Day 327-Love actually

Dear Mr. President,

Classes were cancelled for me today, and all over the city, businesses, schools and bus routes were shut down in response to (generously) 2 inches of snow. I'll admit I love this about my city, our complete inability to function at the slitest freeze. It's a sad reality, but we don't often get weather like this, meaning that it is just more dangerous to be out. Drivers don't know what they're doing, the city doesn't have a particularly organized response, and the recognition of this danger by local officials and private employers is sort of refreshing. Instead of demanding that we brave the dangerous streets for class or work, they're just willing to put aside these interests for the sake of keeping more people safely at home. It's cute. And comforting.

My roommates and I are bundled up and trying to keep from turning the heat on as long as possible. (Being on the 5th floor helps this, but not much.) We've got both environmental and financial reasons for doing this, but, with temperatures heading to the teens overnight, I'm sure we'll have to give in before too long. We're watching Love Actually, a romantic comedy we've each seen dozens of times since it was released in theaters. (I'm still convinced this movie is the reason my mother suggested we spend Christmas 2006 in London, a trip I continue to be grateful for.) There isn't anything particularly special or profound about this movie; love conquering all is certainly not a new theme, and the cinematic wisdom of getting as many famous people as possible in one movie is questionable. But, no matter how many times we see it, no matter how many lines we quote at one another or how many songs Becca sings along with, we still love this movie. It brought us together, in a way, several years ago before we moved in together, when we gathered in their tiny studio to watch this movie and promise ourselves that particular Christmas would be good for all of us and our respective romantic interests. It was cold, the city teetering on the brink of what would later be called Snowpocalypse, a city-crippling storm that few Seattle natives had ever seen the equal of. But I remember that night and the intense, hopeful warmth that we shared as friends certain our lives could only get better if we believed hard enough.

The next day my life took a memorable turn for the worst, and snow began to fall. I can't help but associate my own downward spiral with the rapidly deteriorating weather. Even now, the very sight of snow and ice, the prospect of months of cold makes me fear another winter feeling alone and depressed. I have to choose to remember the good things- our store closing early and the staff having a snowball fight at Linda's bar. Trudging through snow to feed my mother's cats, only to have them cuddle with me by the fire in her freezing condo. Laughing with these girls before they were my roommates as we made light of the disastrous way things turned out. No matter how hopeless it seemed, it did get better. The snow melted. The city recovered. My heart mended. Getting through this winter may require that I remember this, and remember that no matter how bad things get, I still have my lovely friends.

With the country still suffering from economic depression and the prospect of the Holiday season too much for many families to handle, I hope that we all pull together and keep each other warm, keep each other sane and keep each other safe this winter. (With Republicans already set against extending unemployment benefits for those still struggling, this seems unrealistically optimistic, but whatever, Hugh Grant makes me think the world is not all selfish and terrible.) Putting others, especially those less fortunate than us, ahead of our own selfish concerns is really the kind of love that this holiday season is supposed to be about. I think that if we do that, we'll all make it through till spring in more or less one piece.

Respectfully yours,

Kelsey

Day 47

Dear Mr. President,

*insert poorly-reasoned joke about global warming here* Thomas Friedman writes in today's NY times about the disappointing lack of understanding, and the inevitable bad jokes that result, with regards to the nature of climate change. Friedman proposes that the experts release "a simple 50-page report. They could call it “What We Know,” summarizing everything we already know about climate change in language that a sixth grader could understand, with unimpeachable peer-reviewed footnotes." While former Vice-President Gore has gone a long way towards making climate change data simple and accessible to the larger public, he is too contentious a political figure to ever convince the people who don't already agree with him. Friedman may be on to a reasonable alternative.

You've made clean energy a clear priority for your administration. The concessions you've made with regards to nuclear energy, which I personally find concerning, should be enough for those still drinking the Lyndon LaRouche kool-aid to take down the pictures of you with a Hitler mustache. Nuclear energy, like some areas of foreign policy, is an area where I am willing to defer my judgment to your own, if only because I have faith in your administration's superior access to experts and information. That being said, I know that nuclear energy has its limitations, and I hope that your administration continues to push for the safer, more sustainable sources of energy.

Sadly, until then, you, Thomas Friedman and the rest of us who recognize that the decades of research backing up climate change will not be undone by one snowstorm, will probably have to put up with a number of jokes, tweets, and other self-congratulation from climate change-deniers. I think that it would ultimately be in our interest if something like the report Mr. Friedman proposes were funded and published in a thoroughly non-partisan way. As much as I'd like to pretend the deniers are irrelevant, we're still Democrats, and persuading those who disagree with us, rather than just legislating around them, is really more our style.

Anyway, enjoy the "snow-ver kill" or whatever they're calling it these days.

Respectfully yours,

Kelsey

Day 40- The snow

Dear Mr. President,

My condolences for the extreme weather in DC. Seeing the reports online, and hearing from my friends who still live in the city, it sounds slightly magical, almost as though the Senate leadership really could be making snow angels out on the mall. Two years ago we had our own Snow-pocalypse in Seattle, and I remember it being anything but magical, so I'll try to reign in my whimsical envy of your real winter and appreciate the mild mid-50's and sunny that Seattle has been graced with.

During that unreasonable cold winter, I was reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road, not a book I'd recommend during weather that inspires comparison to the end times. That being said, McCarthy's writing is some of the most beautiful I've ever experienced. Working at a bookstore, I'm lucky to be constantly exposed to great writing, new and old, and the people who love it. Your own reading tastes often influence what people are buying- Team of Rivals, The Post-American World and Netherland all became very difficult to keep in stock after you were spotted reading them.

Having a President who regularly reads and engages the public in what he is reading is a nice change, after 8 years under President Bush. I'm sure President Bush did read books. Dick Cheney used to shop at the Book store I started at, on L street. The books I saw him buy were almost always by Tom Clancy or aspiring Tom Clancy-types. Thrilling books, with good guys and bad guys. Books that assured the reader of the righteousness of the protagonists and the absolute evil of the villains. I'm not saying that this makes you better or smarter than the former VP, but I do believe that what we read informs our worldview, and, in my mind, Vice-President Cheney did little to disprove this.

Just because it is my job, (and it may not be, forever,) and probably the thing I do best, in the world, I'd like to suggest a few books.

For First Lady Michelle, I'd suggest a memoir, The Bread of Angels by Stephanie Saldana. It is a beautiful book by a remarkable woman, and a really enjoyable read.

For Malia and Sasha, as I know they, like me, appreciate Harry Potter, I suggest UnLunDun, by China Mieville and Coraline, by Neil Gaiman. They are two of my favorite books for young readers, and both feature strong, original female characters.

If you, Mr. President, came to my bookstore looking for something to read, (this is assuming I regained my ability to speak long enough to put forth a suggestion,) I'd offer Aravind Adiga's White Tiger for enjoyment, Daniyal Mueenuddin's In Other Rooms, Other Wonders for beauty, and, because walking a mile in the shoes of another isn't always possible, I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti.

And that is absolutely the most presumptuous I'm prepared to be, at least for now. Thank you, for humoring me. Happy reading. Enjoy the snow.

Respectfully yours,

Kelsey