Fragments

Driving
I am booked in for my driving test on the 27th February. I have been learning to drive on and off since I was 16, when my boyfriend at the time would let me drive his beloved Fiat 128. I came quite close to being ready to sit the test when I squashed my poor little car in 1998 (almost leading me to declare bankruptcy, but that's another story - the moral of which is always pay a lawyer if you get into trouble cause they can get you out of stuff you can't get out of by yourself). My current learner's permit (which lasts for 10 years) expires on the 20 March. I have been driving for seventeen years. But I am still worried that I'll get nervous in my test and make a stupid mistake, ride up on a curb, fail.
I enjoy driving, but I am scared of everyone else on the road.

Becoming a Grown Up
Learning to drive heralds a new era for me. I've realised now that I often drive that I am going to need some kind of small bag in which to keep my purse, the car keys and my sunnies/normal glasses - at the moment, I always hand the keys back to Martin when we arrive because he always has pockets. I don't have pockets. I've never owned a handbag in all my life. I either use a backpack or nappy bag or I carry my purse in my hand or Martin carries everything. I may have to buy a mobile phone as well. I used to have one but it died by baby spit.

Please note that below is the most ill-informed weigh-in on the US Election on the net
Martin and I just finished watching West Wing season 6 last night (and will move on to 7). It's been, frankly, bizarre and confusing watching candidates battle it out in the primaries simultaneously in West Wing world and the real world, but it has given me greater understanding of the American system and also greater interest. I am looking forward to the results of Super Tuesday (Feb 5) with great interest. Martin favours Obama, he thinks Hillary is too political, that Obama is the better person. I'm not sure I agree. I admit, I would love to see a woman president. It amazes me, watching West Wing, that their vision for a presidential race was one fought almost exclusively between men (the one female runner drops out early, revealing that she only ran to get certain issues brought to the fore), and the only minority represented is Latino. A few years later the race is between a black man and a woman. It's pretty exciting days. The Australian election outcome could be seen as a microcosm of the world stage, that we're ready to move away from conservatism, to deal with some issues that really take a different way of thinking (like the environment, human rights, a sustainable economy which isn't solely fuelled by rugged individualism) in which case we really could be looking at a black male president or a female president by the end of the decade. To be honest, there was a time not so long ago when I could have easily believed that this wouldn't happen in my lifetime.
Though I wish the choice was really between Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda - or Santos and Vinick as they play in West Wing. Alan Alda is so the Republican you want to love, so much so that I currently think he's set to win the election, in order to show faux-political-balance on TV. No spoilers please.