Busy Busy Woman

Hello!

It's been awhile - like 2 months... but I am doing well - thanks for checking!

Just moved to DC and started a new job, moved into a new pad and am trying to start a new life here (with a lot of old friends)... still missing Jack and my life in London though!

I am still trying to catch up with my life here and acclemate to my new settings and schedule - but please shoot me an email if you are so inclined.

All my love,

Mara

London Pics - Yes, I Am Still A Tourist

Pictures from a walk at night on the South Bank...

Back in Cali

AND jet-lagged... so in the meantime, check out Rohit's pics at: http://rcinasia.blogspot.com/

New York, New York!

*Anyone who was at Kristin's birthday - this is a shout-out to her and her show-tunes!

The Golden Boy

Ice-Skating Rink at Rockafellar

The GE Building (we went to the top - gorgeous!)

The Angels and the Tree

Blue Skies... That's Right

So Much More NYC

Inside the Guggenheim

Central Park

Uncle Bill and Me

The Devilish Uncle Bill

Enjoying the Sunshine

Way More NYC

Ice-skating in Midtown

He stole a kiss from the librarian!

Aunt Mel and I at the NY Public Library

Ladies of the Ice

New York Public Libary

Even More NYC Pics

Inside St. Patrick's Cathedral

Atlas and St. Patrick's Church

Old Meets New

Old Meets New Part Two

Atlas

More NYC Pics

The famed crystal Christmas star

The Associated Press Building

Uncle Bill and Aunt Mel on the Top of the Rock

Only in New York...

Saks 5th Avenue

NYC Pics

From the 'Top of the Rock'(afellar Center)

Me and George at Federal Hall - 1st U.S. Capitol

Ground Zero

Wall St/NYSE

The Empire State from the Top of the Rock

Amelie Impersonation

Okay - so no trolls - but Brian and I thought it would be REALLY fun to take pictures in the old photo booth they have in the back of Bar Pilar. To our dismay, it did not work. To our pleasure, I had my own camera...

More DC Pics

Gretch looking cute (part 42)

Robby looking very pensive

David and I

The U.S. Capitol on a beautiful day

DC Pics

Dashboard Confessional

Me, Kristina, Sarah and Jay post-campaign in Anapolis

Kristin and I at a Dashboard Confessional show

Gretchen being cute!

Cari following Gretchen's lead

More West Virginia Post-Campaign Retreat Pics

West Virginia = Take Me Home

Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains
Shenandoah River -
Life is old there
Older than the trees
Younger than the mountains
Growin like a breeze

Country Roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

All my memories gathered round her
Miners lady, stranger to blue water
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine
Teardrops in my eye

Country Roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

I hear her voice
In the mornin hour she calls me
The radio reminds me of my home far away
And drivin down the road I get a feelin
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

Country Roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

Country Roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads
Take me home, now country roads
Take me home, now country roads

Words and Music by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver

NYC

Came up here Wednesday for Thanksgiving - which was fabulous. Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes (me), stuffing, green beans, asparagus, sweet potatoes, apple pumpkin pie (me) - what more could you want in life?

Aunt Mel and Uncle Bill spoil me here - dinner was great complete with Aunt Mel's fresh-baked muffins for breakfast - yum! And I have my own FLOOR - bathroom, room, everything. Mara = spoiled.

And now we are off to go see the Guggenheim in NYC and spend the day across the river (no - not Newark). Did you know the Guggenheim - in comparison to the world's leading universities - spent the most on new acquisitions last year?? True... (thanks Jack!)

Heard from Mark yesterday which was great. I am so excited to be in London!

Lovin' life...

'Brown Plans to Run Again' - Hooray!

Brown plans to run again

By: Gus Thomson, Journal Staff Writer

After giving U.S. Rep. John Doolittle a serious run for his money in the Nov. 7 election, Democratic Party challenger Charlie Brown plans to keep the momentum up for a second bid at the Fourth Congressional District seat.

