Hillary in Hillsborough

How could she not open her speech by talking about the weather on a day like yesterday? I could see across the Bay from this amazing property in Hillsborough - Redwood trees, gazebo and terraced gardens overlooked a tented lawn and the most perfect pool setting I've seen outside of Italy. Hillary Clinton, hopeful first woman president of the U.S. (applause please, everyone always applauds when this is mentioned and she's in the room), came to speak to 200 people. She sparkled as she came out into the sun before entering the tent.

This was my second time to see Hillary Clinton in person - my first was in the spring at a much greater distance. This time she was 10 feet from me, close enough to see the expressions on her face and notice the details in her jewelry. As she spoke - about the economy, energy policy, healthcare, education, innovation and terrorism - I felt both humbled at the opportunity and awed by how one woman, her voice hoarse from speaking around the country, can persevere through so much to achieve this simple but incredible goal of leadership.

Although most people in the group I'd peg as moderate Democrats, we had a significant share of Republicans at the event, which made the discussions during and after the event a little different than when I saw Senator Clinton last in San Francisco. There was more talk about bipartisanship and incentives for businesses, more discussion about making college affordable for everyone, and encouraging innovation while simultaneously bringing down prices in the healthcare and energy sector.

Senator Clinton spoke at length about her top priorities both now as a senator and for the future as president. She emphasized the need for a new energy policy "for our security, our environment and our economy." She jabbed at George Bush - "you cannot be a leader if no one is following." She discussed how in order to make the sweeping changes that are necessary, we will have to "reform the government."

When asked about how she would proceed in the "war on terror," she had a 3 point plan beginning with regaining the "moral authority that we've lost." "We're now seeing the results ofthe deterioration in Pakistan," she said. She thinks it's the most dangerous place in the world right now, and she thinks they have nukes. "We've got to be vigilant - not fearful bit vigilant."

On the environment, she said "it's not going to be easy (major environmental progress) but we are making some positive changes," talking about the time we have before the election. She lauded former Vice President Gore for his Nobel prize and for his efforts, but she said "I think Al would be happier with a policy than a prize," knowing there is much work that needs to be done on her part in order to make the necessary changes.

About healthcare, Hillary brought out her vast knowledge of that area and cited several related statistics. "We can't continue to spend more than anyone else in the world and not cover everyone." She also advocated on behalf of electronic medical records, saying it would save us $44Billion/year. That figure I find staggering, but I've often wondered at the disorganized fashion of most medical records as a technologist. This could build and expand businesses too, from what I know of the industry. She talked about creating new jobs and coming to agreements with everyone in biotech, insurance, "big pharma" and the rest of us and how it's unlikely the first step will be much more than a lot of compromise for everyone, but she indicated that may be the only way we can get everyone covered.

Senator Clinton spoke at great length about the challenges we have in education. She wants to provide pre-Kindergarten in 50 states. Because there's a huge drop-out rate by the third grade. Third grade! It makes me sick to think about it. She thinks it's deplorable what's happening with the cost of college education. "A lot of people in mortgage crisis are there because they took out second mortgages to send their kids to college," she said. She told stories about some of the people she's met in that situation. She also said that the U.S. is declining in the percentage of people who are going to college now, compared to many other countries.

The senator and former first lady spoke for over an hour and took Q&A for at least 30 minutes more before being whisked away to catch a flight to her next event. Hosted by Cynthia Shuman and Dan Banks and Chaired by former California State Senator Jackie Speier, the lunch event lasted longer than I expected. Jackie Speier, as always, was radiant in her introduction and shared personal stories that illustrate why she's supporting (and speaking on behalf of) Senator Clinton. There was some buzz as well about when Jackie will run for office next. Everyone in the room, of course, will be rooting for Jackie in her next race.

My mom, who happened to be in town this week, kindly sponsored my attendance to the event, since intimate political fundraisers (yes, 200 people is "intimate") tend to cost a pretty penny. She came along with me, and I was able to find one friend at short notice who came as well. She's one of the registered Republicans and she was impressed by Hillary's knowledge of the issues, but she's a tough sell (in this case because she knew one of the Republican candidates personally).

There's still a lot of talk among women and men about whether Hillary's electable - I thought that was past - but I guess not. The truth is we'll never know until it happens. Polling results say it's possible. I keep pointing-out to people that several of the first milestones in women's political history were in cases where women took offices their husbands previously occupied, so there's actually a strong precedent for this. People talk about her baggage, the smear campaigns against her, etc. and all I can say is it's sad how much of our tax money has been wasted to turn the American public against one woman - a smart, dedicated, driven, amazing person - who can and is making a monumental difference in the state of our world.

