Gore is GOOD. And I am starstruck.

Last night I attended the GOOD Magazine Bastille Day party for subscribers at the 111 Minna gallery in SF. The people were amazing, just as I had anticipated. I had some time to catch up with my CC friends, and meet more of the great people at GOOD magazine. I even got to meet Al Gore (!). (Mia even has a photo to prove it.)

I have to admit I am a bit starstruck. Let me explain (briefly) why. Gore is the first politician who got me to focus on US politics when I was in college. He spoke at UW during the first Clinton/Gore campaign in 1992 and it was my first political rally ever. At the time, I was very disappointed in the current state of our government and so many things that were happening in our country and in the world. Sharing a stage in the quad with Senator Patty Murray -- the mom in tennis shoes from Washington State who was running for Congress for the first time (and won) -- Gore inspired thousands of students to consider a change, a different future than the path (Persian Gulf War, depressed economy, increasing dependence on oil – geez, this sounds familiar) we were on as a country. It was springtime, a beautiful sunny day, the cherry blossoms were blooming, my college boyfriend was with me, and enthusiasm for a real change was in the air. Maybe it’s because that election year was the first time I could vote for president, but for whatever reason I look back on that day as a defining moment in my political development. Today, I admire Gore for his continued and longstanding work on the environment. After my few days in Zion and Yosemite earlier this week, it's as clear as ever that we need to do everything we can to reduce our dependence on oil and look for alternative energy sources. The world depends on this.