Wait, wait!!!

I need a Shittiest President in the History of the United Stated Montage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Just so you know, I am "singing" the "I need a..." part because it is from some movie or show and I can't remember which one. Will post it as soon as I find it. Brandon, what movie is this song from so that I can post it and not sound like a dumbass?!)

Oh, Happy Day!

This is how I feel, like a kid on Christmas morning!

Waking up today was like waking up on Christmas morning!!!

Like Amanda said to me, I was slightly anxious, just wanting to make sure that last night really happened. Brandon and I sat and watched t.v. for a couple minutes, making sure nothing had changed and all was well. It was such a relief to see all the happy faces and celebrating people on lots of stations.

It feels like such a GOOD DAY!!! I am overjoyed and hopeful. I have no illusions; I have never believed the President of the United States to be so all-powerful that s/he could bend the country to their will, but I know that things will get better. We have a long hard fight ahead of us. There are many things to repair and many more to change. But we have taken a step in the right direction. There will be many more small steps, many setbacks, but I feel the massive support for Barack Obama has been reflective of our collective desire to move forward.

My heart almost bursts. I cannot say how proud I am now to be able to teach my children that there are NO LIMITS. I am so proud to have watched the first African-American President be elected!!!!!!! We are still struggling to overcome our history of hatred and violence and prejudice in the United States, but we are making progress. Bowen may not remember last night, but I will be able to tell him and any of my other children all about it. And they will not grow up taking for granted the fact that only old, white men can be the leader of this country. There is so much more filling my mind and heart; maybe I can write down a lot of the details of this whole election so that I can share it with my kids when they grow up and ask me about Barack Obama winning in 2008. Oh, joy!

Small moves, Ellie. Small moves. - Contact

Presidential Election 2008

I am nearly speechless! I just wanna say:

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! President Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More later.

Reality Bites

Here ya go kids, perfect example of the lack of progress in America's social arena. Go ahead, read it. It's super-short. What say you?

Sad Momma Sad

So I just wrote this on Amanda's Facebook Wall and realized that I just need to get out some thoughts after watching the riveting, question-filled, disturbing piece of cinematic genius that is "Gone Baby Gone":

I am so frickin sad right now. I just watched "Gone Baby Gone." I... dang... I dunno, I just feel so conflicted. Which was absolutely the point, right? I mean, great job Ben Affleck, I will officially stop making fun of him now. lol. But, holy mother of crapity crapkins, saaaad sad movie. Or really: saaaad, sad world.

Let me first just say: see the movie. It is great. Just because something makes you uncomfortable doesn't mean it is not wholly worth watching. Like any good piece of art, it should make you question at the very least.

There are so many things I appreciate about the movie that I want to hash out, but I'm going to stick with one main idea: What is our responsibility, singularly and collectively, to do something about the rampant child abuse occurring worldwide?

The point, and the whole piece of the disturbing pie is that the movie is not just a movie - it is a reflection of real life events and ongoing problems we have in this world. I feel like a lot of people will just walk away from seeing something like "Gone Baby Gone" and feel like they are not big enough, powerful enough, significant enough to make a difference in relation to an enormous problem like child kidnapping/abuse/molestation/rape/mistreatment/abduction/etc. And I feel like that is honestly the wrong response. It's just like the "my one vote doesn't count" mentality, that one voice is not significant or capable of achieving anything versus the ethereal idea of some sort of predestined election outcome outside of one's control.

Am I making any sense? Whatever.

The point is: we have a short time on this planet and we ARE responsible. For everything. I don't care what you believe, but most people pretty much agree that God is not gunna reach his Almighty hand down and influence anything happening on Earth anytime soon. So if I don't do anything, life is basically going to be the same or worse for my children and all the other precious lives that were started after mine. Now, I'm not talking about taking on the weight of the world, shouldering all the responsibility/guilt/burden for every mistreated child in the world, but if we don't allow some of our shame and discomfiture to do it's work and take SOME responsibility, nothing will get better. Women did not get the vote (disgustingly less than 100 years ago), people of color did not get the vote (disturbingly slightly over 100 years), the Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin did not come about (LESS than 44 frakking years ago!) because people sat on their bums and did nothing.

We are still sitting on our bums and doing nothing about all sorts of inequalities in our own "free" nation, not to mention seriously disturbing atrocities like child abuse that I'm pretty sure we can all agree on despite race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or any damned other feature.

