Today

"To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain." ~ Louis L'Amour

***

Today is the day of sitting on pins and needles. Checking polls. Feeling full of anticipation.
It's been a wild ride, hasn't it? I think we have learned a lot about ourselves and our country, if we cared to. Some of it disheartening and some of it very encouraging. But a place to move forward from, nonetheless.

I wish you all an election day full of promise.
The sun is shining here in San Francisco. People are proudly wearing their "I Voted" stickers on the train this morning. I am wearing a blue dress.

There's not much more to do but wait. But it's nice to know that I'm waiting in such good company... and with you, too. Happy Election Day, America.

Happy Election Day, dear blogging friends.

It's Almost Over

Do you think Obama's health plan will cover PTBS (Post Traumatic Bush Syndrome)?

***

"Widespread intellectual and moral docility may be convenient for leaders in the short term, but it is suicidal for nations in the long term. One of the criteria for national leadership should therefore be a talent for understanding, encouraging, and making constructive use of vigorous criticism." ~ Carl Sagan

Good luck, America. Let's get things back on track.
We can do it!

In the Mission.

On Haight Street.

On Divisadero.

In the Tenderloin.

In Golden Gate Park.

In my 'hood.

I wish that all the people who normally watch Faux News had watched Obama's infomercial instead Sean Hannity, but hopefully a few of them did.

I will be so proud when this man is my president.

Yeah, I took all of the photos. Except that first one.

***

UPDATE: You may already have read this, but Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, just passed away. So close to seeing him achieve a place in history, for himself and our country. It is just heartbreaking.

I just can't help crying about this.

From the press release: "In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a donation to any worthy organization in search of a cure for cancer."

I will be donating, and gladly, just as gladly as I donated to help get him elected.

Dia de los Muertos

"There's a bit of magic in everything, and some loss to even things out." ~ Lou Reed, "Magic and Loss"

Tonight my little friend Chipmonkey and her Mr. Chipmonkey and I went to the Mission for the Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead Procession.

Me and my friend Flora.

From the website: Over 15,000 people gather to honor our ancestors, celebrating the vitality and richness of today's community. While the ceremony remains true to its Latino roots, the San Francisco procession actively encourages participation by people of all origins.

Bring candles, photos, food, or something that reminds you of a person that has passed away. The altars are community art installations that are intended to change as each person adds something to the hearth.

The Day of the Dead is a unique festival that is the result of 16th century contact between Mesoamerica and Europe. Conceptually, it is a hybrid, owing its origins to both prehispanic Aztec philosophy and religion and medieval European ritual practice.

***

The air was filled with the most incredible scent: a mixture of candles, burning sage, and the ever-present marijuana. We followed the sound of drumbeats through the streets. The night air was cool and the crowd joyous.

It was lovely to see people holding candles, flowers and photos of their beloved friends and family for all to appreciate and remember.

Wearing your heart on your back.

She was handing out "spirit food" (little colorful cards).

Beautiful glowing glass children inside a simple gallery. Also the silver milagros in the first photo, too.

Soul light.
Good night, San Francisco.

What's the Word for This?

I know I'm not supposed to call people retarded.

Sarah Palin was crank called by a Canadian radio station, the caller pretending to be Nicolas Sarkozy. But the fact that Palin NEVER figured out that she wasn't talking to French President Sarkozy after about 10 seconds is pretty amazing. Clueless? Hopeless? Incredibly naive/stupid?

I'm sure this story won't be found anywhere on the MSM, but it's all over the European news. Quel surprise.

***

A few gems excerpted:

Sarkozy: "I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun." He proposes they go hunting together by helicopter, something he says he has never done.

Palin: "Well, I think we could have a lot of fun together while we're getting work done. We can kill two birds with one stone that way."

Sarkozy: "You know we have a lot in common also, because ... from my house (he pronounces it ass) I can see Belgium."

Palin: "Well, see, we're right next door to different countries that we all need to be working with, yes."