"Unless things change, I expect to be on the next ballot, whether that's in two years' time or sooner," Brown said.

Doolittle's run for a ninth term was clouded by connections to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, an association the congressman said was a friendship but involved no illegal lobbying activities. Abramoff reported to prison Wednesday to serve a six-year term for fraud and is awaiting sentencing on a Washington, D.C. public corruption case.

With Doolittle having accepted campaign money from Abramoff and used the lobbyist's luxury sports box for a fundraiser without initially reporting it, Brown said the potential is there for the congressman to be indicted and therefore leaving office before the 2006 presidential election. Doolittle has said he's expecting the end result of the Abramoff scandal will see his name cleared.

With the election just more than a week old, Brown said he's already been to two Veterans Day ceremonies, a Veterans Day parade, a Democratic central committee meeting and is in the process of completing his campaign funding filing information.

Brown said he also dropped into the offices of his former employer - the Roseville Police Department - and might be doing some volunteer work with the force. A retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, Brown resigned from records work to devote his full attention to the congressional race after defeating two candidates for the Democratic Party nomination last June.

While declining to be specific, Brown said that "other opportunities" were presenting themselves as he worked to tie up election-related loose ends.

Brown, who spent 26 years in the Air Force, characterized the election as one battle, with more to be fought. With several thousand provisional and late-absentee ballots to be counted Brown trails Doolittle 97,705 votes to 105,525. Brown conceded the election to Doolittle on election night but expressed the hope that he'll have chipped away at the congressman's percentage when the official count is declared. Brown's percentage of the vote now stands at 45.6 percent while Doolittle's is 49.4 percent - his lowest in nine congressional elections.

Doolittle's previous worst showing was in 1992 when he polled 49.81 percent of the vote in a rematch with Lincoln Democrat Pat Malberg. Brown's percentage is expected to be the highest for a Democrat since Malberg garnered 45.7 percent of the vote in the same election.

"It's been encouraging - the amount of enthusiasm generated by people not involved in politics hasn't been seen since Pat Malberg ran," Brown said. "A lot of people don't want to go back to sitting around the house being spectators. People have found out they can be involved."

Final filings should show the Brown campaign raised and spent $1.6 million. Doolittle spent more than $2 million. Brown said he'll emerge from the campaign relatively unscathed financially, having contributed some money to the election, but sticking to a budget.

"It's part of my whole conservative approach to financing - to live within a budget," Brown said. "I certainly expect we'll see Congress get back to that. It won't happen overnight but it's something to be working toward.

Brown's right-hand handler on the campaign trail - Todd Stenhouse - was married last weekend and returns to his fund-raising role with the National Veteran's Foundation. Brown said the two had known each other before the election while working on veterans issues.

One of the biggest surprises in the past election was the rise of an organization - Republicans for Brown - who showed their support for the Democrat. Auburn's Joanne Neft, one of the group's leaders, said the group would move into a mode of support for a new Republican challenger if Doolittle continues on a course of which many Republicans disapprove. The group broke the chain of fear for many Republicans who were hesitant to break ranks and disagree with Doolittle and some Republican leaders, she said.

"I've received oodles of e-mails of folks eager to keep doing the work," Neft said. "It gave us permission to openly express ourselves."

From a GOP perspective, Neft said she's thrilled that Doolittle is expressing a new resolve to maintain personal ties with the district.

"I've been actively involved in this district since 1980 and only once have I ever seen him in a non-political environment," Neft said. "I'm going to see whether it happens."

The Journal's Gus Thomson can be reached at gust@goldcountrymedia.com.

