to the Zoo
Last Thursday, my friend Jonathan and I decided to take our little ones, Cillian and Noa, to the zoo.
Now there are a lot of zoos here in Holland, but Jonathan had picked one near Antwerp in Belgium, about a two hour drive from where we live. A lot of the nice zoos here in Holland would have also taken upto two hours to get to, so the fact that this one was in a completely different country didn't make it any further to get to. It's just a funny thing living in a small(ish) country like Holland that sometimes you need a passport for a day out to the zoo (not that I actually took my passport.)
The day was promising to be a rainy one, so at first I was thinking about postponing, as being from Southern California, I'm afraid of rain. Jonathan, being from Ireland, didn't seem to be concerned with getting a bit wet, and kindly told me to grow a pair (and with some hormone therapy should be likely).
So they stopped by at the ungawdly time of 10.00am (for someone who leaves work at 3.00am, then watches the 3rd presidential debate live until 5.45am, waking up at anytime that ends with "am" is ungawdly). We loaded Noa's car seat next to Cillian's and off we went!
We arrived just before noon and there was hardly anyone there. The parking lot was empty. I don't know if it was the weather or the time we arrived, but it looked like we were going to have the park to ourselves. We loaded the critters into the double buggy that Jonathan had brought and walked into the park. Now there's something about 2 guys walking with 2 young kids in a double stroller that's just a little bit, uhhhh, well, uhhhh gay. It's a good thing that I switched the earring to the other ear :) Wouldn't want any rumors to start.
The zoo itself was OK. I'm not into zoos so much, but I enjoy finding something fun for Noa to do. Most of the time, we just let Noa and Cillian run around. They weren't so interested in the animals. They were more interested in splashing in the mud puddles, wandering around in the forest and running after each other. Other than the constant threat of rain, we were actually very lucky with the weather - it had only rained once while we were there and it was only for a few minutes.
One complaint about the zoo, though: there was no baby changing station in the men's room, so we had to change the nappies in the ladies' room, which got us a few stares from some of the women and some giggles from some teenage girls. Once, I was lifting Noa to get a good look at some of the animals when I noticed a lot of mud on her tights and dress. I wasn't so surprised as this little girl gets so dirty when she plays outside. However, upon further inspection, it didn't smell like mud, and it was, in fact, not mud but poo! At that moment, we were quite far from any facility, so I had to give Noa a complete cleaning and change of clothes on a bench in the cold - poor Noa. Luckily, Margreet had prepared a complete baby bag with new set of clothes, so crisis was averted!
Anyway, we got home at about 6pm, and after some dinner and a long bath, Noa slept for 13 hours straight (until Margreet had to wake her up to go to the creche!), so we can assume that a good day was had by all!
Now there are a lot of zoos here in Holland, but Jonathan had picked one near Antwerp in Belgium, about a two hour drive from where we live. A lot of the nice zoos here in Holland would have also taken upto two hours to get to, so the fact that this one was in a completely different country didn't make it any further to get to. It's just a funny thing living in a small(ish) country like Holland that sometimes you need a passport for a day out to the zoo (not that I actually took my passport.)
The day was promising to be a rainy one, so at first I was thinking about postponing, as being from Southern California, I'm afraid of rain. Jonathan, being from Ireland, didn't seem to be concerned with getting a bit wet, and kindly told me to grow a pair (and with some hormone therapy should be likely).
So they stopped by at the ungawdly time of 10.00am (for someone who leaves work at 3.00am, then watches the 3rd presidential debate live until 5.45am, waking up at anytime that ends with "am" is ungawdly). We loaded Noa's car seat next to Cillian's and off we went!
We arrived just before noon and there was hardly anyone there. The parking lot was empty. I don't know if it was the weather or the time we arrived, but it looked like we were going to have the park to ourselves. We loaded the critters into the double buggy that Jonathan had brought and walked into the park. Now there's something about 2 guys walking with 2 young kids in a double stroller that's just a little bit, uhhhh, well, uhhhh gay. It's a good thing that I switched the earring to the other ear :) Wouldn't want any rumors to start.
The zoo itself was OK. I'm not into zoos so much, but I enjoy finding something fun for Noa to do. Most of the time, we just let Noa and Cillian run around. They weren't so interested in the animals. They were more interested in splashing in the mud puddles, wandering around in the forest and running after each other. Other than the constant threat of rain, we were actually very lucky with the weather - it had only rained once while we were there and it was only for a few minutes.
