45. Long Nails Re-emerges As Video.

With Alaska's proximity to Russia, the Yup'ik culture extends into part of the continent of Asia. A couple of weeks ago, a guy from Siberia contacted me to ask permission to use the media from the Long Nails Translation project to make this youtube video.

A warm thanks to Suhachi Chutchen for this video reincarnation of the Long Nails translation project originally produced by the students of Tuntutuliak. (See the 'Long Nails Translation' post below.)

44. Washington D.C.

Three big things happened since the last time I blogged:

1. My father passed away from a stroke.
2. I was appointed Teacher in Residence at the Library of Congress.
3. Our Governor (AK) is running for US Vice President.

Last November--after my last blog entry, see below--my Mother, Father and Sister visited me in Ketchikan for Thanksgiving. Two weeks later, I got a call that my Dad had a catastrophic stroke. I went to Philly (Bryn Mawr Hospital) and helped my mother and sister confirm his Advance Directive concerning his right-to-die--his desire for a natural death in the form of passive euthanasia. The stroke rendered him unable to communicate, except for a vague moment or two of fleeting lucidity that only confirmed his desire. Dad was an Elder Law attorney specialising in Advance Directives before his first stroke.

In February, after I returned to Ketchikan following my father's funeral, I found the "Call for Proposals for Teacher in Residence at the Library of Congress" in my email inbox. I took the opportunity seriously--partly because it seemed like good way to return to the east coast in order to be closer to my Mom and Sister, and partly because it sounded like a potentially good experience.

Not sure what to say about Palin... but the greatest thing about McCain's decision here may be that it wrote in stone a moment of change for America. No matter who's elected, for the first time, our "imperfect" form of government has proven its capacity for growth and change. For the first time in US history, someone other than a white male will hold office at the Executive level. Hope has never been so alive; the American dream has never been so attainable.

Bread Loaf Asheville was great... looking forward to next summer.