Campaign Pics

Links - lots of them - but hilarious (and very telling)

They are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beglendc/sets/72157594367869972/show/

... and here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beglendc/sets/72157594352627051/show/

.... and here!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41704987@N00/sets/72157594375328893/

Breakdown

I hope this old train breaks down
Then I could take a walk around
And, see what there is to see
And time is just a melody
All the people in the street
Walk as fast as their feet can take them
I just roll through town
And though my windows got a view
The frame im looking through
Seems to have no concern for now
So for now

I need this here
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown

This engine screams out loud
Centipede gunna crawl westbound
So I don't even make a sound
Cause it's gunna sting me when I leave this town
All the people in the street
That i'll never get to meet
If these tracks don't bend somehow
And I got no time
That I got to get to
Where I don't need to be
So I

I need this here
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown
I need this here
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown
I wanna break on down
But I cant stop now
Let me break on down

But you cant stop nothing
If you got no control
Of the thoughts in your mind
That you kept in, you know
You don't know nothing
But you don't need to know
The wisdoms in the trees
Not the glass windows
You cant stop wishing
If you don't let go
But things that you find
And you lose, and you know
You keep on rolling
Put the moment on hold
The frames too bright
So put the blinds down low

I need this here
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown
I need this here
Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown
I wanna break on down

But I cant stop now

*I have been totally feeling this lately

Charlie Brown - In the Wash Post

In Calif., Charlie Brown Could Have the Last Laugh

By Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 24, 2006; A02

ROSEVILLE, Calif. -- Charlie Brown for Congress? At first it sounded like a joke.

Brown was an unknown Democrat running in the California Republican heartland. The eight-term incumbent, John Doolittle (R), had crushed his 2004 opponent. Fewer than a third of district voters are registered Democrats. When Brown jumped in a year ago, the Peanuts references were irresistible.

"Good Grief! Charlie Brown Takes on Doolittle," proclaimed one political blog.

There are two types of candidates: the obvious ones, who are recruited to run in key races and get lots of financial and organizational help, and the bootstrap cases, who do it all on their own. Usually these second-tier candidates run and lose in obscurity. But sometimes they get lucky. If a wave breaks next month, Brown is one of many bootstrap Democrats who could be washed into Congress.

The latest polls show that Brown, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, has pulled within striking distance of Doolittle, whose well-documented ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff may be an albatross. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is increasingly optimistic about Brown's chances and has chipped in an undisclosed amount of cash for the final push. Brown has scooped up local newspaper endorsements and raised $750,000, much of it in recent weeks.

The one person who isn't surprised by this turn of events is Brown, who ignored all the naysayers and trusted his gut that Doolittle could be beaten. The latest news to break his way: Doolittle's campaign reported more than $38,000 in legal fees in his third-quarter fundraising report that are related to a federal investigation into Abramoff's lobbying activities. A Doolittle spokeswoman said the congressman was attempting to be helpful and had not been contacted by prosecutors, but the disclosure put Doolittle on the defensive with weeks to go.

"It all comes down to someone who lives in the district, and knows it," Brown said of his success. He's not surprised the national party kept its distance all those months. "We've had to show them in Washington that it was worth getting involved. When I got started, there was nothing here to support."

The 4th District is made up of 48 percent Republicans and 30 percent Democrats, with the balance GOP-leaning independents. The geography also is daunting. The district contains 17,000 square miles, from the Sacramento suburbs to the Oregon and Nevada state lines.

But it's a more nuanced landscape than it seems, Brown says.

Bay Area residents are moving east in search of cheaper housing, and although they are not heavily Democratic, many are registering as independents. The Sacramento area was one of the few pockets in the state to vote for a 2005 measure to end partisan redistricting. Doolittle called the initiative politically "stupid."

In June, Doolittle won the GOP primary with 67 percent of the vote, an indication that his base had diminished. The California 4th is home to 102,000 veterans. Brown was raised in a military household and has a son serving in Iraq. He coordinated Air Force surveillance flights over Iraq during the 1990s and opposed the Iraq war from the outset. As conditions in Iraq worsen, he has found local veterans increasingly responsive to his call for setting a timetable for withdrawal.

Running in a political no man's land requires building a campaign operation from scratch. Brown lined up precinct captains and courted local unions and other left-leaning organizations. He traveled to every populated cranny of the district, either alone or with his wife, Jan, a retired Air Force nurse.

