4:30 a.m.

Imponderable Weight

Earth keeps memory
of every dried wildflower pressed
to her book of time.

Earth remembers all--
each broken blue robin's shell
emptied from its nest.

How could Earth forget
the pleasures of your footfall,
light dance to slow step?


Athena, our baby-in-training, woke me up at 4:30 this morning. So, here's just some lines that began forming in my brain as I tried to get back to sleep. John Hollander shows this extended haiku form in Rhyme's Reason.

Since then, I've been watching the news. I see that the Missouri House of Representatives is trying to tack on legislation enabling pharmacies to not sell Plan B or even tell the women where they can get it. They're adding this provision to a bill on licensing legislation, SB296. So I e-mailed my Rep. and told her to be vocal against it. She's a Democrat from St. Louis. . . so obviously. . . but still. Some doofus from O'Fallon linked telling pharmacies to provide full medical services to communism: "I just have trouble understanding why anybody who is an American, who is not in favor of communism, would want us to dictate what we're going to say people can and cannot stock," (Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O'Fallon). Sometimes wouldn't it be so satisfying to just smack people? I also protest how the news articles inaccurately make Plan B and the abortion pill synonyms. The "or" here is very deceptive:

"The Missouri House has endorsed a measure specifically allowing pharmacies to decide whether to stock the "morning-after" emergency contraceptive or abortion pills." (See linked story above).

Ok, maybe I might go back to sleep now. Poetry and outrage worked out.

Apocalypse: Werewolf Congress

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Glenn Beck's War Room

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Joke of the Day

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Doom Bunker - Jack Jacobs and Stephen Moore

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Joke of the Day

It's difficult to decide what I love more: making fun of Glenn Beck, the joke about Gargamel, or the fantastic doomsday scenarios.

My experience today was

To see the millions of Americans waving flags, standing in the cold.
To hear in both the invocation and benediction prayers for God's forgiveness.
To understand President Obama's call to service and hope.
To know I helped do my small part and will continue to work.
To applaud when he declared: "We are ready to lead once more."
To weep in a community, huddled together in the National Mall and our living rooms.
To visualize this line of poetry: "Love... casts a widening pool of light."
To feel release, the lifting of shadow, as Bush I, Bush II, and Cheney flew away.
To witness a joyful moment in history; a rare sensation of collective rebirth.
To hope we remember, do, give, and become.

This is just getting silly now:

Ok, Pres. Elect Obama -- I voted for you. I went around and knocked on doors for you. I even donated money to get you elected.

But I definitely don't need a coffee mug for $15. This smacks of Jim Bakker!

This is an e-mail I received today:

"This holiday season, celebrate the historic accomplishment of our movement for change. Treat yourself or a loved one to a limited edition Obama coffee mug. Make a donation of $15 or more right now and get an official Obama mug to mark an amazing year."

And I just got this e-mail, offering me a $35 calendar!

"This holiday season, celebrate the historic accomplishment of our movement for change. Treat yourself or a loved one to a limited edition four-year calendar featuring some of the best images from the campaign trail. Make a donation of $35 or more right now and get an official Obama calendar to mark an amazing year."

----------------------------------
p.s. Catherine was it André Gide (1869-1951) she uses as an example? If so, I just encountered him in my reading today!

Ok, I have to admit, this form letter makes me happy

Tamara --

I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first. We just made history. And I don't want you to forget how we did it. You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change. I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign. We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next. But I want to be very clear about one thing... All of this happened because of you.

Thank you, Barack

Election Day!

We stuck to our plan and were at the polling place by 6:00 a.m. sharp. Two hundred people were already in front of us.

We stood outside the church and around the block. The entire process took 2 hours and 15 minutes, from 6:00 - 8:15 a.m. I was voter #196 and J.D. was #197. The line was even longer when we left.

On the positive side, we did get to see the sunrise. On the negative side, even with warm coats and clothes, it got quite chilly. At least we were dressed appropriately for waiting on our feet and in the cold. I have no idea why the college girl in front of us decided 5 inch black stiletto heels and a mini skirt (with fringe) were appropriate. I didn't realize elections were the time and place to look for hot dates.

Anyway, feel free to share your election stories too! I'd like to hear about what's going on for everyone today all over the country.

p.s. When I went back to the polls this afternoon it had really slowed down. I was able to walk right into the church. There were only about 25 people in line. Don't I feel dumb. But in other places they are continuing to have big problems. In North St. Louis they have 300+ people in line waiting on average 7 hours to vote. But they say the people are determined and are waiting no matter what. I hope so.

Voting Eve

Well, who else is nervous about the big day tomorrow? I sure am.

We're going to the polls at 5:55 a.m., so J.D. will be able to vote before work, and I can just get it over early, without waiting in line too long (hopefully).