The Sarkozy impersonator tells Palin his wife is "so hot in bed" and then informs her that Bruni has written a song for her about Joe the Plumber entitled "Du rouge a levres sur une cochonne," which translates as "Lipstick on a Pig."

The caller asks Palin if Joe the Plumber is her husband and adds: "We have the equivalent of Joe the Plumber in France. It's called Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit."

He also tells the Alaska governor that he loved the "documentary" made about her and referred to a pornographic film with a Palin look-alike made by Hustler founder Larry Flynt.

She answers tentatively, "Ohh, good, thank you, yes."

***

Here's a BBC page that has the actual call and an interview with the pranksters, the Canadian version of the Jerky Boys. That brought back memories. Ahhhh, the Jerky Boys. Where are they now? This was my sister's and mine ALL-TIME favorite Jerky Boys routine. We almost peed our pants laughing. I told you I am immature.

ps. If you listen to the entire call on HuffPo, I don't know about you, but I get the distinct impression that Palin's aide is in some serious shit.

You'll Never Guess Who I Saw Friday Night

10:30PM. I'm on the N-Judah train coming home from downtown. Sarah Palin herself is about five feet away from me, wearing her red skirt suit, black pumps and trademark sexy librarian glasses. In her folksy manner, she's identifying the mavericks on the train, and the passengers are loving it. They're asking her about where the real Americans live (her answer: Alaska) and what she likes to read (her answer: everything). She's also talking about the Communists in America.

And you'll never guess who was sitting next to her! You guessed it: Joe the Plumber. But he had grown a head of dark, thick hair so I didn't recognize him until he pulled a wrench out of his pocket. (I thought he was Todd.)

Yes, Halloween night on the N-Judah. I also saw Amy Winehouse, Gwen Stefani, a cute girl bee with a skateboard and a pregnant nun, just to name a few more revelers.

However, I did not have my hands free to take photos of them for you and for that, I apologize because everyone looked festive and wild and was having a rollicking good time.

***

Returning home, my hands were full of books and information from the second installment of my Mental Stimulus Package (man, I forgot to tell you about the first part with Ben Frankin and the glass armonica. Next time.).

I went to The Leakey Prize Laureate Lectures, honoring Dr. Jane Goodall and Dr. Toshisada Nishida, at the Herbst Theatre. From the program description: The Leakey Prize was established in 1990 to reward intellectual achievement and express appreciation for research performed with courage and perseverance in the fields of ape and human evolution. Both Dr. Goodall and Dr. Toshisada Nishida will discuss the highlights of their pioneering careers. Through their diligent work, these scientists have shaped the field of primatology and uncovered pivotal findings that help us better understand one of our closes living relatives, the chimpanzee.

I don't even know where to start in describing the feeling of seeing Dr. Goodall on stage, speaking in her trademark calm, collected yet passionate story of her early years, her tutelage under Dr. Louis Leakey and the incredible faith he placed in her, and her deep desire to help reverse years of environmental damage and endangerment of many animal species, not just her beloved chimpanzees of Gombe.

If you're like me, you grew up reading Jane Goodall's books, watching her on National Geographic television specials. I also was secretly envious of her son, Grub, who got to spend his childhood living amongst the tribe of chimpanzees that Goodall studied for almost 30 years.


“The most important thing is to actually think about what you do. To become aware and actually think about the effect of what you do on the environment and on society. That's key, and that underlies everything else.” ~ Dr. Jane Goodall

I saw Dr. Goodall speak once before, when I was in college and she visited my university. Then the talk was about the chimps, and her work with them. The talk this year was different. Dr. Goodall travels about 300 days of the year, all over the world. She talks about preserving animal habitats and shared stories of the villages that her foundation has helped, encouraging safe farming habits, microloans to women, keeping girls in school and reforestation techiques, all of which have greatly improved the lives of villagers that had been deforesting areas of Tanzania and endangering the habitats of chimpanzees and many other animals. Her talk focused on how improving and educating the people has only served to enhance and improve the lives of the animals she struggles to save. Through the Jane Goodall Institute and her outreach program for children called Roots and Shoots, she has been doing extraordinary work outside the forests of Tanzania.

