The last thing he needs?

Well, will you look at that—Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Neat!

But while I find it incredibly exciting that the world has started to view the US in a more favorable light, I can’t help but think that this award is more a commentary on the Bush administration than a reward for any contributions Obama has made this far. Since, you know, he hasn’t even been in office all that long.

I wonder what the committee’s motivations truly were—was the other competition that lackluster? It doesn’t seem likely given the top favored candidate did some pretty impressive things (as mentioned in this article). Or do they believe that this award will be a powerful tool for Obama to further his agenda for peace? Probably, but I think in this regard the committee should have evaluated the actions and not the words.

I’m happy for Obama, but I think this award may be more of a hindrance than a help at this point of his presidency. It adds even more expectations to the ones he already has and arguably gives more ammunition to his critics that Obama is a man of just words.

-KP

Guess who's coming to dinner?

Our friends Luke and Sandy held a party at their house in Bucktown to kick off summer the right way. It had all the normal summer party staples: grilling out, eating way too much junk food, and drinking copious amounts of alcohol (in my case, Miller Chill). However, two extra-ordinary situations occurred.

#1
Guess who came to dinner? Barack Obama's national political director. I shit thee not. It turns out one of Sandy's friends is actually dating the guy. It was a phenomenal conversation (and one that Molly is still as giddy as a school girl over). I mean, how cool is it to drink beer, eat brats, and talk politics with someone thatclose! to Obama? (Also, cool little aside: since he's now going to oversee convention operations for the DNC, Sandy and her friend actually get to go to it.)

#2
Sometime during the evening we started hearing sirens pass close by. Most of us didn't think anything of it because, well, sirens are a normal thing to hear in urban landscapes. However, a little while later we noticed that the clouds were very low and moving like a freight train. Then we realized they weren't clouds. They were smoke. So, beverages in hand, most of us wandered down the street where an apartment building had caught on fire. (The irony? It was located right next to the fire station).

Before too long the fire had spread to the next building, and soon after that, to the third building over. I've never seen anything like it--all the firefighters, all the smoke. And furthermore--the police didn't even keep us from getting that close. They just wanted us to stay across the street. Not something I'll forget any time soon... especially since one of the residents was there, inebriated beyond inebriation, wanting to go inside. Her friends literally had to pick her up by her hands and feet to get her away from the situation.

*UPDATED*
Here's a link to an article about the fire:


-KP

"Today is Toby Flenderson's last day. I couldn't sleep last night. I came in extra early, so much energy. There's certain days that you know you will remember for the rest of your life. And I just have a feeling that today is one of those days."
-Michael Scott, The Office