**OLD POST WRITTEN JULY 9th, 2008**

Well, I’ve been absent from STET for almost one month to the day–and these thirty days have held three job interviews, one amazing town-hall meeting volunteering for Barack Obama, one incredible shout out from Sen. Obama himself, one quick plane trip to SF to meet my new employer in a lovely office in downtown SF, a tearful and hard-to-say goodbye to brass|MEDIA and all the folks there, 12 boxes I begrudgingly carried into FEDEX hoping not to look too pathetic and weak, a week of sleeping on a floor with no furniture, a million trips to Goodwill drop-off (I finally got the grumpy guy at drop-off to wave and smile at me) and one loooooooooong 9-hour drive with a COMPLETELY stuffed car, a bike on the roof, one new amazing CD mix from Kaz, and one cat. Word to the wise: Do not iPhone while driving at high speeds with a grouchy cat and 5 hours of sleep.

Here’s the shout out from the man himself at the town-hall rally in Albany, Oregon where Sen. Obama thanked Amy and I for our organizing efforts locally. (Listen for him to drop the “Higginbotham” name…apparently my journalism-school buddy turned-news-producer was sitting in his production room listening to the audio from the rally and almost fell out of his chair when he heard the quick shout out…thanks to him for the video clip.) It’s a pretty incredible campaign that can enable you to sign up online, organize with other supporters, train you in multiple capacities and provide a personal thank you. Awesome.

Amy is an incredible woman, mom, and advocate. I will miss working with everyone from Corvallis for Obama, including volunteers like Amy, Jeff (in pic below), Barbara, Jan, Gail and John, Quinn, and of course, the campaign staffers (meet Eric and Sam).

Now, time to find how to get involved here, not to mention find an IKEA–or better yet, find some IKEA on craigslist or freecycle. More on the new job, new city, and new adventures soon…

(July 9th, 2008)