One complaint about the zoo, though: there was no baby changing station in the men's room, so we had to change the nappies in the ladies' room, which got us a few stares from some of the women and some giggles from some teenage girls. Once, I was lifting Noa to get a good look at some of the animals when I noticed a lot of mud on her tights and dress. I wasn't so surprised as this little girl gets so dirty when she plays outside. However, upon further inspection, it didn't smell like mud, and it was, in fact, not mud but poo! At that moment, we were quite far from any facility, so I had to give Noa a complete cleaning and change of clothes on a bench in the cold - poor Noa. Luckily, Margreet had prepared a complete baby bag with new set of clothes, so crisis was averted!
Anyway, we got home at about 6pm, and after some dinner and a long bath, Noa slept for 13 hours straight (until Margreet had to wake her up to go to the creche!), so we can assume that a good day was had by all!
Monday, October 13, 2008
A visit to see Christine
My good friend Jonathan (from my Schlumberger days) and his lovely wife Ilse just had a new daughter, Christine. Margreet, Noa and I went to visit them last Thursday. It was a beautiful day outside (not many of those this summer), so we took the bikes and rode the 15 minute ride to their house in The Hague.
Their first child, Cillian, is a regular playmate of Noa, as they are only 3 weeks apart in age and get along great. So while Margreet and I were ooh-ing and aah-ing over little Christine, Noa and Cillian were running all over the place, climbing all over the furniture, eating tons of cookies, making chocolate handprints on the nice white furniture and carpets.
Christine is a big baby (over 4 kg / 9 lbs) with a lot of hair! But holding her, she felt sooo light. I forgot how light a baby is supposed to weigh. Or is it that Noa is getting so big?
So anyway, I just wanted to post a little blog entry (hopefully the first!) to welcome Christine McCann to the world!
Their first child, Cillian, is a regular playmate of Noa, as they are only 3 weeks apart in age and get along great. So while Margreet and I were ooh-ing and aah-ing over little Christine, Noa and Cillian were running all over the place, climbing all over the furniture, eating tons of cookies, making chocolate handprints on the nice white furniture and carpets.
Christine is a big baby (over 4 kg / 9 lbs) with a lot of hair! But holding her, she felt sooo light. I forgot how light a baby is supposed to weigh. Or is it that Noa is getting so big?
So anyway, I just wanted to post a little blog entry (hopefully the first!) to welcome Christine McCann to the world!
Me (holding Christine) with Ilse and Margreet
Me, Jonathan and Margreet (holding Christine, Cillian and Noa respectively)
The two rascals :)
Mother and Daughter
For the rest of the photo set, click here.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
First Time at the Swimming Pool
What is there to do on a rainy and cold Sunday October morning in Holland? Why, go to the (indoor) swimming pool!
Today, we took our first trip to the swimming pool. We were a bit worried that Noa wouldn't like the pool. In April, when we were in Needles, CA during our cross country RV trip, we tried taking Noa into the pool at the RV park, and she cried bloody murder. In all fairness the pool water was very cold and the jacuzzi was pretty hot, but she really didn't seem to enjoy the experience.
So this morning, we fitted Noa with her waterproof diaper and very cute little bathing suit and all went into the kiddie pool. Imagine a pool about 80 m2 with an average depth of 40 cm with about 40 kids and 40 adults in it. Yeah, pretty busy. And I hate to think what was in the water ...
The water was a nice warm temperature and Noa had no problem whatsoever going in. For the first 15 minutes she stayed very close to us, just watching all the other kids playing. She was also very fascinated with the LED lights in the ceiling that changed colours every 5 seconds.
After awhile, she started wandering around the pool, climbing up and down the stairs, and generally having a great time. We were always following her around as we didn't have any floaties on her, but the times where she fell into the water (head going under) she didn't seem to mind too much.
I guess we'll be making more of these swimming trips on a regular basis.
Too bad I couldn't take any pictures of Noa in her cute swimsuit, but I'm not allowed to take pictures in the swimming pool anymore (the court insisted!)
Today, we took our first trip to the swimming pool. We were a bit worried that Noa wouldn't like the pool. In April, when we were in Needles, CA during our cross country RV trip, we tried taking Noa into the pool at the RV park, and she cried bloody murder. In all fairness the pool water was very cold and the jacuzzi was pretty hot, but she really didn't seem to enjoy the experience.
So this morning, we fitted Noa with her waterproof diaper and very cute little bathing suit and all went into the kiddie pool. Imagine a pool about 80 m2 with an average depth of 40 cm with about 40 kids and 40 adults in it. Yeah, pretty busy. And I hate to think what was in the water ...
