Somebody's going to make a million dollars

Back when instant messenger was cool, there were handfuls of programs with which you could talk to what seemed to be the entire world (omg, ur 2 cool 4 skool): AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Jabber, etc. Now, however, Mac users can download a single program called Adium that sticks them all together in one nice little window.

So where's the million dollars? Come up with an "Adium" for social networking sites. At last count, I had accepted friends' invitations to exactly eight different networking sites:

Facebook - basic.
MySpace - sleazy. Got off a couple months ago.
Goodreads - for sharing book recommendations.
LinkedIn - for people who want jobs but never leave their computers.
Doostang - same thing. I guess they've got an HD-DVD v. Blu-Ray thing going on.
Hi5 - Facebook for Spanish speakers. Still can't figure out why it's "Hi-Five" and not "Hi-Cinco."
Couchsurfing - Let's search for people who have couches you can crash on for free.
Razoo - A site for international do-gooders.

So please, someone, make you million dollars and simplify my life a little bit. And throw some bones my way when you do, please.

Why Barack Obama will be our next president

This is not a political blog, but I couldn't help this one - maybe partly because of the cultural ignorance displayed by the following photo, or of the fearmongering that I hope my travels and writings can help fight. So:

There is nothing short of meteoric about Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Nothing short of a chappaquiddick, I believe, will stop him from sitting in the Oval Office a few shorts months from now. The rather desperate response from his current opponent? Circulating this picture:


This is Barack Obama trying on traditional dress from Western Kenya, during a visit to his father's homeland. One might conclude that he is well-traveled, in touch with his roots, even worldly. So why would a Clinton supporter post such a photo? Let's cut to it: the Clinton supporters who would pass around this photo do so in hopes that the average American is dumb enough to look at Obama wearing a turban and make some fuzzy connection between him to the turban-wearing terrorists of whom Americans are currently so terrified.

Pathetic. No, Mrs. Clinton and friends, we are not that dumb.

My Nuevo Look

I am clumsy. It's not the altitude, it's not the workload, I just break things. Like my glasses, two weeks ago. Thankfully, a handful of Ecuadorian foundations specialize in sight, and so I was able ot get some new ones on Saturday -

- that I broke Sunday afternoon.

I think it just makes me more authentic when I read Harry Potter in Spanish during our literacy programs.