J.D. was impressed by this door hanger we got today. It has our actual precinct printed on it. Impressive indeed.

I just finished looking up ballot issues for my area. You can view your actual ballot by going here:

http://forms.smartvoter.org/index.html.

I find it helps to know the content of the ballot measures before trying to read them for the first time at the polls.

Be sure to vote tomorrow everyone, even if you're not of my political persuasion. (The majority of my family is not, and I still love them. They mostly still like me).

Anyway, get out there and do your civic duty. See you at the polls.

"Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit"

This is really the only part that I find entertaining. The rest is just sort of very, very sad and painful to a large degree.

Caller pretending to be French President Nicolas Sarkozy: I just want to be sure. That phenomenon Joe the Plumber. That's not your husband, right?

Palin: That's not my husband, but he's a normal American who just works hard and doesn't want government to take his money.

Caller: Yes, yes, I understand we have the equivalent of Joe the Plumber in France. It's called Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit.

Palin: Right, that's what it's all about, the middle class and government needing to work for them. You're a very good example for us here.


(Yes, evidently the French are great examples of not paying high taxes).

Well, and the part about seeing Belgium from his house is funny too.

Audio: http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/sarahpalinvideos/youtube/palin-prank.htm
Transcript: http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/sarahpalin/a/palin-prankcall.htm

Where do you get your "news"

I thought this was quite funny. Colbert did a section telling viewers he was disappointed they did so well.

Can you answer these questions:

1. What political party has the current majority in the U.S. House of Representatives?

2. Who is the current U.S. secretary of state?

3. Who is the current prime minister of Great Britain?

Is it just me in my elitist, non-real American mindset, or are those easy questions? Evidently, only 18% of the people asked could answer all three correctly. (Sad). And what the heck is The Weather Channel even doing on the list? Are they considering Dick Cheney one of nature's deadliest storms now?

Source:
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/993/who-knows-news-what-you-read-or-view-matters-but-not-your-politics

Long Day

Love you Marley

Well, I guess the day started by watching Youth without Youth later than we should have. We started the movie around 10:00 or so. The best part of this movie was the buttered air popcorn we ate. We watched the entire film and at the end pretty much looked at each other and said, "What the hell?" Then I watched Francis Ford Coppola's commentary to see what it was that we both obviously missed. I confirmed that we didn't miss anything; the movie is just a large ball of mixed up quasi-philosophy that slowly rolls into oblivion and will take your two hours with it. J.D. said he couldn't believe I watched it with the commentary (even fast forwarding large chunks), and I joked: "I watched it twice to make sure it was bad." Yes, it's bad.

Then we proctored Saturday morning, reporting time 7:30. After telling kids named Damonica, Stardasha, Ulysses, and Leroy what to do and not do, we were out of there by 12:00. (Yay multiple choice, no writing).

Then it was off to the Halloween store for J.D.'s scary costume. He got a skull mask, which later effectively terrified the poor kitties. J.D.'s work is having a contest for best costume. Then we ate Chinese food. Then we went canvassing for the Obama campaign. We did that for three hours together. J.D. is really good at it. I am shy. I have a hard time knocking on strangers' doors, but I did it because I care so much about this election. I met some really nice people too. One man was from Iran; he moved his aging mother and father to the U.S. to escape the regime there. He told me he hadn't seen his father in 15 years, and when he did, he barely recognized him because of the stress from living there. His mother answered the door; she was very sweet. I felt bad because their dog ran out, but he was recovered by the son very quickly. Then at another house, the guy came to the door with money in his hand and said, "Oh, I thought you would have a pizza!"

Also, to end the day, my Beeb on http://www.stuffonmycat.com/ as submitted by Catherine.

Real American

It turns out, I might be a "fake" human being and WORSE, not a "real" American. I'm probably an elitist too, just to add injury to insult.

What, you may ask has brought on this existential crisis? Oh no! Further proof, I used the word "existential." I'm doomed.

Well, the numbers don't lie, and it seems I've wandered into an impossible quandary.

Take this equation provided on The Daily Show to prove if you're a real or fake American.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=188632 :

Population where you live x price of a cup of coffee + # of Art house theaters x Streets named after Martin Luther King, Jr.
_________Divide All of that by___________

Number of required IDs to buy Sudafed x people wearing trucker hats - actual # of truckers
x 1/ # of churches in your area (not counting synagogues) - # of bars.

If you get 10 or less, congratulations, you're still a real American. I however will never know because my figure is impossible to calculate.

Here is how it worked out:

Population of University City = 37,430 (and I should probably receive an immediate penalty for living in a place named "University City" made up of a majority of hippy-dippy professors and college students.