These are not simple problems Senator Hillary Clinton faces and they don't have simple solutions, nor is her list of adversaries small, but as I study her - through the debates, seeing her in person, reading what she writes, learning about her character from those who know her - I just can't help but feel that we would be in good hands if and when she becomes president. She's not sugar-coating what needs to be done and she's not making promises she can't keep. It's refreshing to me both to see a woman and someone who presents a realistic perspective on our situation as a nation, but who brings people together in a problem-solving fashion to address these issues in a proactive, insightful way. At one point during her speech, she rebuked Bush's choices as president and rhetorically asked, "how about appointing qualified people [to their posts in our government]?" Let's start by electing one.

...
Also posted on the Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

Tailgating with Sandra Day O'Connor

I was late arriving to a "tailgate" at the Stanford Law School on Saturday and nearly tripped over two members of the Secret Service. For those of us in the Bay Area (vs. D.C.), that usually means there's a presidential candidate in the room, but in this case, it turned-out to be two Supreme Court members - or one former and one current, to be specific. Stephen Breyer is the current Justice and Sandra Day O'Connor, first woman appointed to the Supreme Court and recently retired, was of course the one who caught my eye.

First, I should rewind and say that what was called a tailgate at the Stanford Law School was really a pre-game party for the Homecoming footaball game that occurred in the court yard at the law school where they served Kansas City-style BBQ chicken and some fabulous ice cream sandwiches among other items in the well-presented buffet. And the fully stocked bar (with wine and really good margaritas) did not reek even remotely of cheap beer and chips. Having never been much of a football observer (so sue me, I know it's heresy for a UofM grad to say this), I'd never been to a tailgate before but I'm guessing this one doesn't really count anyway.

I ended-up at this soiree at the invitation of my dad - it was his birthday - who graduated from Stanford Law School in '62. He invited my sister, her partner, (both of whom are also Stanford grads), me and my husband to come with him and his wife to the tailgate and then to the game. It was mostly an activity for alumni to catch-up with each other. If I had come earlier, perhaps I would've said hello to Sandra O'Connor. I certainly thought of things to say and ask, but mostly I wanted to thank her for her service and for helping break the glass ceiling. I didn't know how to come across as not cheezy - I'm a little shy when it comes to in-person meetings like this. I figured she wanted to just talk with friends. She clearly had her fill of people coming up to her and talking to her, and then suddenly she was gone, probably whisked away to the game or some other event.

What I did learn while I was standing in line for my chicken (not eavesdropping, I swear), was that she's still a sharp woman. She was partaking in discussion about tax law and policy and had opinions on what may or may not pass with Congress. I'd rather not write what I heard specifically because she didn't know I was there, but nevertheless, just her presence at an event like this shows that she's still making a difference through her service, and I'm sure her legacy will continue. I'm hoping our next Supreme Court Justice will be a woman appointed by a woman, and I really hope she's around to see it. All I can say is next time the law school has a tailgate, I hope I'm invited back. They know how to party.

Liveblogging SVMoms Meeting Elizabeth Edwards Today

Today, I had the opportunity, along with the Silicon Valley Moms, to meet with Elizabeth Edwards again, wife of presidential candidate, John Edwards. Last fall we met with Mrs. Edwards and we all really enjoyed that experience, so we worked hard to make it happen again.

This time, we decided to live blog the meeting and since I'm the tech politics mom, I got that exhausting, but exciting job. (Carpal tunnel, what carpal tunnel?) Elizabeth Edwards talks so quickly and brilliantly (and often tangentially), it can be difficult to follow her threads, but it turned out well. We discussed a variety of issues from healthcare to education to the US's place in the world. We all felt honored she was willing to share her precious time with us.

Here's my liveblogging post. There will be more follow-up on the SVMoms blog about the meeting over the next few days.

$100 Will Soon Buy A Laptop & $200 Will Send a Second To a Child in Rwanda...

Or Haiti, Cambodia or Afghanistan. Pretty cool, huh? According to BBC News, the laptops will be green or white and will work in the sun and with a variety of power options. The program is called G1G1 or "give one, get one". It's developed by OLPC (One Laptop Per Child).

They supposedly run on 10% or less energy than most laptops. Right now, according to the New York Times, prices are closer to $400 for 2 laptops, but that's still super cheap by American standards. I'm all over this. My daughter could use a computer of her own to learn on, and I love the idea of providing a computer for a child who probably won't have another opportunity to get one.

Script Frenzy - NaNoWriMo for Screenwriters & Playwrights

I can't believe I had to hear about this from a newspaper clipping sent via snailmail from my mother instead of via broadband or word of mouth. Chris Baty, founder of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, aka November), the man who coined my nickname, 'Sairy', when we were in high school together, has now launched Script Frenzy, a month-long scriptwriting 'contest' where writers hash out scripts for full length screenplays or stage plays. Looks like fun.