The water was a nice warm temperature and Noa had no problem whatsoever going in. For the first 15 minutes she stayed very close to us, just watching all the other kids playing. She was also very fascinated with the LED lights in the ceiling that changed colours every 5 seconds.
After awhile, she started wandering around the pool, climbing up and down the stairs, and generally having a great time. We were always following her around as we didn't have any floaties on her, but the times where she fell into the water (head going under) she didn't seem to mind too much.
I guess we'll be making more of these swimming trips on a regular basis.
Too bad I couldn't take any pictures of Noa in her cute swimsuit, but I'm not allowed to take pictures in the swimming pool anymore (the court insisted!)
Monday, September 22, 2008
3rd Annual Keizerstraat Poker Classic
Well, the 3rd Annual Keizerstraat Poker Classic / BBQ Party has come and gone and I still haven't won :(
The party was a blast though.
In a summer full of rainy and cool days, the day of the party turned out to be the only day that was actually warm and sunny!
The usual cast of characters were there, but we had some new faces too! Tony and Tracy brought their friends Scott and Sarah, to give a little American vibe to the party :)
My friends Lisa and Andre drove all the way from Ghent in Belgium to spend the day with us along with their sons Finn and Ben. Noa loved having new playmates and we all enjoyed the massive amounts of Belgium Brownies they brought along ... Delicious!!! It was nice to see them, as I've known Lisa since we were wee little people in LA (back when I could count my age on 2 hands).
After consuming a lot of meat and alcohol, and put Noa to bed, we got down to business (ooooh yeah, it's business time!) We had 11 players for the No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament, so we started on 1 big table. For the first few levels, nobody busted out, but then the blinds started getting high, and people started dropping out.
It was another bad showing for the hosts, with yours truly coming in 5th (bubble). Scott took the crown, followed by Ramses, Joanda and Martin.
Well done to all and thanks to all those who came!
Here are some photos from the day:
Noa with the girls (Sarah and Tracy)
Noa playing with Ben
No mixing allowed! Germans up front, poker players in the middle and Americans in the back.
Hanging around the kitchen with Mark, Andre and Lisa
Snotty Noa.
It's business time!
This is how Ramses looks when he's bluffing.
High Stakes Poker
The party was a blast though.
In a summer full of rainy and cool days, the day of the party turned out to be the only day that was actually warm and sunny!
The usual cast of characters were there, but we had some new faces too! Tony and Tracy brought their friends Scott and Sarah, to give a little American vibe to the party :)
My friends Lisa and Andre drove all the way from Ghent in Belgium to spend the day with us along with their sons Finn and Ben. Noa loved having new playmates and we all enjoyed the massive amounts of Belgium Brownies they brought along ... Delicious!!! It was nice to see them, as I've known Lisa since we were wee little people in LA (back when I could count my age on 2 hands).
After consuming a lot of meat and alcohol, and put Noa to bed, we got down to business (ooooh yeah, it's business time!) We had 11 players for the No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament, so we started on 1 big table. For the first few levels, nobody busted out, but then the blinds started getting high, and people started dropping out.
It was another bad showing for the hosts, with yours truly coming in 5th (bubble). Scott took the crown, followed by Ramses, Joanda and Martin.
Well done to all and thanks to all those who came!
Here are some photos from the day:
Noa with the girls (Sarah and Tracy)
Noa playing with Ben
No mixing allowed! Germans up front, poker players in the middle and Americans in the back.
Hanging around the kitchen with Mark, Andre and Lisa
Snotty Noa.
It's business time!
This is how Ramses looks when he's bluffing.
High Stakes Poker
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Saturday Bike Ride
I hope you guys enjoy my new video of a day out that we took with our bikes around The Hague.
For those interested, the prison we passed by in the second half of the video is the one that houses people detained by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), including Charles Taylor, Radovan Karadzic, and (formely) Slobodan Milosevic.
For those interested, the prison we passed by in the second half of the video is the one that houses people detained by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), including Charles Taylor, Radovan Karadzic, and (formely) Slobodan Milosevic.
Lisbon Trip
During the last week of July, Margreet and I went to Lisbon for a 5 day vacation without Noa. This is the second year that Margreet's parents, Riek and Jan, came to Scheveningen to house/baby sit, while Margreet and I get a few days to reacquaint with each other.
Last year, we went to Barcelona and had a blast, discovered high limit poker and rich italian gelato. This year, we decided to go to Lisbon, as neither of us had been to Portugal before. I think this might be the last time, as well.
We had a nice time, but it wasn't anything special. Spain is much nicer, plus I'm able to communicate with people there.
