Yes we did!

So, anything going on in the news lately?

I am feeling such intense emotions right now, please be patient with me as I try to express what I am feeling. What an amazing night! I had the privilege to watch the election results in New York City last night. It was a bit of a journey as some friends and I moved between several locations in Manhattan.

We started off by getting some free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (you know the night can only be great after that). We then moved on to Rockefeller Center and watched as Obama got Vermont and McCain Kentucky. As the other states were “too close to call” we decided to go to a local bar and watch there. We were amazed and thrilled when one-by-one Eastern and Midwestern states went to Obama (Woo! Way to go Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan). From there we moved on to Times Square, where we got our photo taken with a lifesize Obama cutout and watched Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart ham it up (No sound though, we had to improvise by reading the captions). In Times Square we got free popcorn and hot chocolate (oh no, is that socialism?!? :). We decided, with perfect timing, to go back to Rockefeller Center just before 11pm.

We got to Rockefeller Center just few minutes before they announced Obama as the predicted winner. Wow! What an atmosphere! The place was packed, but people were not annoyed with being squished in such a large amount of people. No, people were laughing, crying, hugging, screaming. It was beautiful and the energy went on for a while.

We then decided that we wanted to go to a bar in the East Village to watch Obama’s speech. We got in a cab and a friend announced to the driver “Obama just won!”. He just smiled and said “I know”. The driver was courteous and turned up the radio so we could hear McCain’s concession speech, which I found to be pretty respectful. When we got to the East Village, we were greeted by cheering and shouting. Somebody would shout “Obama!” and the cheers would reverberate down the street, like we were doing the wave at a baseball game. All the people on the streets were filled with joy. It was so amazing to be a part of!

We ended up watching Obama’s speech in a bar, and saw many people, myself included, tear up with his words. More hugging and shouting ensued, and then quickly turned to dancing. We decided to finally head home around 2am, but were slightly derailed when we were told that we had to go to Union Square just then. We did and saw a few hundred young people dancing/screaming/chanting in the square. There wasn’t any violence or even ill will. The environment was positive as people chanted “Yes we can! Yes we can!” (even when one guy started chanting “Let’s get naked! Let’s get naked!” to which I replied “You go first! You go first!” but he didn’t and no nudity ensued). It was a picture of the role young people played in this election and how Obama motivated this group.

I got about 3 hours of sleep last night. I am feeling a lot of things, but tired is not one of them. I’m sure that will change. I have gone back and forth with pure joy, relief, and sentimentality. One minute I’m laughing, the next crying. But, it feels so good. Because I am filled with hope, and that hasn’t happened in about 8 years. I am so glad that I got to be part of such a historic moment. Now I can look back on it one day and say, what an event! I was there! Yes we did!

Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope. That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow. - from Barack Obama's speech last night

At the polls

Doug Mills/The New York Times

"Who are you voting for?"

"No, you can't vote for him. That'll cancel out my vote!"

Today is THE Day

Today is the day when all of the political rigmarole of the past year+ comes to a conclusion. This has been a historic and very heated campaign year. So, it's very important that we all use our constitutional right to pick who the president will be for the next 4 years. (Yea we're almost done with the previous idiot who has been "running" our country!).

Any who, if you need some incentive (other than having a say in who the next leader of the free world will be) to get your butt out there and vote, a few businesses are rewarding voters for their job well done. Starbucks is giving away free coffee and Ben and Jerry's a free scoop of ice cream. This was originally for people who voted, but I just heard on WNYC that it is actually illegal to reward people for voting or not voting, so they've changed it to anyone who comes in. Also, Krispy Kreme is sticking it to the man and giving away free donuts to people who have voted (and no one else!). So, you should take advantage of these give aways!

But honestly, if this is the only reason you decide to vote I am going to come over there and smack you over the head. I'm not a violent person, but really this election has been going on forever now. If you don't know who you are going to vote for, or worse - don't feel like voting, then you've had your head stuck in the sand and you deserve a smack over the head. You've been warned.

Crammity, Cram, Cram, Cram!

Tomorrow's E-Day. Do you know who and what's on your ballot? We all know the big ones, the Presidential candidates (and we should, what a race!). But, the state and local elections are important too. Being that I live in NYC I looked up some local info. Should you live elsewhere, well do your own research (and do it quickly, time is running out! No pressure. But do it!). Know your polling location and times. NYC see here (Polls are open 6am-9pm in NYC). This is especially so if there are hot issue proposals on the ballot. (I'm talking to you Michigan, California, Washington, etc).

P.S. Isn't it sad Obama's grandma died today? Oh, I wish she could have seen him win the election! (Please win, please win, please win!)

Almost there!

Next Tuesday is the big day. It's amazing that it's almost here. It has felt so far into the future for so long now, that it's hard to believe there are only a few more days until we decide who the president will be. As a final hurrah (hopefully to the idea of Sarah Palin as Vice President) I will be dressed as Sarah Palin for a Halloween party tonight. I just couldn't resist, I already look a bit like and have some traces of a midwestern accent, so close to the accent she sports.

In preparation for my Halloween costume I have been viewing videos of Palin on the web. I probably will not be as spot on as Tina Fey, but I'm looking forward to imitating such an extreme character. In my internet searching I came across this video on You Tube of Sarah Palin's Greatest Hits.

For some reason I cannot copy the whole code to embed the video in this post, so I will just add the link to the video.

What the...?

Insanity abounds in the news recently (as opposed to the rest of the time?), so I've decided to post links to my favorites articles about people that just make me scratch my head.

1. Disenfranchised Clinton supporters saying they'll support McCain. You're upset that a woman isn't going to be president, so you'll vote for this guy? Really? I find that unlikely. I like this Op-Ed because while it does reference the women who have been in the media expressing the above mentioned view, it also illustrates the stereotype of who Clinton supporters are (suburban white women) and the political/media exploitation of this stereotype.

2. Psychiatrist accused of plagarism, many times over. If there is ONE thing you learn in college, it is not to plagarize. It seemed that every professor I had the first few years, and even in to grad school, vocalized this. A psychiatrist has many years of college, but for some it just doesn't soak in.

3. Investment Banker vs. Stockbroker: Spinning Class showdown. Enough with the pissing contest! Now we are allowing New Yorkers to assault people they find annoying? I wonder how the verdict would have turned out had the assailant been a person of color?

4. AC/DC selling their lastest CD only at Walmart. Yeah, the two go hand-in-hand. Okay, I get the whole revolution of record sales and radio play counting for nothing these days. But AC/DC - Walmart? Really? They couldn't get a song played in a tv ad somewhere?