Name the new dog Government

A suggestion from SLATE. The possibilities are endless:

"Whose turn is it to feed Government?"

"Aww, you're getting so big!"

"Government, you're not supposed to be in there!"

"Someone go chase Government, he's run off again!"

"Who is going to pick up Government's sh--?"

"Government is marking his territory."

and so on

Thank You, Mr. President

And we're not talking about Helen Thomas here. Our new president is engaging friends and enemies at every level.

What can they do but thank him?

I think it's great.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Barack Gives Canada Its Due

My wonderful husband, Mark Hanington, arrived from Canada 22 years ago.

In 2007 he became a citizen so he could vote for Barack Obama.

He also participated in the Gallup Panel just so he could say that GWB was doing a poor job.

Now, he participates so he can say that BHO is doing a great job.

But as a Canadian, he has always been annoyed that we Americans forget that Canada is our biggest trading partner -- now, we are both grateful to BHO for his recognition of that fact.

Mahalo Nui, Mr. President.

At Least He Didn't Throw It At Him

When The President arrived in Phoenix , he was greeted by an autographed size 23 shoe from

none other than Shaq O'Neal.

What is this thing with Presidents and shoes?

We screened the restaurant for him.

On Friday night, six of us went to Table 52 to check it out, in case Barack and Michele wanted
a good place to have a Valentine's dinner. Mary Goodbody, content provider for Cookstr.com (Hi Katie), had edited two of Art Smith's cookbooks and so we got some special treatment.

We figured they'd do the same for the President so we told him: "Barack, you're good to go."
Here they are going into the restaurant. We know they had a great dinner, because we did, too.

Hope they had a wonderful weekend before going home to Witchingtown.

He Followed Us to Chicago

My childhood and still best friends and I came to celebrate our Earth Ox birthdays in Chicago,
the town of my birth, and the current home of one of our children. We came from Hawaii, North Carolina and Connecticut. I get the farthest away prize.

This morning on NPR the grownup child in question heard that our Metal Ox President and his family flew in today to enjoy some family time, play some basketball, and have some meetings.

I doubt we'll see him, but it certainly seems like a "coincidence." to me.

Why Am I Doing This?

Because I am super proud that Barack is from Hawaii and I believe that he is civil, kind, brilliant, thoughtful, and as cute as he was when I was his substitute teacher when he was in fifth grade.

I know that Imua! is the province of Kamehameha Schools, not Punahou, but somehow go
buffnblu or Oahuan didn't seem appropriate for a man who is worthy of the best of what we have to offer here in Hawaii.

From the KS website:

In the Hawaiian language, the word I Mua means "to move forward" or "to move ahead" toward a goal. I Mua is also used to signify loyalty to all things Kamehameha or to express a deep commitment to support a feeling, an idea, a person or a cause.


So to our new President and his efforts to bring sense to this crazy world: A he malu hoi ma ka honua he aloha no i kanaka.

(peace on earth, good will to men.)