Like most candidates, Brown has entered a sort of parallel universe, wired but road weary, a regular at a taqueria next door to headquarters. His campaign has grown bigger and more frenetic, part small business and part family.

One fixture is Joanne Neft, founder of Republicans for Charlie Brown, who canvasses in silver elephant earrings. Another is Don Harper, who runs Veterans for Brown.

Despite all the excitement, the party mantra remained unchanged: "Show me the polls." Brown commissioned a survey last month that showed Doolittle ahead, 41 percent to 39 percent, and 17 percent undecided. Shortly afterward, Brown was endorsed by the Sacramento Bee under the headline "Time for Doolittle to go."

On Oct. 11, the candidates met for a combative two-hour debate. "Nothing like it has ever been seen in Placer County," the San Francisco Chronicle observed.

Doolittle called Brown a "flimflam man." He cited Brown's membership in the American Civil Liberties Union, which Doolittle accused of defending the North American Man/Boy Love Association, which he said "is helping pedophiles get away with their dastardly deeds."

Brown lambasted Doolittle for his relationship with Abramoff and a San Diego businessman implicated in the bribery case that sent former representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) to prison. Brown noted that his opponent had accepted a $1,000 donation from Mark Foley (R-Fla.), who resigned from Congress last month in a scandal involving male teenage congressional pages. "Mr. Doolittle knows more about man's love than I do, with his support of Congressman Foley," Brown retorted.

They say timing is everything in politics, but part of that is knowing when an incumbent's time may be up. "There's a whole lot of people who are going to win this year, simply because they showed up," said Amy Walter, who tracks House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "People who are willing to take the biggest risks often get the biggest rewards."

Jagshemash, Premier Bush

by Maureen Dowd

Borat Sagdiyev, the Kazakh television reporter with the bushy mustache and cheap gray suit, showed up at the White House this week with an invitation for the man he calls the "mighty U.S. warlord."

He wanted to invite "Premier George Walker Bush," along with "other American dignitaries" like Mel Gibson and O.J. Simpson, to a screening of his new documentary about his anti-Semitic, misogynistic, scatological trek across America, followed by a cocktail party/summit meeting, no doubt featuring Kazakh-mopolitans made with fermented horse urine.

"We'll make discussion of cooperation between the two countries at Hooters," Borat told a befuddled White House guard.

Borat, of course, is Sacha Baron Cohen, the successor to Peter Sellers, a wildly original and brainy Cambridge grad and observant Jew from a distinguished British family. His HBO characters, the rapper Ali G, the fashion reporter Bruno, and Borat, collide with reality, exposing prejudice and puncturing pomposity.

The real Kazakhstan dictator was honored by President Bush at a state dinner this week. Nursultan Nazarbayev may have a corrupt and authoritarian regime where political opponents have been known to die very, very suddenly, but, hey, he's got oil and he's an ally in the war on terror. Respec', as Ali G would say.

So Mr. Cohen popped up as well, loping around D.C. to promote his new movie, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." The satirist held a news conference in front of the Kazakh Embassy — as real officials inside fumed — to proclaim that any protestations that Kazakhstan treats women equally or tolerates all religions are "disgusting fabrications" by "evil nitwits" in rival Uzbekistan.

Mr. Cohen is a genius at turning reality into farce, taking lowbrow humor to high places, but he has met his match in W.

With the publication of parts of the classified intelligence report showing that the Bush administration has expanded the terrorist threat, as well as the books "State of Denial" by Bob Woodward, "Hubris" by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, and "Fiasco" by Thomas Ricks, all detailing the bumbling and infighting of Bush officials on Iraq, it's a tossup as to where we can find the most ludicrous, offensive and juvenile behavior — in the new Borat movie or the Bush White House. Let's compare and contrast:

At a Southern society dinner, an etiquette coach teaches Borat how to excuse himself to go to the bathroom. But when he returns to the table with a toilet doggie bag, no one laughs.

