Q:

Q: How is President Obama doing so far?

2010-01-01T18:06:05Z

Anthony Raad: "I think we were expecting a little more action. I find it surprising that it took him a couple of months to figure out a strategy in Afghanistan. It's important that a president acts in a more timely fashion. Every week we are losing lives and spending millions.

Americans are anxious and we don't need more anxiety in this economy.

I think Obama's actions in the economy were warranted and taken in good faith, but still unemployment is above 10 percent. I work at a bank. People who come to me at the bank are unemployed and I try to work with them to help them out, but the real problem is there are no jobs. We're pumping billions of dollars into the economy, but where are the jobs?"

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Marcia Bini: "I'm very disappointed because he made a lot of campaign promises about change in Washington and bipartisanship, but it's been more partisan than ever. And I think the Health Care Reform is not what the American people want. It's being railroaded through. I don't think he has the control he thought he would have."

Francis Xavier Msonthi: "So far he's done an excellent job. He's doing a lot of work in a short period of time after taking over the mess we've been in. I think people need to consider he's putting in a lot of hours. I can't remember a president who's worked 24/7 the way he's doing. On top of that, he still looks cool, calm and collected. I wish him all the best, much success."

Leszek Green: "Well, honestly, I don't follow politics that much, so I don't really know, but from what I hear, he's not doing as well as a lot of people expected."

Helena Adena (left): "For me so far, he didn't do anything about the economy and workers. People can't find jobs. When he came in businesses were closing and people couldn't find jobs. I hope he can do better. I like him, but I think he's going to be like Bush. I just don't see any change."

Emma Disimino: "Everybody in my family voted for Obama. His motto was change. He said we'd have our troops out of Iraq, but he's putting them into Afghanistan. I don't think it was right he won the Nobel Peace Prize. All he's saying is just words. He just began a year ago, but I don't see change yet. Actions speak louder than words. Change would be awesome."

Q: What is your hope for 2010?

2009-12-01T20:29:55Z

Saul Schniderman: "I hope for four things: I hope for Carroll Avenue to be paved. I hope for new small businesses to start up in Takoma Park. I hope that real healthcare reform is passed. I hope that the US withdraws from Afghanistan."

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(from left)

Michael Leon Jonhson: "I hope for the war in Iraq to be over, and for a large amount of people to start going to church."

Anthony "V": "A stable place to live and to go to a good college. And a large skate park."

"Skateboard Mom" Maryam Balbed: "A large skate park for downtown Silver Spring."

Yaya Balbed: "A good place for all skateboarders to be. A big skate park.

Karun Rai: I hope for the economy to get better."

Ann Lafferty: "A lot of joy."

Maydean Roberts: "First is to get my own place, and second is to cut off the negative people in my life."

Trenita Collins (holding Jaquan and Latayvia): "For me, to finish school, to be a more supportive mom, and to leave all my worries alone, put all my worries in the trash."

Latayvia Roberts: "My birthday is coming up and I hope to get a Tinkerbell."

Matthew Casella: "I hope I will continue moving forward."

Lizz Edwards: "I hope for agreement. People in general need to try harder to agree. You don't need to agree on everything, but try to see commonality and try to understand existence from other people's perspective.

Q: What is the path to peace?

2009-11-01T21:21:11Z

[from left] Margot Bass: "Since I am a biologist, I think there has to be a balance between the hawk population and doves. If there are too many doves the hawks take over and if there are too many hawks there's over-agressiveness."

Jane Bass: "The only path is a vast reduction in the world's population, so there is not a constant competition for resources."

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Caitlin Arlotta: "Full bellies."

Edward "Butch" Rudolph Warren: "We have to learn to get along with each other all over the world, make friends from other countries."

Lucy Dorenfeld: "A walk in the woods."

Jim Litchfield: "I think it's probably just good cooking."

Al Lacey: "Women taking over. There's no doubt in my mind about this. If you mess with me I'm going to punch you in the face. If you mess with a woman, she'll come up with a different solution."

Gabriel Shandler: "I think everyone has to get along with each other, that includes no more racism, and obviously, no war. We have to get through this recession that's stressing a lot of people and bringing out the worst in people."

Q: What is YOUR favorite summer memory?

2009-07-22T14:35:11Z

From left:

Bamba Jallow: "I'm a workaholic. I have no summer memories. Wait--scuba diving! One place I went to was Orlando. I saw coral reefs, lots of fish. It was nice."

