My husband Dave always seems to be ahead of the cool gadget curve,
making sure we're the first kids on our block to have the latest and
greatest tech toys. We've had our Wii for years, stood in line the
first week for the iPhone (him not me), sold our regular laptop to
upgrade to the MacBook Air (worth every penny) and are still jamming
away a year later on Rock Band when most people have never even played
the game. I couldn't imagine what he was going to pull out of his
Christmas stocking this year. Thanks to the generosity of his boss, it
was a Kindle. For those of you who shop on Amazon – which would be almost everyone
with an Internet connection on the planet – the Kindle is not exactly
new, but it sure is hard to get your hands on, which is a bit of a
surprise considering how expensive it is.
I certainly wasn't going to pay $359 for this "toy." As an avid book reader who buys 30-40 books a year, I'd make my money back pretty quickly, considering the regular cost of new books. Of course, to actually read anything on it, you have to pay more, around $8-10 per download, which is about half the price of most hardcovers and over time seems like a good deal. Ultimately, my decision to not jump on this bandwagon was all about the experience. Sure, the "books" are cheaper and kept all in one place (you can switch from book to book at the click of a button and the device even keeps your place for you, which is nice), but what about the physicality of watching the story unfold as you turn the page? Of the feel of the paper beneath your fingertips? Of getting the latest book by your favorite author right off the press?
A few years ago I noticed that a tree was growing in the tiny side area between my house and my neighbor’s. By the time I took notice of it the tree was 4 feet tall. Apparently I had been ignoring that side of the house. I don’t know a lot about trees but it looked like it might be some kind of fruit tree. So I waited and asked my gardener. Sure enough, it turned out to be an apricot tree. Since the window above my kitchen sink is right above where the tree has taken root I figured that I must have spit an apricot seed out of the louvers. 
Checks and balances. Have you ever thought about how amazing those
two words are? In the simplest sense, writing checks and figuring out
how much money you have left after you’ve written them. In the larger
sense, if something is depleted or out of whack, something comes along
to reestablish order.
After spending years in the political closet (one of the dangers of a politically mixed marriage) I have emerged with a flourish, and a job as Press Person for a Michigan candidate for the United States House of Representatives. I have been working for Bob Alexander, a Democrat running in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, against Mike Rogers, a four-term Republican incumbent. Bob is the kind of Democrat my parents are – a Joan Baez, “if you want peace, work for justice” kind of guy who spent years circulating petitions and working crowds “cold” to promote the value of a living wage for working people, and eventually persuaded the Michigan legislature to raise the minimum wage by 29 percent. He was not holding office at the time, mind you; it was just the right thing to do.
Today was our first full day at the Democratic National Convention, and we started out at a breakfast sponsored by The Michigan Democratic Party. On our way down to breakfast in the elevator we ran into Dan Mulhern, the husband of Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm. He was friendly, despite being hot and sweaty after his morning run, and Michael told him how much he enjoyed Dan’s newsletter, “Reading for Leading.” As a fitting start to a day when the buzz was all about Hillary Clinton’s speech, Bob ran into Granholm herself, Michigan’s own strong female leader, at the breakfast, and she spent some time talking with us.