November 5, 2008: I keep this newspaper in a special box, along with a copy of the New York Times from the day of the first lunar landing. Today I’m keeping it in close sight, reflecting on the profound impact this honorable man has had on my life, my country, and our world. From the deepest cell of my heart: Thanks, Obama.
45 Comments
What a man. Personally, I’ve never held an active interest in politics—Barack and Michelle made me care, because I could see how deeply they care. I genuinely feel love for them both <3
Anyone following them has big shoes to fill, but ~this guy~? Well…
He set the bar high.
Right now, glad I live in France.
Good luck.
I wish I had kept a copy of a newspaper from his first election. I was all set to buy one for what I thought would be Hillary’s victory… my heart is heavy today. I will sincerely miss the Obamas and am grateful for everything they did for the world.
smart. down to earth. easy smile.
is it wrong to have a crush?
pics like this do not help
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/07/15/us/politics/15obama2-span/15obama2-span-jumbo.jpg
Can we get back to seeing home design projects now?
You are free to start a blog about anything you wish at any time, Marla. Meanwhile, I’ll do what’s right for me.
<3 <3
I just realized you’re the same person who sloppily invoked MLK Jr. in a comment on a previous post as an attempt to degrade and dismiss the value of the Black Lives Matter movement. Your agenda is clear, Marla. You don’t care about “home design projects,” you just don’t want to see black faces on my blog. Got it. BYE!
I liked… no… loved, your blog for many years. The home design stuff. You are a genius when it comes to that, and I used to look at your blog for inspiration. I, and correct me if I’m wrong, thought your blog was about home decor/restoration, not polorizing political topics. I (obviously) do not have the same viewpoint as you when it comes to politics. I could overlook your political posts when there was something to skim past it to. But now, there’s nothing. I’m disappointed that we have lost a great blogger in home design. You can do whatever you want on your blog. I just wanted you to know that these posts are turning some of your readers off. I won’t be visiting anymore.
“correct me if I’m wrong, thought your blog was about home decor/restoration”
I’m correcting you. You’re wrong. I have been blogging for nearly 20 years now, and I have ALWAYS written about what matters to me. If that turns some people off, GOOD. You know what turns me off? When people avoid talking about things that might be considered “controversial” or “difficult” because they’re worried about losing money or readers. Now THAT is offensive.
Bye!
I find myself watching clips of him on YouTube this weekend- mom jeans and all! He and Michelle are my heros. Thanks for sharing this.
Obama has more charisma and grace in his little finger than Trump has in his whole empire. I feel like the world has been set back 50 years. The only thing we can hope for now is that this current state of affairs will motivate people to be more involved. Whats the saying? “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” I think the next 4 years will become the example of where we never want to be again. Everyone (I’m not American) needs to be more vigilant, because this affects all of us.
It’s heartbreaking to see this beautiful family go!
Best POTUS ever. He and his family will inspire me for the rest of my life. As difficult as this change is, I’m so grateful he was our president and I’m glad he will be on the scene for many more years. THANKS OBAMA, you’re one in a billion.
I thought I unsubscribed to your blog a while ago in my feed reader. It will be done now. Wish you could have just stick to home/design posts and Morrissey.
I’m very proud that the content of this blog has always been 100% on my terms. I have no interest in catering to the varied tastes of an ever-changing audience, particularly the ones who leave hit-and-run commentary using corny fake names and even cornier fake email addresses. If that’s the kind of blog you want to read, you’ve always been in the wrong place here.
As an aside, I find it fascinating that someone with an interest in sweeping the discussion of anything political under a proverbial rug could have an interest in Morrissey. How do you reconcile the fact that (at least) 50% of his creative output is grounded in the discussion of global politics and human/animal rights?