Pierre Lubin: "Going to Six Flags."

Shahid Alam: "Mostly on vacations. Last year I went to Myrtle Beach. We had a place with an ocean view, where we could wake up and see the waves. We woke up before sunrise and collected seashells. I found a shell as big as my hand."

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Bebe Hintsa: "I don't have many memories from here, and in my country, Ethiopia, it's summer all the time, but I remember planning with my friends at my church, and on special days we went visiting with my church friends."

Tilahun Berhe: "I liked to play outside, run outside and have a picnic outside."

Benjamin Jennings: "Going to Deep Creek Lake, in Western Maryland near West Virginia. Fishing, boating, we cook out, stay in cabins, go bike riding, and ride Sea-Doos, everything."

Darby Granite: "Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. They have all kinds of music--Springsteen, Nine-inch Nails, Merle Haggard, the list goes on, 50-60 bands, 100 thousand people, at a four-day festival."

Doug Weimer: "Taking vacations, to Nagshead: sit on a beach and drink and look at women. Just relax and enjoy not doing anything.

Rick Vitullo: "Going to an outdoor pool in rural Ohio, many many years ago, swimming in spring-fed cold water."

Mary Stella Donovan: "My favorite memory was when I went to Spain, the summer after my sophomore year. We did a 17-day tour up and down Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla. It was an eye opening experience. Spain has a cultural blend of Arabic, Spanish and a lot of different cultures. The artwork was beautiful. It made me realize the world extends beyond my nose."

Daniel Keller: "Going to the lake with my entire family. We go every year so it's a really relaxing experience. Also, going to the pool and trying to strike the fine balance between walking and running so you don't get yelled at by the tyrannical lifeguards."

Jonathan Vogel: "My family used to go to Bethany Beach and in the evening there's phosphorescence under the sand, that glows when you scrape off the top layer of sand. You could draw patterns and write things in it. That's one of my favorite memories."

Q: What do YOU do for local summer fun?

2009-06-01T17:44:56Z

Margaret Nguyen: "We like to go to the pool and come to the Farmers Market, and barbeque."

Chris Evans, with Phoenix: "I do the same. Phoenix likes to eat, and go to the pool."

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Fredys Martinez: "Hang out with friends."

Jennifer Martinez (with Mikey the chihuahua): "We like to play sports a lot -- soccer. And we just like go to lakes and pools, hike, and hang out."

Yoshi: We go fishing, and to Six Flags, and to the pool.

Jennifer Ali: "Hang out with friends, go camping, go to Ocean City."

Veronica Melendez: "I have a list of what I'd like to be doing, even though I haven't been doing it lately. There are so many beautiful bike paths around here, like Sligo Creek and Rock Creek Park.. It's so beautiful it would be good to take advantage of it and take a bike trip. I even want to take a long distance trip to Ocean City with my bike, camping on the way. That's my ultimate goal."

Robert Toll: "We like to be outdoors and enjoy live music."

Daniel Shiat: "The summer is for not only chilling out, but chilling out to the max -- maximum chilling out. And we like to bike. We just biked the Capital Crescent Trail."

Zoe Zaret, with Isaac and Oriana: "We live near Great Falls. We like to go to regional parks. Isaac and Oriana like to dress up."

Q: What is your heart's desire?

2009-04-01T16:38:12Z

Caroline Hebel: "Return to the barter system. That would be interesting, mix things up."

Julia Alexandra Smith: "To fly!"

Ted Belland: "My heart's desire is to end up living somewhere there aren't any cars, or there's only one car in the village, and they call it a village. And there are no police reports, no doctor or lawyer fees."

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Sat Jiwan Iklé Khalsa: "My heart's desire is that spring's new growth will help heal old wounds."

Siri Tapa: "My heart's desire is that my children have as much fulfillment and joy in their lives and choices as I feel I have, in mine; that they be happy in relationships. I think family relationships are the best and the hardest thing on the planet. You have to work on them every day. That is my personal heart's desire. My global one is bless this earth with peace."

Mark Podger: "At the moment I've got one worry in my head, and that's make my business successful. I'd like my wife to be able to take up a new career if she wants to."

Janene Cielto: "At this point in time I would love to throw in the towel and prepare my retirement plan, so I'd never have to lift a finger again."

Mary Clare Erskine: "My heart's desire is probably to have a really interesting life, traveling all over the place and doing really interesting things, so when I'm old, I'll have stories to tell."