Dammit, I don't know what to do at this time in my life. Maybe I am just going to have to be a hell of a lot more informed voter, adopt our next kid, donate to worthy charities, and run for office when I'm sixty years old and have more time. lol. Nobody would vote for me, I'm so damn liberal. What can we do? I dunno. Something. I'll figure it out.

Bits and Pieces

I feel so overwhelmed that I purposefully don't write. There is so much going on, so much I am thinking about, so much to that makes me feel genuinely moved, angered, enlivened, diverted, amused, hopeful, confused, downtrodden, excited, nervous, or any other shade of emotion.

• I need to finish my novel. I'm scared to do it. It feels like a mountain, huge, looming ominously over my subconscious. I don't believe in myself.
• I love/hate the internet. For so MANY reasons.
• Politics. By God, I used to hate hearing about politics. I still kinda do... maybe I just hate politicians. But, I find myself caring so much because I am a parent, a citizen, a world-citizen, a humanist with an agenda. Fuck conservatives. Now the question is: which Dem to vote for? Leaning towards Barack. Hope is a powerful draw for me.
• Computers, desks, clutter, dirtiness, or general disorder are driving me mad. MUST simplify.
• I will live in a yurt at some time in my life. It's one of those unusual, green, kooky, hippie things I plan to accomplish just so I can say: "I did that!"

• Excited about the new Disney/Pixar movie, Wall-E! Looks great! Reminds me of "Short Circuit" and "E.T." because of the eyes. It's worth looking into. Good teasers online:

Politically Speaking...

Politics. By God, I used to hate hearing about politics. I still kinda do... maybe I just hate politicians. But, I find myself caring so much because I am a parent, a citizen, a world-citizen, a humanist with an agenda. Fuck conservatives. Now the question is: which Dem to vote for? Leaning towards Barack. Hope and change are powerful draws for me.

Bits and Pieces of Today

I have so much that goes through my head in one day, that I decided to institute a Bits and Pieces regularly. It helps me get down a lot with a little. I'll probably be including all sorts of stuff, from thoughts to music I can't stop listening to, to book excerpts, to funny videos, to articles, to generally anything that makes me think, laugh, cry, or respond.

What can I compare you to, a window the sun shines through?
Maybe the silver moon, a smile rising
The magic of the fading day, satellites on parade
A toast to the plans we've made to live like kings.

Take It From Me - The Weepies

I don't believe in crying over spilled milk. But what about spilled lemonade? And what does that mean, since life skipped the lemons and went straight to the lemonade? Should it just be lemonade under the bridge?

Gray quiet and tired and mean
picking at a worried seam
I try to make you mad at me over the phone.
Red eyes and fire and signs

Gotta Have You - The Weepies

On relationships:

Take note. Chivalry, gentlemanly manners, and general helpfulness inherently should not have to be asked for. They should be given without request. Thank you.

I adore Ursula K. LeGuin. One short story of hers, "The Matter of Seggri," has stuck in my mind for a long time because of it's sheer artfullness, perception, and truth. I believe it was the first story of hers that I ever read; moreover, as I read more of her work I realised that she wrote a lot about societies and cultures that, in their dissimilarities from ours, pointed out interesting things about our own values, practices, prejudices, flaws, and strengths as any truly great science fiction should. I am currently engrossed in The Left Hand of Darkness, another story dealing with gender roles like MoS. There are so many things I like about this story that I will revisit later, but I wanted to share a section that I read today that really rang true for me. LeGuin's main character is talking about an insane politician who has been trying to sway popular opinion in favor of war by frequently appearing on the radio. Here he describes the jargon the politician uses and then analyzes it:

"He talked a great deal about Truth also, for he was, he said, 'cutting down beneath the veneer of civilization'.

It is a durable, ubiquitous, spacious metaphor, that one about veneer (or paint, or pliofilm, or whatever) hiding the nobler reality beneath. It can conceal a dozen fallacies at once. One of the most dangerous is the implication that civilization, being artificial, is unnatural: that it is the opposite of primitiveness.... Of course there is no veneer, the process is one of growth, and primitiveness and civilization are degrees of the same thing. If civilization has an opposite, it is war."

Yes! Exactly! I love reading such well written observations about ideas I have had in my mind yet couldn't solidify as clearly as a talented author like LeGuin.

Methinks President Bush would read that and be like: "What? No, no, no, you're all wrong. You see, God said war is good. And Congress needs to FUND OUR TROOPS! When can we start another war with Iran? I need some more oil."

No amount of coffee, no amount of crying
No amount of whiskey, no amount of wine
No, nothing else will do
I've gotta have you, I've gotta have you.

Gotta Have You - The Weepies