There is a similar phenomenon with TiVo, where instead of waiting to see how the plot unfolds, you rewind the same scene over and over and over again, absorbing its magnificence.

Last night, I had a TiVo moment watching a scene from Grey's Anatomy. It was poignant and tender and totally hot -- a reminder that at its best, television is a machine for transmitting raw emotion. Due to the miracle of YouTube, you can see the scene too.

I had another TiVo moment with Pushing Daisies last fall. This short clip is just so treacle, and wacky and wonderful. It pretty much sums up the whole show.

Finally, here's a clip from the the season finale of Mad Men (don't worry, it doesn't spoil anything) that reminds me that a few words, carefully chosen and softly spoken, can be more powerful than anything else we can imagine.

Watching students run around in their gowns with families in tow (I've never seen so many cowboy hats and sportscoats this side of a wedding) brought back regrets about my own Commencement at Stanford five years ago.

I didn't attend. I told my family they were welcome to go, but that I wouldn't be there. I remember walking by the quad, where the ceremony was being held, to pick up the last of my mail, hoping to god I didn't see anyone I knew and wondering what the fuck I was going to do with the rest of my life. I saw my roommate from freshman year, whom I hated for no other reason than because he was there (and perhaps because he was overly fond of Crosby, Nash, Stills & Young). We didn't say hello, or even nod in the awkward way that two shy people sometimes do. It was the perfect bookend to four awful years.

I still cringe when I think of the time, money, brain cells, and (especially) opportunity I lost at Stanford. But, five years after I left, I think maybe I've gained the perspective and self-awareness needed to not fuck it up again.

So look out world, I'm still here.

As a 27 year-old Hillary supporter (especially now that Edwards is definitely dropping out), I find it pretty interesting.

What is it about people in that range that makes them less likely to support Obama and more sympathetic to Clinton?

My opinion: the 25-29 cohort came of political age during the Clinton impeachment and the Bush v. Gore era. (These were certainly the defining moments of my political life). We learned early on that 1) the Republicans could and would subscribe to a total war political philosophy and that 2) the media is only too happy to play along. Because of this, I think we are less likely to buy Obama's "new kind of politics" schtick -- because if one side brings Kumbaya (see, e.g. Joe Lieberman) and the other brings a machine gun, it's pretty easy to guess who's going to win. We also, I think, tend to feel that the Clintons did not get a fair shake the first time around and therefore might deserve a second chance.

Compare this to the older cohort -- they were politically aware in Bill Clinton's first term, and thus remember all of his missteps: don't ask, don't tell, universal healthcare, Somalia. Their sense is less that the Clintons didn't get a fair shake, but that rather that they screwed up royally. It seems to me that these folks would be more likely to support Obama because Obama has similar policies to Hillary Clinton (for the most part) but is not Hillary Clinton.

The younger cohort came of age during the build up to the Iraq war and thus saw most of the Democratic establishment kowtow to Bush on almost everything. Their impression of the Clintons is as weak, pathetic figures who couldn't stand up on the most important issue of the time. It's no wonder they're susceptible to a "change, or bust" argument. (Although, honestly, I don't understand why kids these days buy into the bipartisan argument -- all the big mistakes of the last 8 years have been bipartisan in nature. The lesson, to me, would be that we need more partisanship, not less, but, again, I grew up in the Clinton impeachment.)

It's also worth noting that I have not observed an excess of Hillary support in my own friends and acquaintances -- they all seem to be supporting Obama. I should probably ask them why, but I suspect I won't like the answers. (I heard someone say, un-ironically, that they were going to vote for Obama because "he's for hope.") Gaaaah. Count me squarely in the donut-hole.

I really like this, because it gives me something to do in the days leading up to a funeral and because it gives everyone something structured to do and talk about during during the reception. There's something very comforting and hypnotic about seeing the person go from very young to very old in the photos. It's also good for people my age to see them as they were before we knew them.

Here are the two sets I have made so far, one for my mother's mother, Ethel Langworthy Devine Chase who died in 2006, and one for my father's father, Barring Hesse Coughlin, who died on 2 January 2008.

]]> 236@http://www.hwaethwugu.com/blog/ 2008-01-12T13:40:00-07:00 http://www.hwaethwugu.com/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=hwaethwugu+%28RSS+2.0%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hwaethwugu.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F01%2F05%2Fmy_problems_with_obama&seed_title=My+Problems+with+Obama He's bad on Universal Healthcare

Obama is afraid to push true universal healthcare because he's worried that the Republicans won't go along with it -- that they'll run ads saying "The Democrats want to force you to get healthcare" -- and that this will doom a universal healthcare plan. He's so worried about this that he's runnning around saying "Edwards and Hillary want to force you to get healthcare."