Picture Time -- Don't Laugh!

OK, you can laugh. I did.

I know it looks like I wandered into the shot, but I promise I was actually supposed to be there. Interpret my expressions as you will.

Mourning John Spencer

The actor who plays Leo McGarry on TWW died Friday of a heart attack. NY Times has an obituary here. LA Times here.

These comments sum him and his effect on others the best, I think:

He was "one of those rare combinations of divinely gifted and incredibly generous," said Richard Schiff, who plays Toby Ziegler on the NBC series. "There are very few personal treasures that you put in your knapsack to carry with you for the rest of your life, and he's one of those," Schiff said.

"He was my brother; that is the most I can say," said Martin Sheen, who plays the president, when reached at home yesterday. "I just adored him. It's too big a hole."

When the cast of The West Wing received an ensemble award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2002, Spencer praised his colleagues at the ceremony. "I'm always better depending on who I'm dancing with," he said, "and these are the best partners I've ever had."

The Hill

OK, so let’s discuss the DC trip.

I went to the land of our Founding Fathers this past weekend in order to both celebrate my sister’s birthday [*coughTHIRTIETHcough*], and to attend the White House Christmas party with said [*cough30-year-oldcough*] sister. Both events? Very fun.

Here’s what was not fun, kids. While in our nation’s capital, I sure did lose my drivers license. And yes, it’s as obnoxious a thing to lose as you expect it is. And yes, I lost it after the party. So I got into the party just fine (more about that later, when I get the pics back), but the event that this loss threatened – besides, you know, getting back on the plane – was the upcoming West Wing tour that Jenny was planning to give me on Sunday.

So, to be clear: party on Thursday, lost ID on Friday, tour coming up on Sunday.

I think anyone reading this blog knows this about me already, but I’ll state it for the record: I enjoy an occasional viewing of a little show called The West Wing. So, you could safely say that this tour was, well, it was a significant aspect of the visit for me. So, we’re sitting around on Saturday, brainstorming about how to get my ass in that tour, and I am absolutely in tears. No, *sigh*, I’m so not kidding. Tears, y'all.

I’ve been watching the show for seven years, people. It’s a part of me.

So I get Jenn to call the security office, she gets a hold of a Secret Service sergeant and gives him the sitch. He tells her that because I was cleared for the party already, that’s what’s going to save me. [He also says to tell me that it's just a show and I should chill.] So, he promises to send an email to all the guard supervisors that I’m coming the next day and to let me in. And they do! I love that man.

Can I tell you what this experience was like? Imagine that you dearly love a television show based on the workings of the power hub of the country in which you live and you got the opportunity to visit this actual location. The place upon which every one of the 100+ episodes you’ve loved has been based? You get to go there, you get to see, and it has the added bonus of being one of the most culturally, socially, politically and historically significant buildings in said country. It felt something like that.

You want to know the best part? I totally got to stand behind the podium in the press room, on a step ladder, and pretend to be CJ. How cool is that?

As soon as I get pics, I’ll post them here.

The Expectation of a Positive Outcome

My Newsweek subscription just expired. It expired, I'm not kidding about this, the week before the issue with the cover: "How Women Lead." Great. It's like they knew. "Jessica Gray in Los Angeles, CA just let her subscription lapse, move the women leaders issue up and get that on the stands. We need her $17.95."

I'm standing at the Ralph's checkout and debating, and despite the fact that it has Oprah on the cover *, I paid $3.95 for it. And, yes, I felt stupid about that, and yes, I'll be renewing my subscription now.

So, the articles are interesting enough, I guess. The whole oeuvre of the thing is a little "Wow! Women can do stuff!" but yeah, what'd I expect. There was a sidebar (LOVE sidebars) with the results of a study done by Fortune Magazine. Here's some highlights (or lowlights**) if you like.

Percentage of the workplace that's female: 46%
Percentage of MBA slots at top schools filled by women: 30%
Percentage of corporate officers: 16%
Percentage of women in both houses of Congress: 15%

And this one, that I'm remembering off the top of my head from a different source, and I'll check this later:
Percentage of women members in the DGA: 11%

So, wah, wah, we can vote, we can buy our own cars, we should shut it. Yeah, I know! My point is not that these statistics suck, we know they suck. But here's what I found interesting in connection with these facts. Toward the end of this section "Leadership for the 21st Century" (I guess implying that the ladies are getting ready to just take over at some point in the next 95 years) was an article w/ the head "Vote of Confidence."

In it, Rosabeth Moss Kanter discusses how confidence affects women’s decisions to lead, strive, etc. It's interesting, she gets into how sports engenders confidence, and Title IX was important for that with girls, blah, blah, I tuned out cause it's sports. But she gets to the point that as a professor she has to be sure to call on women as much as the men because men tend to raise their hand and talk until they find a point, whereas women tend to only raise their hands if they are positive they have something to bring to the debate. Her POV of this, as the professor, was that it was a bad thing.

But wasn't your first thought reading that, like, yeah, damn straight? There's integrity to only speaking when you're contributing and to keeping your piehole shut otherwise. But she goes on to point out that confidence comes from the "expectation of a positive outcome." And you're only going to get that by speaking, receiving the confirmation that it was worthwhile, and filing that info away for the next time you think of something worth voicing.

OK, so those of you not raising your hands? Yeah, you, the one in the back with something to contribute, but you're afraid the popular boys will make fun of you? Raise your hand.

Those of you waiting to speak until you have something to say? Good on you. But take that moment right before you do raise your hand, and remember it. Remember how you had that little thrill of fear and did it anyway, and apply that elsewhere. We’ll all benefit from it.

*Not a huge Oprah fan. All that yelling, man, it just gets to me.
**I'm thinking about getting low-lights this weekend! Good times.

Inaugural Post! (And, where the blog title comes from)

So I've just sealed my fate at work. Starting a blog. Man, there is just no way I'm ever getting any work done now. Sweet.

The name of my blog comes from this poem I received from my funny friend Michelle, on a day where I was feeling particularly obsessive. There are copyright issues here, I'm sure. But I plead ignorance.

God Says Yes To Me
I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic
and she said yes
I asked her if it was okay to be short
and she said it sure is
I asked her if I could wear nail polish
or not wear nail polish
and she said honey
she calls me that sometimes
she said you can do just exactly
what you want to
Thanks God I said
And is it even okay if I don't paragraph
my letters
Sweetcakes God said
who knows where she picked that up
what I'm telling you is
Yes Yes Yes

~Kaylin Haught