Proudly Embracing the Nineteenth Amendment

First a "shout out" to all of the people working at my polling location: Jackson-Mann School in Allston. Your efforts at making the process easy were greatly appreciated!!

Next, on my way driving back to work after voting on my lunch break, I heard a DJ say "Happy Election Day, if you are into that sort of thing...", and that made me go "huh?". Really? "If you are into that sort of thing"? The bigger question is "why wouldn't you be into that sort of thing?"

Of course people get disillusioned with the government, especially in hard times, and the negative campaign ads haven't helped either. (I think that they are the worst things around.) However, it is important to remember that, for the last 235 years, Americans have made sacrifices, sometimes with their very lives, to allow American citizens to have the freedom to vote for our leaders. Less than 100 years ago, women didn't have that right; even 50 years ago, people of color didn't have that right (not across the country).

So, yes, I think that everyone in America should be "into that sort of thing". Even if you don't like any of the candidates, that shouldn't stop you from voting; you can write in someone. This is our one opportunity every year to actively participate in the running of our national, our state and our local governments. I urge people to take advantage of the opportunity and remember that this is both a responsibility and privilege of being a citizen of the U.S.A.

Exhuming McCarthy

On my drive home from my doctor's appointment after work today, I was listening to Tom Ashbrook's "On Point" on WBUR where the topic for the first hour was "Examining the Socialist Charge". This was prompted by today's Tea Party rally on the Boston Common, starring Sarah Palin. (While I don't agree with many of the tenets of the Tea Party, I can understand its members frustration with the course things are on at the moment. However, the fact that the Tea Party has a politician who used state funds for personal expenses as their spokesperson makes my head hurt.)

My favorite moment from the show was when a caller who had grown up in East Germany but now lives in the States said that Americans have no idea what Communism is. It gave me pause. Because we don't know what Communism is. Even though we have to pay taxes and bail out the banks and things are hard right now for middle class people (like myself) in America, at least we can go to school and study things that we want to and take jobs in fields we are interested in rather than be assigned a job in a field just because there is need. We don't need to get permission from the government before we get married or go on vacation and be told by them where you have to live and have them tell you that you can only have one kid (but if it is a girl then you can try one more time for a boy.)

"Communist" is a word that has been thrown around a lot lately. It reminds me of McCarthyism. Let's not go back there, America. Find another word, find another way.

"I still believe we can do great things, and that here and now we will meet history’s test."

While watching the President's address to a joint session of Congress tonight, several of my friends and I were texting back and forth about the high and low points in the speech. We also noted the reference to Senator Kennedy in the speech and got choked up. (::sob sob:: Also, Congressman Patrick Kennedy still looks like he needs a hug, a cup of tea, and some peanut butter M&Ms.)

I think that is is cool that my cell phone's predictive text comes up with "Obama" every time I start a word beginning with the letter "o".

(Congressman Wilson, heckling the President by yelling "lie" during the session was not a very classy move.)

Stacie D had the perfect way of summing up the evening: "We watch politics like most people watch sports." So true. I just wish we had a cool "Democrats" hats.

Edward M. Kennedy, 1932-2009

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

I am sitting at home today on the couch with a crummy summer cold, complete with pot of tea with honey, watching the coverage on the news. They interviewed the priest who was with the Senator and the family last night, and the interviewer expressed some surprise that Senator Kennedy was a man of quiet prayer. That doesn't surprise me in the least. I think that is a huge part of being an Irish Catholic American. Your politics may be in direct conflict with the stances of the Church, but that doesn't stop you from having a deep and reverent faith.

Thank you, Senator Kennedy, for your service to the nation and the Commonwealth. I am so proud to have had you as my representative in the Senate. You and your family are in my prayers.

Something Straight Out of the Movies, but Better

From The New York Times:

“Thirty hours ago, Euna Lee and I were prisoners in North Korea,” Ms. Ling said in brief remarks to reporters, blinking back tears. “We feared that at any moment we could be prisoners in a hard labor camp. Then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting.

“We were taken to a location and when we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton,” she said, recounting the final moments of her ordeal. “We were shocked, but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. And now we stand here home and free.”

And of course I am crying just reading about it and imagining this scenario. It’s like having the cavalry show up at the last minute! For more happy tears, you should watch Laura Ling's statement over on The Lede, with video from Britain's Channel 4. I will be heading to the ladies' room to fix my eye makeup.

I have two new recruits for the Young Dems

My friends RECK & NF have two awesome kids: AGKF & LJKF, ages 5 & 2.5 or thereabouts. Today, they decided to play "Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration" with their Playmobile figures. I kid you not.

First, we have the motorcade:


Then we have the speech:

(NB: "Malia" and "Sasha" sitting with their mother and grandmother)

These kids are made of win.

One Good Thing; One Not So Good Thing

I love that the Obamas are so obviously in love with each other and love their kids and the kids love them (and their new puppy). I love watching all the coverage about the move into the White House.

I don't like that Boston.com felt the need to post this photo on their site today:
Hello, jelly donut!!!!!!! DANGER, DANGER, DANGER!

