On our drive home from Livingston, the chicken center of California, today, B__ and I listened to Governor Ahnold's first press conference. I will say that he did a good job of just handling the media. To be expected, of course, with his years of experience doing so. And he definitely seems likable. He makes jokes and he sounds honest. I have no doubt that his intentions are sincere. And my belief in this actually grew during the course of the press conference. Unfortunately, he still sounds like, well, like an idiot. I mean, he has no real plans for California other than to hire a team of independent auditors and see where our deficit is and then make some decisions about cutting services (because, as he reiterated today, he is not going to raise taxes). Unfortunately there is no place to cut from anymore, unless, of course, you count education, health care and the other safety net services government provides to those most in need. So, as I listened to the press conference, decided I like Ahnold well enough as a person (I guess) and decided he is still unqualified for anything remotely like governing, I wondered, "why did he even want this job?" As he said today, there will be no time for movies, there will be no time for anything (after all, California is a big state - he actually said this). Instead, he will be spending the next three years trying to figure out how to deal with the issues he inherited from Gray Davis, who inherited them from Pete Wilson. It's a losing proposition, I don't know why he wanted it or why the Republican Party wanted it (and I am sure they wondered that, too, during his press conference when he advocated work permits and visas for undocumented immigrants and talked about clean air, which sounded suspiciously like clean ears). I don't know why they didn't just wait it out, let the Dems continue to flail and then pounce on the Governor's office when they could really win. As it is, California is SCREWED and unless and until we repeal Proposition 13 so we can start getting some more money in the state's coffers - money we should have been collecting since, oh, I don't know, 1978! - we are not going to be able to dig out of it. We will never make money again like we did in the 90s...well, at least not for a while. We need the taxes and these homeowners and businesses who benefit from Prop. 13 are simply not paying their share. But, alas, Prop. 13 is untouchable for some reason...I guess the people who benefit from it have tons of money and tons of influence (the rich get richer)...so we will be screwed for a while.

==============================

The wedding last weekend was amazing. So much love in the room. So much happiness. So much fun! The Aussie's were everything I expected them to be. They were crazy and they were fun and they were so inviting. Eri was, of course, the most gorgeous bride and J___ is stunning, too. Their families are clearly in love with each other and are so thrilled that these two found each other. I swear, from the time I arrived in Morristown, New Jersey on Friday night til I left on Sunday morning (at 5am), my cheeks hurt from smiling (except I wasn't really smiling so much during my 3 hour run). The square-dance ho-down on Friday, the incrediblly beautiful ceremony Saturday, the amazing reception Saturday night...all of it had me smiling ear to ear. The bride and groom were so gracious...the guests were so fond of them both and therefore, we were all so fond of each other...it felt like I had known them all for longer than the few hours I had known them. By the end of the reception, when I was standing on the dance floor with my arms around Fiona, Dave and Nicola swaying back and forth and singing this Australian song about a one night stand that everyone knows the words to (kind of like their version of singing the Piano Man at the end of a drunken night in college!), I realized that this wedding was exactly what it was supposed to be - a gathering of Eri and J___'s favorite people all sharing their love.

This marriage bar was set so low until some of my friends started getting married. Now I feel like the bar is set awfully high.

Shit. Ahnold is our Governor. Oh well, what can you do? Hope for the best, I guess. I mean, let's be honest...I hope he succeeds. I mean, if he can turn things around, more power to him, right? I am highly skeptical that he will actually do this - with a very small percentage of the budget going towards discretionary spending, the Governor does not actually have a lot of sway - but in truth, I hope he succeeds because California will be a better place if he does. Hopefully I will be gone by then, though, and will come back when a real Governor takes office.

Bright spots - both right-wing supported propositions failed.