We actually stayed in a town a half hour away from Lisbon called Estoril, known for its large casino (we didn't play) and its Formula 1 racetrack (no longer in service). It's a pretty area and you can walk along the seaside promenade to the next town, Cascais.
We took a day trip to the town of Sintra, a medieval type town in a hilly forested area and another day trip to Lisbon, where thanks to one of those top-free double-decker tourist bus, we were able to see most of the city sitting down :)
We did climb to the top of the Castle of São Jorge, right in the centre of Lisbon, giving incredible views of the city.
Here are some pics from our trip:
Relaxing by the Pool
In Sintra
In Sintra
The bull-fighting ring in Lisbon
In Lisbon
View from the Castle of São Jorge
Atop of the Castle of São Jorge
Last year, we went to Barcelona and had a blast, discovered high limit poker and rich italian gelato. This year, we decided to go to Lisbon, as neither of us had been to Portugal before. I think this might be the last time, as well.
We had a nice time, but it wasn't anything special. Spain is much nicer, plus I'm able to communicate with people there.
We actually stayed in a town a half hour away from Lisbon called Estoril, known for its large casino (we didn't play) and its Formula 1 racetrack (no longer in service). It's a pretty area and you can walk along the seaside promenade to the next town, Cascais.
We took a day trip to the town of Sintra, a medieval type town in a hilly forested area and another day trip to Lisbon, where thanks to one of those top-free double-decker tourist bus, we were able to see most of the city sitting down :)
We did climb to the top of the Castle of São Jorge, right in the centre of Lisbon, giving incredible views of the city.
Here are some pics from our trip:
Relaxing by the Pool
In Sintra
In Sintra
The bull-fighting ring in Lisbon
In Lisbon
View from the Castle of São Jorge
Atop of the Castle of São Jorge
Friday, July 25, 2008
From The Depths (Mima'amakim)
From the depths I called out to you
Come to me
Upon your return, the light will return to my eyes
I'm not finished, I'm not leaving the touch of your hands
May it come and light up to the sound of your laughter
From the depths I called out to you
Come to me
Against the moon that lights your way back to me
They spread out and melted against the touch of your hands
In your ears I whisper, and ask
Who's that calling out to you tonight? Listen up
Who sings out loud to you, to your window?
Who gave his soul so you'd be happy?
Who will give a hand and build your home?
Who will give his life, and put it beneath yours?
Who will live as dust beneath your feet?
Who will love you more than all other loves?
Who will save you from every living spirit?
From the depths...
From the depths I called out to you
Come to you
Against the moon that lights your way back to me
They spread out and melted against the touch of your hand
In your ears I whisper, and ask
-- Idan Raichel
Come to me
Upon your return, the light will return to my eyes
I'm not finished, I'm not leaving the touch of your hands
May it come and light up to the sound of your laughter
From the depths I called out to you
Come to me
Against the moon that lights your way back to me
They spread out and melted against the touch of your hands
In your ears I whisper, and ask
Who's that calling out to you tonight? Listen up
Who sings out loud to you, to your window?
Who gave his soul so you'd be happy?
Who will give a hand and build your home?
Who will give his life, and put it beneath yours?
Who will live as dust beneath your feet?
Who will love you more than all other loves?
Who will save you from every living spirit?
From the depths...
From the depths I called out to you
Come to you
Against the moon that lights your way back to me
They spread out and melted against the touch of your hand
In your ears I whisper, and ask
-- Idan Raichel
Sunday, July 20, 2008
New Noa Videos Added
I'm pretty embarrassed about how long it's been since my last post.
Believe it or not, I actually started writing 2 different posts, but never got them completed and posted. Our US trip just created such great blog fodder that I was finding it hard to write anything compelling enough.
I do have some great photos, videos and stories from a trip Noa and I took to Cornwall and Devon last month, except that they're stuck on my phone (the photos and videos, that is) and I can't find a way to download them to a computer. Hopefully, I'll get that done this century.
In the meantime, enjoy a few new videos taken recently of Noa.
And keep on checking the blog ...
Believe it or not, I actually started writing 2 different posts, but never got them completed and posted. Our US trip just created such great blog fodder that I was finding it hard to write anything compelling enough.
I do have some great photos, videos and stories from a trip Noa and I took to Cornwall and Devon last month, except that they're stuck on my phone (the photos and videos, that is) and I can't find a way to download them to a computer. Hopefully, I'll get that done this century.
In the meantime, enjoy a few new videos taken recently of Noa.
And keep on checking the blog ...
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