Pleasant Surprises--Good Omens?

So, I called my Mom this evening because today was such a weird, tense day for me and I wanted to vent some of my election stress. And just out of curiosity, I asked if my Grandpa had voted. She told me, yes, they filled out an absentee ballot for him and mailed it in to Georgia. I figured he would vote for McCain, because he usually votes Republican, being an older Southern Baptist conservative WWII vet. He and I even had an argument about gay marriage last year when he asked me whether I thought homosexuals should be allowed to marry, and all I said was, "I don't really care if gays and lesbians get married to each other, if they are in love." I didn't even state my entirely true feelings on the subject because I didn't want to make him too mad, but he got mad at even me saying I didn't care. So, imagine my surprise when my Mom told me he asked her to fill in the bubble for Obama. (He's blind, so she had to do the bubbling for him.) She didn't ask him his reasons, which I assume are largely finance-related. But, if my almost lifelong Republican Grandpa is voting for Obama, I feel very reassured about the world and about people's willingness to be open-minded. I love my Grandpa very much, and I've always been proud of his service to the country and the amount of love he has showered on me and my Mom, and this just makes me prouder. It's nice to know that, when pretty much everyone else on his side of the family is a vocal McCain supporter, he decided he isn't too old or indoctrinated to make his own decision. I don't feel so isolated anymore when it comes to that side of my family. Maybe it even helps me understand a little better why my Mom and I turned out to be so liberal.

The other thing I found out today is that Obama is a Leo. So is Bill Clinton. Not that I really think it matters, of course, but, being a Leo myself, it does make me feel a little more kinship with the guy.

Anyway, I hope these are good signs, and I hope there aren't too many shenanigans on this Election Day.

Can It Just Be Election Day All Ready?

I think I've OD-ed on this election. I've been checking like, 8 different websites every hour of the day for the last 2 months. I'm surprised I don't fall asleep with my fingers poised over an imaginary laptop keyboard! Election fatigue--it's real, and it. is. brutal.

Also, I have a sore throat, so that might be making me a little testier than normal.

I mean, if I had my druthers it would just be January already right now--skip right over the next week, the whole president-elect phase, and the tense family gatherings for the holidays--and just make it be the day when Bush is no longer the President. To quote General Hospital's Jack Wagner, that is "All I Need." Don't judge, you know you have that song on your 80s playlist in your iTunes.

Posting Song Lyrics

In somewhat of a response to Carrie's posting of the lyrics to "Pressure" a few weeks ago, I'm going to post some lyrics by Ani DiFranco that sum up a lot of what I have been feeling about the world lately. The tone of the song is playful, but serious, although not nearly as destructive as the lyrics might appear when typed out.

"Fuel"
Music and Lyrics by Ani DiFranco
Little Plastic Castle 1998

They were digging a new foundation in Manhattan,
And they discovered a slave cemetery there.
May their souls rest easy now that lynching is frowned upon.
We've moved on to the electric chair!

And I wonder, who's gonna be President?
Tweedle Dumb or Tweedle Dumber?
And who's gonna have the blockbuster box office this summer?
How 'bout we put up a wall between the houses and the highway,
And then you can go your way, and I can go my way?

Except all the radios agree with all the TVs,
And the magazines agree with all the radios.
And I keep hearing that SAME DAMN SONG everywhere I go!
Ha ha ha!
Maybe I should put a bucket over my head,
And a marshmallow in each ear,
And stumble around for another dumb, numb week
For another humdrum hit song to appear.

People used to make records,
As in a record
Of an event.
The event of people playing music in a room.
Now everything is cross-marketing,
It's about sunglasses and shoes
Or guns and drugs.
You choose.

We got it re-hashed.
We got it half-assed.
We're digging up all the graves and we're spitting on the past.
And we can choose between the colors
Of the lipsticks on the whores
Because we know the difference
Between the
Font of 20% MORE
And the
Font of teriyaki.
You tell me, how does it make you feel?
You tell me, what's real?