Ann-Marie VanTassel: "My heart's desire is to somehow find a way to travel the world and get paid for doing it. And I hope to do that through photography. That's my ultimate ultimate heart's desire."

Q: What does "hometown" mean to you?

2009-03-01T19:20:05Z

Paul Crumrine: "I moved five times when I was a kid, but I have good memories of all of them. To me hometown means feeling comfortable walking down the street: familiar sights and landscapes, seeing familiar faces more than rarely. I'm from upstate New York. I've been here 35 years. The intimacy of small New England and mid-Atlantic towns like Takoma Park and downtown Silver Spring means hometown to me."

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Ashley Bryant: "I consider my hometown to be wherever my family is. Right now, Arkansas is where all my cousins, grandma and grandpa, are. And if that were to change, if they moved, my hometown would move too. It's the people that make my hometown. And I guess I'd consider Maryland my hometown too, because all my friends are here."

Isis Tabrizi: "Security, closeness, family, comfort. My hometown is Akka, Israel. My entire family is there and I was raised there."

Rachel Horoschak: "I live here in Takoma Park, and I've lived here six years. I think working at the Farmers Market and meeting and getting to know people makes it feel like my hometown. I grew up in Pennsylvania, but I consider Takoma Park my hometown: being able to walk down the street, people saying hello and recognizing you makes you feel like you belong."

Jackie Kuchta, with Emma Paul: "A place where my family is, where when I walk down the street I can say hello to friends."

Rigs Wanjau: "The place where you grew up, where everybody knows you, and knows embarrassing things about you. For me, that would have to be Ridgeways, Nairobi, Kenya."

Q: What is your reaction to Obama's election? What's the key to solving our country's problems?

2009-01-01T20:30:00Z

Keith Bond: "I'm surprised, because I grew up in the South and living in Utah, and it didn't seem possible from my past history that the country would elect a black president. I'm sure that there's some way to solve all the problems, but I just don't know what it is."

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Edward Saunders: "It's a good opportunity for change. The key would be doing what makes sense, as opposed to what we're used to doing."

Sophie Richardson: "On the first one it's hard not to say 'pretty damn good,' but I'm increasingly uneasy at the extent to which he's keeping on people from the Bush administration and wheeling out former Clintonites. I'm so pleased whenever there's a name I don't know.

The key? I think on the financial issues particularly, investing in education and environmental technology is clearly one way to go. Obviously the financial industry needs a tad more oversight. I'm a big fan of accountability."

Inga Jones-Holmes: "I'm thrilled about Obama being elected. Beyond the obvious reason for me, him being an African American, something most of us thought we'd never see in our lifetime, I feel we finally have someone in office that embodies all that America says that it is. He's forward thinking, very diverse culturally. He represents this melting pot of ideas and communities.

The key to solving our problems? Consistency, structure and open-mindedness."

Sean Sullivan: "Finally we've got a change, and the change is competence and cooperation in the federal government. Now THAT is a change. The key to solving problems is experience and cooperation. You can't do it alone, and you can't do it without the Republicans. It's no time to close off any ideas which are not your own. I have confidence that problems can be solved."

Luca Longo: "I'm happy about it. Obama's election is an historic event, the first black American president. And a lot of people in Italy feel the same. I think he should take people out of Iraq to make the war end, and he should fix the health insurance. In Italy health care is free, including for the homeless."

Q: What was your most memorable gift?

2008-12-01T21:39:18Z

Berlin Borges (with Carlson): "I remember the first time I went to Disney World. My parents took my two sisters and me when I was seven years old. For me it was very impressive. We had seen Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse and Pluto on TV but it was amazing to see them life size and touch them.

You say 'Wow.' It was like another planet. "

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Gary Hess: "My grandson."

Nneka Ukegbu: "At home, in Nigeria, my sister, who was 14, gave me a little carving. It wasn't expensive or elaborate or a glamorous gift, but it had a few words that I remember. It said, 'I care about you.' She gave it to me when I was leaving Nigeria to come to the US, 10 years ago. It's just that she was so young and that she was giving me a parting gift. I've had it with me ever since."

Kirk Talbott: "Our daughters Ava and Elena the last few Christmases have made wonderful calendars with family photos and neat captions, beautifully done, rich memories -- a special gift, far better than any material gift anyone could give me."

