Electionitis

So it is all going off here this week in the USA..the credit crunch debacle and mixed in with the build up to the election...but there is no doubt the person people are still all talking about is Sarah Palin who is getting more than her fair share of negative attention.I feel it is a very exciting time to be living in America and would love to be able to vote but sadly no can do..I am also acutely aware that I am a guest in this country and have to frequently remove myself from the British high Horse and of hundreds
of years of imperialism that are in my DNA.As an observer this is what I notice.
1/ That whoever has been running the country for the last few years does not seem to know what they have been doing and that ignorance is bliss up til now that it has bitten everyone on the arse .
2/That the election seems to be a popularity contest and not unlike the "X factor or" strictly come politics".Who does better on TV? Who slags their opponent more ..who has a more sexy or exciting vice pres?
3/ Until the recent economic crisis it seemed the election was about God and Guns..with a little bit of War in Iraq knocked in.
4/ That now there is someone who is more inarticulate and bumbling than George W not to say clueless re current issues ..that is Sarah Palin.
5/ That the American people yearn for change and feel very wronged and are unsure which way to turn.

Out staying our welcome

With the much dreaded Embassy visit over it was time to Blitz culture and friends and God children confident that we would be on a plane by wednesday. I managed to get Grace (teenager) to walk across Hyde Park and Battersea Park on several occassions. I realised that my relationship with distance has completely changed .What used to be an unthinkably long journey (From Beaufort st to Prince of wale drive in Battersea ) now seemed like popping round the corner, so I now walked all over London and also discovered the delights of the overland train.After spending many many hours in the car in LA Londontransport was a novelty and odd to be travelling at such close quarters with others. In Los Angeles you can go for days without having any contact with other humans as one is either in the metal box or the wooden box -house..in London it is hard to avoid others.
I regenerated my very underused brain cells by going to some great exhibitions -the Hammashoi at the Royal accademy and the drawing exhibition at the Tate Britain with my dear friend Lize .I spent most of the time reading Tracey Emins scrawled school girl memoirs and realised she has made a great living from self involvement and rcording the various stages of self.
By tuesday i was ready to go back to the US having made our various courtesy calls but alas no seats on BA flights a la virgin for wednesday or thursday so we had to tell our beloved tolerant host Frank that we would be staying..by this stage the girls dorm was getting very out of hand mess wise and one could not even open the door..sadly our chaos was reaching beyond our room and Franks office had been colonised...by Grace on facebook and me on the computer frantically emailing BA..Frank took it like a gentleman.