Coffee = I don't honestly know, but I looked up that a Starbucks plain coffee 12oz. in Minnesota is $2.25 and New York is $3.00, so I just went with $2.50. However, when I looked up my zip code on Starbucks' location finder it asked if I meant 63130 Missouri or 63130 France! That should be an immediate penalty also.

Art house theaters = well, one about 4 blocks away and two more within a quick drive that I can think of, so I'm going with 3.

Streets named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. = 1 street, 1 bridge, 1 auto repair, 1 academy, etc., but technically, only 1 street (that I know). However, the bridge was originally called "Veterans' Bridge" and renamed, so that counts as a whammy, score 2.

ID to buy sudafed= 1 state or federally issued ID and you have to sign a form, so just 1.

Trucker hats = none that I've seen.

Actual # of truckers = I'm guessing zero. (I don't really know, which may be another penalty).

Churches = U City lists 18 on their homepage. There are three within a block of where I live. But there's also the Scientology building, so that probably takes away at least 1 church, thus 17.

Number of Bars = I don't know. Let's guess 20, since there's usually more bars than churches.

All of that:

(37,430 x 2.50) + (3 x 2) = 93,581
_________________ _____
1 x (0 - 0) x 1/17-20 = 0

Sadly, division by zero is an operation for which you cannot find an answer.
So, basically, I'm doomed to never know if I'm a real American because I don't know any truckers. Although, odds are (and by every other standard mentioned), I would not be a "real" American.

I "Lean" Left

Who should you vote for?

Barack Obama				90
John McCain	-39

You expected: Barack Obama
Your recommendation: Barack Obama

Party: Democratic

J.D.'s

Who should you vote for?

Barack Obama				72
John McCain	-75

You expected: Barack Obama
Your recommendation: Barack Obama

<

A story from The Onion?

Is it just me, or has the debate around "Joe the Plumber" brought a new level of absurdity to American politics?

Plumber hopes candidates stop discussing him

Doggone it

An amusing distraction.

http://www.atom.com/fun_games/hunting_with_palin/

You'll want to turn the volume down for their commercial. It's really loud and annoying.

In the game I suggest hitting stuff you're not supposed to shoot like oil rigs and the First Dude on snowmobile.

Reserve my "Place in Hell"

. . . because it will be one cold day there before I "support" her.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/05/palin-misquotes-albright_n_131967.html

Palin says women who don't "support" other women have a special place in hell. She used it in the context of women not voting for her. She supposedly quoted Madeleine Albright, but Albright said women that don't "help" other women. I suppose this just shows what you get when your knowledge of the world comes from disposable Starbuck's coffee cups, and worse yet, you can't even understand or quote that correctly.

A few pictures

MSNBC's stage by Graham Chapel.

My favorite sign comparing Wasilla and WashU's Populations.

Another entertaining sign.

The Missouri Coalition made it out.

News satellites, including Telemundo and Aljazeera.

Take it out on a cookie

A Sign

It was a feeding frenzy on campus today.

C-SPAN, CNN, or MSNBC?

I'm taking ideas for how I should try to embarrass myself on TV. Any suggestions?

From the WashU website:
"Live! From Washington University! Want to be on national TV? Many opportunities will arise this week as the national media descends on the WUSTL campus. Students are encouraged to come out and be a part of live camera shots that will showcase WUSTL to the nation and the world. Show school spirit, make signs and greetings to the folks at home, or simply see the detail that is involved in the production of a national broadcast.

CBS' "The Early Show" with Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez will broadcast starting at 5:30 a.m. Oct. 2 from Holmes Lounge and then will move outside of Holmes Lounge from 7-8 a.m.
MSNBC will be broadcasting live from outside Graham Chapel throughout the day Oct. 2, starting with NBC News' Political Director Chuck Todd at 11 a.m. and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell at noon. "Hardball with Chris Matthews" will broadcast live from the MSNBC stage outside Graham Chapel from 4-5 p.m., 6-7 p.m. and 11 p.m.-midnight.
Also on Oct. 2, the CNN Election Express Yourself Tour Bus will be parked on campus at the northeast courtyard of the Danforth University Center, and C-SPAN's Campaign 2008 Bus will be located outside the Mallinckrodt Student Center."

Maybe I'll go over to the "Express Yourself Bus" -- lord knows I've been doing that quite a bit about this election already.

I'm really just joking, since I'm camera shy. But I think I will go wander around and enjoy either a Blue Donkey or Pink Elephant shaped cookie on campus. I want to buy an elephant, just so I can bite its head off. (Mean, I know). ;)

A fun game: Quiz Question

Ok, quick, name some Supreme Court cases. . . .

. . . . {Time to think}. . . . {insert Jeopardy music here}. . . .

If you named ONE -- Congratulations, you're qualified to be Vice President!

If you named more than ONE -- Oh, sorry, you're overqualified.*

*(But congratulations you're not an idiot.)