Emily Van Loon: "I remember one year Tom gave me a bathroom scale for Christmas, and the whole neighborhood was so outraged that my friends have made themselves Tom's gift consultants. He can't buy any gifts without consulting them. Last year I got a big purse, which was ever so much better than a bathroom scale. It was the combination of the scale and a pocketknife for Valentine's Day, that convinced everybody that he'd gone over the edge."

Sue Katz Miller: "When I was a kid, the most exciting part of getting gifts was during Hanukkah when my mother hid the gifts and we had to find them. Sometimes it was just a roll of lifesavers, but it didn't matter because the joy was in the hunt."

Q: What positive change do you see happening?

2008-11-01T20:22:44Z

Bob Auerbach: "People are being more tolerant and more willing to get along with other people, less discrimination against blacks and other minorities. There's a little more interest in working people, and those are the ones who make the wheels go around. All the material goods we need are produced by working people. And it's nice to see better transportation and power -- electric, solar and wind."

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Sarah Shoenfeld: "The election of Barack Obama is pretty much the most positive thing going on in the world."

Q: What does it mean to be an American?

2008-10-01T19:45:44Z

Krist Novoselic: "What it means to be an American is to recognize the positive legacy of the US, and the principles of the country: equality, inclusion, fairness and democracy, and to put those principles first.

That ideal has always been expanding, including more people than when the US was founded. It's been growing and our generation can add to it and make it even better.

I was a punk rock dude [bassist for Nirvana]. I didn't know about democracy, but when Oregon passed an erotic music law against us, even though we were bringing cultural and economic vitality to the state, we became proactive. I recognized barriers to participation and wondered, how do we fix it? I went online and discovered Instant Runoff Voting and proportional voting. I recognized it as an exciting way to repair our democracy.

Having gone through a music revolution with Nirvana I can see the same thing can happen with our democracy, a nonviolent 'velvet' revolution."

Tim Willard: "America is diversity. America is freedom for everyone of every persuasion to live their life however they want, to exercise power over their government. The American ideal is inclusive, not exclusive."

Mary Rooker: "It means to stand up for the ideals that our country was founded on -- freedom and justice. And I think the green party exemplifies it."

Nathan Bahn: "It means you're obligated to respect the rights of minorities."

Jay Waldon: "One good thing is to be in a free society, where all citizens have access to freedom."

Deanna Stewart: "Having freedoms and rights. But the responsibility to not just take things for granted, but step up to the plate and do what's required of you. "

Joe Gillin: "Being open to the principles of life, liberty and opportunity."

Gemma D'Eustachio: "I guess it means having a lot more rights but also a lot more responsibilities. You have freedom of speech but then also when you say you're American or from America, there's a lot more expected of you. Using your freedom to help other people is a responsibility that comes with the rights."

Courtney Allen: "Sometimes it's kind of sad to be an American because of the things America does and the way it treats its people and people abroad. We portray ourselves as the greatest country but we don't treat people fairly as a country. I think we have an opportunity to get better."

Demet Cabbar: "I'm not an American unfortunately, but often I ask myself why I'm in this country. When I look at my friends who live in Turkey I don't think from a financial or social perspective I'm better off. But I like to live hear because of the freedom I get here to experience things and form opinions and express them. And I think being American means making your own choices and you live with the outcomes, but you have the choice."

Head Roc: "Honest answer? To me to be American is to be part of a forced amalgamation of many different peoples from all over the world, to be a part of principles and ideals that are not respecting of the rest of the world.

We are forced to go along with the ideology and practices of a minority of people who are in my view bent on supremacy and they force us to take part in actions that disenfranchise the peoples of the world who make up the labor force and defense force of America.

Most Americans don't know the powers that be don't have their interests in mind. Once we're aware of that we can transform America."

Matt Sullivan: "Of course you're an American just by living here, but to be a citizen you need to participate in our democratic republic. You've got to be informed and participate in our democracy."

Elaine Sullivan: "You have to question authority and demand accountability of our elected officials, defend the constitution because that's the basis of our laws."

Sara Collina: "For me, being an American the most important thing is not simply being tolerant of different viewpoints and different groups but being excited and enthusiastic about forming a community with them. On 9-11 my children were at Rolling Terrace Elementary School and when I saw the classroom I felt profoundly patriotic because of so much very real diversity in the school. It's exciting and it doesn't happen everywhere. It's American to have that much diversity and enthusiasm for it."