By the way, it’s VERY telling that the only other time you commented on this blog was—like Marla—to complain when I wrote about the Black Lives Matter movement. Neither of you said a peep any of the many times I wrote about my dogs, makeup, my family, or even politics when race was not part of the discussion. Ask yourself: Is it really that you don’t want to hear about politics, or is it that you don’t want your favorite white bloggers to concern themselves with black people—whether it’s an unarmed black man being gunned down by police, or the outgoing president of the United States?
Actually, I commented a while back (back when you were still posting content) about how you should write a book about home design. And like, no, are you kidding me, I’m not giving out my real email address on here…. wouldn’t do it anywhere on any blog.
I like black people. I lived in Chicago for 10 years. My son went to daycare and everyone who watched him was black. We have black friends. Just because I don’t support this black lives matter movement (ahem, all lives matter, right?) doesn’t mean I am racist.
Yes, Marla, it does mean that. Ask yourself why you “don’t support this black lives matter movement.” Congrats on filling out the Racism Denial Bingo board nicely, thought! “I have black friends” is the center square. Pretty sure “my son went to daycare and everyone who watched him was black” in on there somewhere, too.
And I’m glad you won’t be visiting anymore. Don’t kid yourself about what makes a “genius,” either. I ain’t that.
Here’s some Morrissey for you on your way out. Consider your request granted.
You rock.
Yep, I am going to really miss the Obama’s. Although I didn’t agree 100% with him, I think he really did some wonderful things for this country. I respected him and Michelle and would have loved to see what he would of accomplished if the other side allowed him to do all that he could. I think he will go down in history as one our best presidents in US history, and I am crying how quickly it is being dismantled. Anna, don’t let these negative commenters silence you in anyway. These are the times we need to speak up! I went to the march on Saturday and I was pretty nervous about sharing anything publicly, but I did! And I felt pretty proud to be part of something so big. You do amazing work, keep it up!
Ah yes, the march…a massive display of white privilege and entitlement.
I agree with this sentiment on several levels, DT (although I don’t think it can be reduced to a one-line summary—it’s a complex subject), but I’m a bit confused about the “ah yes.” My post had absolutely nothing to do with the march, nor did it have anything to do with the person who was inaugurated last Friday. It is a thank you note to President Obama.
I think DT was responding to Debbie’s mention of the march but I could be wrong. It happens 😉
Sorry, I was responding to Debbie’s comment. Should have hit reply to do that.
Would you (or Anna) care to elaborate? It might seem obvious to you but it isn’t necessarily self-evident for everyone else.
Hi Stephanie, there have been a lot of pieces written about this very subject! Here are a few I recommend checking out:
– Doubts about inclusive feminism have little to do with the Women’s March. They’re rooted in history
– In Defense of Dissent: A Critique of the Women’s March on Washington
– To understand the Women’s March on Washington, you need to understand intersectional feminism
– To White Women Who Were Allowed To Resist While We Survived Passive Racism
– Why I Do Not Support The Women’s March on Washington
(There are a number of links at the bottom of that last piece I suggest taking a look at, too.)
Thank you for the links. I still don’t understand why some people think it’s ok to call out random strangers, race unknown, for their privilege.
I don’t see anyone calling out specific people, but rather the march itself.
Ah, yes DT, so easy to dismiss someone’s life when you are anonymous…
Thank you, Anna.
Kept that historic NY Times as well. I will miss Michelle Obama the most – the best FLOTUS ever. These are indeed anxious and horrifying times but mark my words: Twittler will NOT last four years. He is going to self-destruct as we can already see. He will fire his speaker and aides first when it will not go well, and will have to realize soon that the White House is not made for cheap reality tv and angry tweets.
Love your blog and style and your open view of the world.
Thanks for this love note to the Obamas – they are the best and will be extremely sorely missed!! I get despondent every time I think about what’s going to happen to our country now.