I could not help relating her talk to the tempestuous presidential campaign and the incredible need for effective and immediate science and math education for our kids to maintain our standing in the world as a leading nation (I won't even begin to address that Sarah Palin fruit fly debacle) not to mention the important contributions that studying chimpanzees, our closest living relatives on the evolutionary ladder, holds for the understanding of our own species.

It became vitally clear to me that not only are we poised to destroy an amazing link in evolutionary biolology (over 1,000,000 chimpanzees in 1960s down to about 200-300,000 today) but we are losing such a stronghold by not teaching our children how important science is in the real world to protecting the only planet we have. Our presidential election only emphasizes the polarity in our approaches to these crucial subjects.

***

From a recent speech: “What gives me hope,” Dr. Goodall says, “is the amazing capacity of the human brain to come up with innovative solutions, the indomitable human spirit that fights back, and the resilience of nature.”

“It’s time to recreate the age of wisdom when elders would gather and ponder how any decision they would make would affect our future seven generations down the line,” says Goodall. Quoting the words of an Eskimo leader, she concluded: “Up in the north, the ice is melting. What will it take to melt the ice in the human heart?”

***

After the talk, I stood in line for almost as long as the talk, to have a chance to finally meet Dr. Goodall. While in line, we all shared stories of growing up with Jane, what a powerful impression she had made on us, and what a singular experience it was to hear her speak. I signed up to become a member of both of her organizations.

While we waited in line, servers carrying trays of cookies and Halloween candy and apple cider kept us full of sugary treats. And then finally it was my turn to stand next to a childhood idol, have her sign my books and try not to be overwhelmed and cry.

She first signed a chimpanzee mask for Little Curly Girl, my niece. I told her the LCG was recently just two years old, so she signed it "with love" because in her words, "Being two years old means she should get lots of extra love." (Almost cried but didn't.)

Then she signed my books. I told her what an honor it was to be in her presence and then we had our photo taken together (which I'll post when I find it on her website). And then I walked to the train station in a bit of a wistful mood.

As I waited for the train, I looked at what Dr. Goodall had written in my book.

For Julie
Follow your heart.
Jane Goodall

And surrounded by crazily dressed adult trick-or-treaters, I did cry a little bit. Happy/sad crying.

***

"Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right." ~ Jane Goodall

Like Jane, I keep our fingers crossed for us primates. All of us primates. I think we can still pull it off and I think President Obama can help us get started.

Testing 1, 2, 3...

Hooray! There's nothing better than getting to sleep in an extra hour in the morning because of Daylight Savings Time AND finding out that the Internet Fairy has come in the middle of the night and restored your access!

This almost makes me believe in Santa Claus, too. Did you miss me? I missed you.

***

This is actually a test post because I might be out of practice. I might get winded so I'm starting blogging again in small doses.

The photo above is a selection of movies that were in the $10 Halloween bin at Virgin Records. I picked up a couple of DVDs for late Halloween night (Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow as recommended by willow, and the collector's edition of The Shining.)

Above are more selections that I didn't purchase. Can you find the scariest movie in those pictured?

*
*
*
*
*
If you said the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Widescreen Edition, you WIN!

Congratulations and see you soon with a real post!

xoxo

Slow News Day

Blog?

OH! That blog! My blog!

***

It's a slow news day at Tangobaby World Media Corporate, Inc. I think my brain went on hiatus. Or maybe I suspended my brain so that I could run my presidential campaign for a while (i.e., that means thinking of what beauty products to get for basket, or making new campaign buttons).

And not having internet access at home obviously is cramping my style in a big way.

***

I only have one little story to share for now.

Yesterday we got a enormo-basket of Halloween candy from a sales rep. It's got every type of candy in a Halloween theme (I am devouring the yellow, orange and black Good 'n Plenty's at a frightening clip).