Change We Can Believe In (oh please dear God pleasepleaseplease)

I got to Jackson Mann at 6:50 this morning to vote, and the line was already out the door. By 7:10, the line was down the steps and around the block. The people inside were doing a great job keeping the lines moving and staying upbeat. I can't help but wonder if they will be feeling the same way by the end of the day. Note to voters: it helps election officials if you know your ward and precinct number when you arrive. You can always check here if you don't know or don't remember.

The kids arriving for school made it quite clear who they wanted people to be voting for: cries of "Obama in 08" were heard every time a group of kids got dropped off. That made me smile. I hope that they are as excited about the presidential elections when it is their time to go to the polls.

When I was actually given my ballot, my heart started to race a little. It was so exciting to fill in the little bubble for Obama and Biden (incidentally, they are the last set of names on the Massachusetts ballot - "skip to the end" indeed.) When I put my ballot into the feeder, I gave it a little tap for good luck and then headed home.

The walk to vote had been so quiet and peaceful; the sun just coming up and a brisk autumn chill in the air. The walk home was a reminder that I live in the city, as commuters (and voters) had begun to fill up the sidewalks.

Enough already about Sarah Palin

I am considering throwing an Obama/Biden fundraiser at my home for my friends. We will each donate $25 to Joe-bama and then drink heavily while bitching about the Republicans.

I think it will be a keen old time.

Rambling on about nothing much...

I haven't had really much to say of late. Things at the office are super busy, and I spend most of my free time reading about the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and getting myself really upset about the upcoming election, which isn't a very productive thing to be doing.

I watched The Bank Job last night after having the dvd from Netflix for nearly a month. I have found that watching those kind of suspenseful scenes in heist movies that normally make me want to run into another room with a bag over my head are much more endurable when you have them on fast-forward with the closed captioning on. You get the plot development without the heart attack.

I have given up eating desserts and in between meals in an attempt to lose 10 pounds before I go on vacation in October. I have lost 2 pounds already in just one week. This is very promising, but I am also concerned. Have I really been eating that much dessert? That cannot be a good thing. Every time I am tempted to help myself to something sweet or just cave in and run to CVS for some M&Ms, I take a look at some film actress I admire and think to myself, "does Cate Blanchett eat dessert?" Probably, but if she does, it doesn't show. It isn't really the most healthy way to wean myself off the sweets, but I am 8 days into this and haven't caved so far.

I can't believe the summer is over. August was such a beautiful month, weather wise. I love the fall, but I wouldn't mind having a few month of those lovely August days before the days start getting really short and the cold weather arrives.

Speaking of which, on my last day of vacation, I was driving up back roads in Lennox, MA to go to Tanglewood, and a mama bear and her two cubs ran out in front of the car ahead of me to cross the road. When I first saw the mother, I didn't really get a good look at it so I thought "that is a big dog." Then I saw the two cubs come out of the woods to follow their mother across the road and said out loud "that's no dog!!" I had to call Sister K to tell her since she had a bear in her neighborhood last fall. It was a good thing we were all obeying the speed limit.

O, Beautiful for...

I had a dream last night that I was driving down the Mass Pike when all of a sudden it was taken over (the whole highway) by terrorists from a drug cartel and I was pulled from my car and shot. My friend EP assures me that was a nightmare, not a dream.

In any case, I think that it was a premonition of the traffic nightmare that I was to experience this morning. It would be nice, oh construction workers on Commonwealth Avenue, if you had warned the general public that there was no access to the BU bridge from Comm Ave eastbound today. My colleague Honkycat and I commiserated over our disastrous drives in this morning over a cup of Pete's. Needed the strong stuff to get the day going after terrorists and traffic.

I am not terribly excited about the Fourth of July this year. At one point yesterday, I actually wished that the US was still part of the UK. I am so proud to be an American and appreciate the opportunities that my family received by coming here from Ireland and from Eastern Europe. And I am proud to be a Bostonian, part of a strong tradition of independence. But this whole Scooter Libby sentence thing has me disheartened (heck, even Paris Hilton served her time) as does the war in Iraq. Even Michael Moore's new film, Sicko, is depressing me. And all the crime in Boston of late doesn't make me feel any better. Just yesterday, I saw someone being arrested in the parking lot at Whole Foods!

Where is the America of yesteryear? The one with tickertape parades and local heroes and the hometown team winning the state championship and neighbors being neighborly and kids selling lemonade on the sidewalk? Did that ever really exist or was that just part of the Eisenhower propaganda?

Of course, I am sure that once I see the fireworks and hear the music of the Boston Pops tomorrow, my spirits will lift, and I will believe again, even if it is just for an evening. And I won't even mind because that feeling is so worth it.

Alien Ant Farm

In case you weren't aware of this, there is a case that was just decided today in Federal Court that "intelligent design" cannot be taught as part of the biology curriculum in Pennsylvania schools because it is unConstitutional. You didn't really need a law degree to figure that out, right?

Things I would say if this were a perfect world:
The thing that I don't understand is why intelligent design and evolution are/have to be mutually exclusive. If you think of this planet as a sort of ant farm, which is how I look at it, it is obvious that the strong survive and the weak don't. But someone still needs to BUY the ant farm, preferably from Target, although when Co-Worker Nina and I discussed this topic earlier, she suggested that this particular ant farm was probably purchased from Walmart.