Am I headed for the same brick wall?
Is there anything I can do about anything at all?
Except go back to that corner in Manhattan,
And dig deeper, dig deeper this time.

Down beneath the impossible pain of our history
Beneath unknown bones, beneath the bedrock of the mystery,
Beneath the sewage system and the PATH train,
Beneath the cobblestones and the water mane,
Beneath the traffic of friendships and street deals,
Beneath the screeching of kamikaze cab wheels,
Beneath everything I can think of to think about!
Beneath it all, beneath all get-out!
Beneath the good
And the kind
And the stupid
And the cruel
There's a fire that's just waiting for fuel...
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting, waiting...


Okay, so I left out a few lines about being an alcoholic because that doesn't really apply to me here, but I really wish that I and everyone else could "dig deeper." Try to value life and art and the environment, try to remember how we got in the mess we're in now, try to be productive instead of destructive. To quote someone else, "The opposite of war isn't peace, it's creation!" ("La Vie Boheme", Rent, Jonathan Larson, 1996)

Just my take on a week of gorgeous weather here in NYC! Hee hee! No, it just seems like every time we make a few strides forward, some idiots come along and push us all back again. Most of the news recently about the economy, and the war, and the environment, and almost everything has been bad. It's hard, but I have to hope we'll eventually start to make progress again. Hopefully, after the Presidential election this year!

The Politics of Complacency

I was thinking this morning after reading a few different articles in the New York Times, that although I hate what (Fake) President George W. Bush has done to our country, at least his incompetency and refusal to do anything decent has motivated so many other, "regular" people to take action for causes in which they believe.

Maybe I just like the idea of resistance. But I also really like seeing people realize that change comes from within. There's no way you can rely on other people, especially your government (even when it's a government you voted for), to do the hard work and make the right choices.

It just proves that the U.S., no matter what conflicted feelings I or you or the rest of the world have about it, is really in the end what it sets out to be. A place where new ideas and individuality are safe, even though sometimes it feels like it will take forever for them to be fully realized or accepted. It still moves a lot faster than in a lot of other places in the world. Not ALL places, but a lot.

And I can't say enough about freedom of expression, so I won't even try.
Suffice it to say, although I and millions of others will continue to question it and criticize it, the idea of what we could be still means something to me. And that doesn't just go for the U.S., that goes for all of humanity.

Two inspirational pieces were titled:
"A Broken City. A Tree. Evening."
"The People We Have Been Waiting For"

If you have some time look for them on the site. It's free to register!

My Beloved Boob Tube

This Jared, from the show Kid Nation. I love this show. There are maybe three or four really spazzy kids on there, but Jared reigns supreme in my book.
His antics include:

Reciting a monologue from Shakespeare's Henry V in the talent show

Pimping himself out (hat and stick included) in western duds from the town's general store

Locking himself in a jail cell to protest the inclusion of another town spaz, Nathan, on his team

Anyway, he rocks.

I also wanted to ask that anyone in support of the WGA being on strike to join me in boycotting any upcoming scab programming that starts airing as original episodes run out. This includes anything that is aired in place of what would have been an original episode of your favorite scripted shows, including repeats. There will probably be some crappier-than-usual game shows and reality or celebrity-dancing-competition-type shows they try to use as replacements, too. As tonight is the final new episode of The Office that will air, for me this starts very soon and very sadly. But, I really believe that the network heads will not do the right thing by the writers until they start to actually feel the pinch from lost ad revenue due to declining ratings.

Also, don't watch your shows online!! The writers, actors, directors, etc. don't get paid when you watch online, but the network does.

There are lots of things you can do in your away-from-tv-time. Take a class, play a board game, have more sex, go out with friends, throw a dinner party, read a book, watch a Netflix, have a "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah", etc. So look at it as an opportunity and not a chore!

If you're with me, give me a call and let's hang out for some tv-less fun!