One of the cute boys (our blessed intern) came over to my desk and gave me a pair of wax lips from the basket. "Here," he says, "these are for you. There were only two pairs and I wanted to make sure you got some."

I thanked him, of course. And then I asked him, "How did you know about my wax lips fetish? Did I tell you about my crazy love of wax lips? I don't remember us talking about that."

And he said, "I just assumed that you liked them."

He's a smart boy. The youth of America.

I think it's nice when people have you all figured out.

***

UPDATE: I only humiliate myself when it's fun and so that you know I love you.

Happy Halloween, kids!

I Have Arrived

I have to tell you that my campaign for 2012 is off to such a great start. I'm so glad I skipped that whole fact-finding commission! I'm probably going to skip the vetting process too since I'm so pleased with all of my prospective administration officials so far.

You are so good at offering yourselves up to the campaign in the spirit of Civic Duty, and obviously the hope of winning a beauty basket didn't hurt either.



***

I think my campaign really is going to pick up steam now because I have one of the most important things a president or a presidential hopeful can have.

I have my own intern.



***

Not to mention all of the other super-fantastic cabinet roles I would have never even thought of, like my Secretary of WTF? and Official Cheesemonger. But where are you?

Seriously. I don't have anyone like YOU in my campaign. So step up and sign up. You have until November 4 to participate! I will announce my entire future administration and my VP choice then. (And I am for full inclusion in my administration: Boys, our friends to the north in Canada, assorted people from all nations that still like us and hold out a wee bit of hope that we'll get our sh*t together, and people with exceptionally developed senses of humor are all encouraged to participate.)

***

BTW, why would it be that you would come home from work and find that your modem doesn't work? Just like that-- poof! I always jump to conclusions and assume that Karl Rove is behind things like this, but maybe we didn't pay the cable bill? Not having internet access at home is not enjoyable. It's pointing a big finger at my addiction. But it's my addiction to YOU.



UPDATE: Because I know that some of you secretly want to make your own campaign buttons.

Full-Blown Eighties Mode Tonight

Boy, you listen to a couple of Hall and Oates songs and then all of a sudden you're in full-blown Eighties mode.

I guess I might end up watching After Hours tonight. I think this is one of the films that warped my sense of humor as a youngster.

Full-on awesome Teri Garr:



I think Catherine O'Hara was my favorite though:



And then I'll relive some first boyfriend kisses. Looking back, Berlin isn't really good makeout music but it worked at the time.



Now all I need are some shoulder pads and some stirrup leggings and I'm all set. But first I have to empty the dryer.

Some People Believe in Nostradamus

I think John McCain should have listened to Hall and Oates before Bill Kristol or Dick Cheney or Karl Rove. Now I'm on a kick since my Palin-Putin forbidden love fantasy from this morning.

She's a Maneater! Watch out, boy!



She'll only come out at night
The lean and hungry type
Nothing is new, I've seen her here before
Watching and waiting
She's sitting with you but her eyes are on the door
So many have paid to see
What you think you're getting for free
The woman is wild, a she-cat tamed by the purr of a Jaguar
Money's the matter
If you're in it for love you ain't gonna get too far

Oh here she comes
Watch out boy she'll chew you up
Oh here she comes
She's a maneater
Oh here she comes
Watch out boy she'll chew you up
Oh here she comes
She's a maneater

I wouldn't if I were you
I know what she can do
She's deadly man, and she could really rip your world apart
Mind over matter
The beauty is there but a beast is in the heart

Oh here she comes
Watch out boy she'll chew you up
Oh here she comes
She's a maneater

***

Part of this is because I don't feel like finishing my laundry and the other part is that I just keep cracking myself up. I'm so Eighties today!

An Adventure in Civics

"It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting." ~ Tom Stoppard, Jumpers

***

You guys aren't going to believe what happened today!

I almost didn't get to vote!

Or at least it sure felt that way for a few hours!