W. and Karl Rove "shared an array of fart jokes," Mr. Woodward writes. A White House aide put a toy that made a flatulence sound under Karl's chair for a morning meeting on July 7, 2005. When officials learned of the terrorist attacks in London that day, the prank was postponed. But several weeks later, "the device was placed under Rove's chair and activated during the senior staff meeting. Everyone laughed."

Borat likes to wrestle guys naked. Karl liked to show W. his battery-powered "Redneck Horn," blasting obscenities and insults like "Hey, hogneck, who taught you how to drive?" in a Southern drawl.

Family values in Borat's comic portrait of Kazakhstan are reflected by his sister, an incestuous hooker, the town rapist, a cow in the bedroom, and the annual Pamplona-like "Running of the Jew."

Mr. Woodward writes about Bush family values, or the "Running of the WASP." Even though Poppy Bush found his old G.O.P. nemesis Donald Rumsfeld "arrogant, self-important, too sure of himself and Machiavellian," the author notes, W. chose Rummy as defense chief, feeling "it was a chance to prove his father wrong."

Borat had a fantasy life in which he would bag — literally — Pamela Anderson and yoke her happily ever after to a plow on his farm. Dick Cheney had a fantasy life in which he would bag Saddam's W.M.D. by occupying Iraq. In July 2003, Vice and Scooter Libby pored over fragments of intelligence intercepts, trying to figure out where on earth those elusive W.M.D. were. Mr. Woodward notes that Cheney staffers even called the chief weapon hunter with satellite coordinates for possible hidden caches.

Borat thinks Pamela is silly to object to animal torture, just as Vice thinks the press is silly to object to prisoner torture.

After much chaos, Borat gives up on Pamela and marries a prostitute. After much chaos, and even though Laura wants Rummy out, W. sticks with him at Vice's insistence.

No doubt. For lowbrow antics and silly stunts, W. is the clear winner. Respec'.

Maryland Elections

Hey guys - sorry to disappoint some of you but I wanted to let you know that I will be updating this blog very infrequently through the election on November 7th. I just got back to the greater Washington, D.C. and jumped straight into the Ben Cardin for Senate GOTV operation in Baltimore which was great.

We were fortunate enough to be successful on September 12th and are hoping to match that success in November for both Ben Cardin as well as Martin O'Malley and Anthony Brown on the statewide level for Governor and Lt. Governor. The candidates are great - and so are the people I work with.

I will be based in Pringe George's County for the next 2 months and can be contacted via email. Our schedules are only going to continue to get crazier which is why I am putting this blog on the back-burner until then.

I hope you are all well and remember to vote Democratic in November! Lots of love from a blue state that we're working hard to stay that way...

Mara

Bush to Attend Fundraisers for Doolittle and Pombo

Written for the web by Elizabeth Bishop, Senior Internet News Producer

President Bush will visit California in October to attend fundraisers for Republican congressmen John Doolittle and Richard Pombo.

Both representatives are seeking re-election amid ethics questions.

Bush plans to attend a breakfast for Richard Pombo of Tracy.

He will also appear at a luncheon for Doolittle of Rocklin on October 3 at the Serrano Country Club in El Dorado Hills. The campaign hopes to raise $500,000. It will be the first time Bush has appeared on behalf of Doolittle.

Doolittle's ties to former Majority Leader Tom DeLay and convicted Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff have provided fodder for Doolittle's Democratic opponent, Charlie Brown.

Ms. Kathy Lee is Almost Here!

My little sister, Kath, will be here with me in London for 8 days... so I probably won't be posting much because I'll be running around with her.... it's all very exciting - I can't wait to see her and show her around!

PS - I have lots more party pics plus more to put up but for some reason Matt's computer is freaking out everytime I try to put them up - argh! Anyway - I'll try to get back to it....

Jazz Cafe Festival in Richmond

Goodbye-Flat Party Pics