I’m curious about DT’s sentiment that the march was ‘a massive display of white privilege and entitlement.’ I haven’t read the negative articles about the march so I’m unaware of the reasoning behind the criticism…but I want to share my thoughts. I am a white woman who is aware of her privilege. I marched at the DC march and the crowd (and speakers) were diverse. I spoke with a black man there who said that right after the election, he felt like all white people were against him. Like he didn’t think he could trust any of us. And that seeing how many white people were marching (and cheering for every speaker who was there representing POC, immigrants, etc.) made him realize not all white people are aligned with Trump. No idea what people’s takeaway from that story will be — but it’s hard for me to see how whites protesting could be worse than white complacency. Is the thinking (of those critical of the march) that white women who march are ONLY marching, and otherwise ignoring the issues? The sense I got among the marchers were that they were gearing up to be part of the resistance movement. Not ‘ok I marched my work here is done.’
Anyway thanks for your blog – it’s fantastic.
Funny how it has been so many years since I first made your acquaintance on Flickr, Anna, yet I never knew your politics, except for your mother’s so I thought, well, maybe. Yes! You are on the right side of history! Other than politically horrified, how’ve you been? Over time I drifted from Flickr to Pinterest and lost touch. You had the best pictures of decorating on Flickr and you were so kind to add them to my group. Did I ever thank you? Thank you, I appreciate the time you took to do that. Nowadays it’s Pinterest I’m trying to get off of – what a complete waste of energy I love it but crap almighty. So I was tweeking my boards to leave them in good order, making final touches to my board on Frédéric Méchiche and of course I wound up back with you. THANKS TO YOU, ANNA, I might never have found Méchiche. I still love him. So how are you? Doing well, I hope. I see your universe has had major changes and I wish you nothing but the best and to be your best. Back to Obama. Since the election I have been in a state of despair. No, everything is not going to be okay and I will not be lulled into complacency by the nazis who did this to us. This is as bad as it gets and it’s getting worse daily. I will miss Obama for a long time. Whenever someone said or did something disgusting to him I was infuriated – until he responded with such calm, it calmed me too. How could I be upset when he wasn’t? He was my rock. What will I do without him? This much I know. Whenever seismic change takes place in the world, it happens violently. But this is the beginning of the end of the dark times. We are headed for enlightenment. We will have to keep fighting to get there and it will probably get worse before it gets better, but we’re almost there. And Obama came along when we needed him to show us how to hold onto hope. Like the best Dad anybody could ask for, he taught us by example how to do the right thing. He can’t hold our hand forever. We have to do it for ourselves now. But he showed us how. Yep. Thanks, Obama.
yes Obama certainly set the bar high….let us see what happens now with trump being the puppet on the string..
Greetings from Germany. Crazy to witness how some readers’ comments reveal their unwillingness to read and accept a rather modest political statement (highly symbolic, not the argumentative kind). Wow, thanks Anna for standing up for expressing your opinion, it is very saddening to see people become so bigoted and intolerant they reject others for the bare fact of shortly expressing their personal political viewpoint, that is in a positve/ thankful way, not hateful/ calumny kind of way.
No matter how devided, we should never end debate and sharing our feelings and viewpoints. Very dangerous.
After all, there’s something right in EVERYONE’S opinion and yet only through the eyes of others you are able to see what you may have been missing. That is, if you are zhis open of course.
Hi Anna,
We can only hope and pray that his hard work and vision for our country will be realized. We must all continue to do what we can, even in small ways, to keep love and hope alive for our country.
Love your blog and the whole big picture you present here. Hope you feel up to posting whatever you feel like posting whenever!
Always enjoyed your design blog. Wish you would come back. I think it is time. I hope.
Is this blog still active?
Well…I’m active, but the blog doesn’t really do much on its own.
I hope all is well with you in the SW. With your extended absence many of us miss you and hope all is well. You and your blog are missed–I hope you will someday return.
Hi Anna, just wanted to tell you that I miss your posts (ALL of them ;)) but respect your need for space. Just wanted to let you know that we’re still here! Take care xxx