So my first Obama fundraising poster sold on Sunday for almost $60, and I thought that was pretty great. The buyer has already left me glowing feedback on ebay. A fine start to a summer project, I think. I mentioned this casually to a friend, and her husband scoffed. "Musta been the only Obama supporter with a job," he said, "or some stupid kid looking to waste their daddy's money on ebay." He continued to roll his eyes as I told him the poster got 13 bids and at least 100 page visits. "So? I bet the next one won't even get 10 visits!" And so the argument began... the same argument I've been having with him for five years.

I started writing this post almost two months ago. I just wanted to announce that the necklace I made to raise money for Obama was sold, rather amazingly, for over $200. on ebay. But, Kos rule number two stopped me ...

Substantive diaries only. If you don't have at least three solid, original paragraphs, you should probably post a comment in an Open Thread.

Substantive? Hmm. How could I make it more substantive? Perhaps I needed to do more - be more involved in the Obama campaign - to make a substantive difference. Hmm. Tap tap tap. Hmm. Yes we can? Really? OK! I'm totally broke, but, yes, I'm DOING something! So....who's with me?

(Wondering what this graphic is all about? Keep reading!)

I'm happy to report that there are now 30 bids for the Obama necklace I posted about yesterday. I'm more happy and sappy than ever! Thanks to all of you who posted such kind words yesterday, I emailed Afsaneh and told her about all of you. Yes, she truly is a shining example of the Obama message. The ebay auction to benefit Obama ends tonight, and looks like the amount for Obama just may match Afsaneh's gift to me! Wow, huh? Obama people are just amazing.

For those you who were annoyed by Joe Lieberman bashing Obama on CNN this week, this really oughta entertain you. I searched for Lieberman news on CNN. Get a load of the results! (I swear it's real, not a joke!)

Last month I drove the seven hours to Pennsylvania to volunteer for Obama. I was one of the 35,000 people cheering for Obama at the rally Philadelphia, and I canvassed in Harrisburg, Scranton and Reading. I returned home because I was painfully aware that I was about to be spending my rent money on gas, and I just couldn't afford another fill up. (I was laid off. Money is super tight -- but I have a promising second interview Monday!)

On the Obama blog, the night of the April 22 primary, I posted regrets that I couldn't donate because I found myself $300. short on my rent. (I had actually just put my car up for sale to pay my bills.) The next morning, an email shocked me. A fellow Obama supporter saw my post and offered to buy one of my Obama necklaces for $300. I was totally overwhelmed! Especially since my job hunt isn't going well...

As we emailed back and forth, her story really moved me. Born in Iran, she'd lived in