I was one of the first people to participate in NaNoWriMo but I bailed because of my carpal tunnel syndrome... it was pretty fierce at the time. But back in college, I recall writing a one-act play in 2 weeks while studying British Film & Theatre over the summer in London, so I figure if I could do that then, certainly I could do it again now. I've written a hand full of other plays and screenplays and directed/co-produced one of them, but that was all in college and they weren't particularly good. I probably write over 2000 words a day professionally now not to mention email, so if their requirement is 20,000 words in a month, no sweat. (Famous last words.) For point of reference, this post is 375 words. The 4 posts I've written today add up to 2400 words. Dialogue is easy. Just talk to yourself for several hours and voila!

Looking at the Script Frenzy site, they have tips for script writing, an insightful blog, a forum for participants, and of course a call for action. One of my favorite parts is the donation package incentives. As someone who's worked with a lot of nonprofits, these perks are some of the most amusing I've seen. For $5000, their team will make a 5 minute movie about you and enact it with anything from finger puppets to A-List actors. And these guys are smart - it would probably be damn good and definitely it would be funny. In any case, they need money to keep the contest going and to launch it again in future years. They also support young writers in a variety of ways.

They operate NaNoWriMo and Script Frenzy both through their nonprofit, The Office of Letters and Light.

Interesting Nonprofit Concept - donorschoose.org

Crate & Barrel sent me a letter about a month ago saying that they wanted to thank me for being a customer and that they were doing a program where customers can select where a $25 donation will go. Thinking the site would be some portal to non profits, I checked it out and also of course figuring if I can get $25 sent to another worthy cause, great. donorschoose.org actually is a very specific site where they have accounts related to education and requests by educators to fund their specific projects. They don't always tell you where they are, but the options are quite extensive.

I chose the SF Bay Area because I have a sense of local issues here and then I selected arts & music - there were several options for different types of projects - technology based, reading based, by subject, region, etc. but that one interested me since the arts are so generally neglected in schools here. Finding thousands of proposals just for the arts, having a toddler at home who is very musical and going through the preschool selection process where I am seeking a school with a good music program that my daughter will love, I decided to search for 'preschool music' and the first one that came up said something about creating an environment for dance and music at a preschool and helping by purchasing a cd player and instruments for the classroom so I put my $25 gift card toward that.

You can fund the whole project yourself, of course, or add to the personal donations. What I didn't find out is what happens if these programs are only partly funded - do they get any money? do they get some money? do they go through another process? I'll check that out another time, but I wanted to mention it as an interesting way to be really specific about where your money goes rather than just having a blanket $25 donation going to the Red Cross and not knowing where that money will actually end up. I'm in favor of both kinds of systems, of course. Organizations need to manage their own funds in order to operate properly, but I think this is an interesting business model that provides a more local feel to contributing in the education space.

Arthur Miller Theatre Finally Opening Thursday

Arthur Miller is one of those names that always comes up when American Playwrights are discussed. He first wrote plays at my alma mater, the University of Michigan. I don't know if any were ever produced there when he was a student, but I certainly have fond memories of my playwriting classes and the play I wrote/directed/co-produced. Miller was lucky to live a long life and knew a theatre was being built at UofM in his name but was unable to see its completion.

According to a Detroit Free Press article, the Walgreen Drama Center, a building named after its primary donor, Charles Walgreen Jr, (former UofM grad in pharmacy school, founder of Walgreens) houses the Arthur Miller Theatre and the first production will be performed this Thursday. It is, fittingly, "Playing for Time" by Arthur Miller. Sadly, Mr. Walgreen also passed away during the construction, but he made it to 100 years old! (Kinda makes me want to shop at Walgreens more, although I'm already a frequent customer.)

I spent half of my time at UofM on North Campus where engineering classes were held, and half my time on Central Campus where drama, literature and general courses were held. It seems odd to me that the arts and engineering are now all in one place. So much has changed since I was there - campus looks so different now. I'm actually sad they will be replacing the Frieze Building with a dormitory, although I'm sure it's a smart move. I have fond memories of many classes in the Frieze Building - Russian and Writing for TV being two that come to mind.

I'm glad to see that Michigan is making a stronger commitment to the arts. They always had good programs, but I felt they haven't been known for their arts as much as for business, engineering, sports and other areas. Maybe the time has come for the alma mater of Lawrence Kasdan, Judith Guest and James Earl Jones to take its place as a wellspring of great performing artists. (Not that I'm biased.)