Christmas at Singsaas

I'm posting these photos of my church from Christmas, partly because some of my international friends don't see a white, beautiful, classic Christmas... enjoy!

Iowa, Part 2: Hello Ron Paul!

I made my second trip to Iowa yesterday (Dec. 29) with my family. We headed straight south to two towns, Rock Rapids and Sioux Center.

We were fresh on Mitt Romney's trail, who had been in Rock Rapids one day earlier. We asked a couple of people if they had seen him or heard that he was in town- but they hadn't. Iowa seems saturated with all things political now. Plastic politicians like Romney are just starting to blend into the Iowan backdrop.

I got really excited in Sioux Center, because we saw FOUR Ron Paul yard signs on lawns. That's more than any other candidate had in that town. We left literature in their doors- I'm sure they were pleasantly surprised to come back and see that the revolution had been through!

All in all, we distributed maybe 600 slim jims... We talked to a number of people, many of whom hadn't heard of Ron Paul. Now they have.

Go-go Gershwin

This recording of "It Ain't Necessarily So" is amazing. Listen closely starting at 1:40.

You ought to give Iowa a try..

Five degrees, the high of the day.

Today, I went to Clear Lake and Mason City Iowa, to spread the gospel of Ron Paul. I went with another fellow-RP supporter from Minnesota, and we left bright (dark) and early, at 5:20 am (see below.)

The day was chilly (5 degrees) so being out all day wasn't a healthy option. However, the two of us dropped a total of 500 "slim jims" (information pamphlets) - 380 door-to-door and 120 in parking lots.

Our observations in these two towns is that Hillary owns them. We saw several Hillary signs, a few Obama signs and a couple of very large Romney signs (I wonder how much he paid for those?)

We talked to one seemingly informed Iowan, and he is confident that Edwards will win the state. Apparently Edwards' Iowa campaign is extremely well-run and efficient. Actually, going door to door, I noticed one Edwards info sheet in a door, plus 2 mailings (in OPEN mailboxes.. I did NOT open them!!) sent from his campaign.

The discouraging thing is that we didn't see any Ron Paul signs, and from the reactions of people we met, these cities have not been hit by the rEVOLution.

I'll leave you with this recent quote from News Long Island:

"No longer can it be said that Ron Paul is running for President. Amazingly enough, his candidacy has been hijacked, and it appears now that the people are running for President. . . through Ron Paul!"

I haven't seen that hour for years.

Slim jimmin, or Ron Paul-ing?

Slim Jim and Hillary

Amo el tango...

I'm obsessed with this video on YouTube.

First, I love Gotan Project, who's taken tango music to great places, combining great tango melodies with electronica. I also love the tango dance, and this video captures the Argentine version wonderfully.
Enjoy!

One thing I really, truly hate

If there is one thing I just honestly hate doing, it's hand writing. I would take typing for 8 hours versus writing for 2 hours ANY day. It makes my hands hurt. I unconsciously grit my teeth when I'm doing it. My whole arm and wrist tightens up. My writing is horrible. No one can read my writing. It takes a long time. Etc., Etc., Etc.,

But guess what I'm doing, and will be doing for the next few days? HAND-writing long letters. 40, to be exact. Each one takes about 10 minutes.

Why, you ask?

I'm writing individual letters to Iowans, urging them to support Ron Paul for president. Hand-writing individual letters.

With the Iowa caucuses coming up on January 3, there is no time to waste. The Ron Paul grassroots effort is majorly stepping up their efforts, and included is writing 700,000 individual letters to "undecided" or "no party" Iowans. I'm only doing 40, but there are people who have signed up for 500 of these letters.

The idea is that a hand-written letter is very personal in this day of everything electronic, and if we can reach 700,000 Iowans with a personal letter, they'll at least read it and consider what it's saying.

I should get going now... 3 down, 37 to go!