Congratulations, USA. I'm genuinely glad. I'm a bit more optimistic about the world in general today.

...and you know, this may be shallow and irrelevant, but of all the presidents/VPs/candidates I've seen in the past oh, 20 years or so, he's the only one who strikes me as looking like a real person. And I do mean just physically (looks and body language), in photos or on TV. All the others always looked fake to me, to a greater or lesser extent. (As do most American TV personalities, it has to be said -- it may just be a rightpondian prejudice here...)

So, I'm still in Dublin after all. I changed my flight, and I'll be going to Italy later in the month -- but at this point I'm wary of saying when, since I've had to change my plans so many times already at very short notice; although I've had to select a date for the new flight, I've done so in the awareness that I may have to change it again.

This doesn't mean a change in my father's conditions -- in fact, the good news is that they're stable; only that my parents talked to the department's head surgeon on Monday and the operation won't be in the next two weeks. At the same time, it seems that he gave them the clearest and most complete explanations about the situation yet, and this seems to have improved their confidence slightly -- and thus their mood. My mother slept almost through the following night, which hadn't been happening for a while. It still all depends on whether my father will manage to recover his blood levels without further incident, but still, they all insisted that it would be best for me to delay the flight, and so here I am.

At the same time, I'm starting to wonder if Aer Lingus has some kind of Frequent Changers program, where if you keep giving them money to change your flight often enough they award you a coupon, or even just a lapel pin with a shamrock and "Supporting Member" or something written on it...

Meanwhile, I'm very glad to see that Americans on the whole have done The Right Thing, and so I can stop boycotting my favourite oven chips. (No really, I've tried other brands and these are the only ones that I actually like, but for the past couple of weeks I've felt that it would be like letting the side down, so I've refrained...)

Joan Baez is on Italian TV right now, at a talk show. She just mentioned that she supports Obama. The (Italian) studio audience interrupted wth loud applause.

(Apparently, it's the first time ever that Baez declares support for a presidential candidate)

conorh links to an interview with Douglas Adams in The American Atheist. The interview is interesting enough, but I was quite boggled by the last few questions.

"Is your Atheism common knowledge among your fans, friends, and coworkers?" (to which Adams answers, "This is a slightly puzzling question to me, and I think there is a cultural difference involved. In England there is no big deal about being an Atheist.")

"How often have fans, friends, or coworkers tried to “save” you from Atheism?"

"Have you faced any obstacles in your professional life because of your Atheism (bigotry against Atheists), and how did you handle it? How often does this happen?" (answer: "Not even remotely. It’s an inconceivable idea.")