***

It's like Roseanne Roseannadanna says. It's always something!
Well, today it was my something.

I have to admit that first of all, I played hooky from work today.
I wasn't really sick, but I kinda felt like maybe I could go down that road, and... well, you know how it is some days? I just needed an extra brain day. I didn't want to hear any whining today.

So here I am at home, doing a little laundry, eating some popcorn, and then I think, Hey! I'll get dressed and go to City Hall and VOTE! That will make me feel good and productive!
When you live on the Left Coast, by the time your vote gets counted, the rest of the country is already asleep and the thing's decided. So I wanted to get my vote in early. And it seemed like a very good hooky-day idea.

I get down to City Hall, which is just the prettiest building ever with all of the marble and carvings and gilded metal and go down to the basement. I fill out a form, get in line, chat a little with the people around me. Twenty minutes later, it's my turn... and the woman behind the desk tells me I'm not in the computer.

Um, excuse me?

*freaks out a little inside*

She wants to know if I've registered, and yes, I have. I voted in the primary in February!

She looks for me again in the computer, every which way since Sunday. I'm not there.

*silent scream*

Then I have to go to another room, where three other people try to find me in the computer.

Not happening.

Wha?!! These things are supposed to happen in Florida! (No offense, Florida. I was going under the assumption that we had our voting sh*t together here.)

So they tell me that I have to petition the court.

Come again? WTF?!

They tell me I have to fill out some forms and go to the Civil Court across the street, and talk to the judge. Then, if the judge signs my petition, I can come back to City Hall and vote. (Needless to say, my fantasies of my weekday play date are evaporating quickly before my eyes. To their credit, everyone at the Department of Elections was very nice to me. I was also the epitome of calm.)

So I go to the Civil Courts building, find the courtroom, and proceed to not have a writing implement, except for a purple calligraphy pen, which I don't think is appropriate for filling out this bunch of forms. (Note to self: why do you never have a pen?! You always have like five different lipsticks and nothing to write with. That's bad! Very bad!)

There's no one else there except for another woman with the same forms I have. She sees me rummaging around and kindly lets me use her pen. We chat a little, and discover that both of us have the same story. Registered to vote in the February primaries, voted, and now don't exist. Not that we're paranoid, but WTF?

Then someone comes out of the courtroom and says they're closed for lunch. Come back in an hour and a half.

***

So I'm walking around the Tenderloin, looking for something to do for 90 minutes. I see a drug deal, some people in very bad shape sitting in wheelchairs and more than a few lawyer-y looking types. (For those of you who don't know the lay of the land, City Hall is adjacent to a neighborhood known for violence and poverty, the Tenderloin.) The Tenderloin has some very cool, old buildings, but it's not a place you want to hang out and gawk. You can look but you keep moving and you pay attention to who's around you.

The good news is that I happened upon a Burmese restaurant I read about and wanted to try, except I'm never near the Tenderloin at lunch. So I decided to have some tea leaf salad and some coconut milk and chicken soup. What's a tangobaby post without a foodie story anyway?

I love Burmese tea leaf salad (La Pat Dok). It's made with fermented tea leaves, dried shrimp, cabbage, tomate, fried garlic, sesame seeds and peas and nuts. This one was very good.

While I was sitting there, still feeling nervous about having to go to court and talk to a judge, I realized that I should be very grateful to be here eating tea leaf salad and having some recourse to the law and my rights. If I was sitting in Burma, or Myanmar as it's now called, I could be eating some kick-ass salad with NO voting rights. Or I could be in prison. For a fascinating book about Burma and also George Orwell's ties to that country, read Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin. It's a fantastic read.

And then it was time to go back to court.

***

"I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it." ~ Alexander Woollcott

While I was waiting, I made two new friends, Theresa and Kathy. Theresa told us about some past elections in the Philippines and let's just say that we should be glad that eye gouging and intimidation and prison aren't direct results of the democratic process here. Bless her heart, Theresa is 76 years old. And Kathy was our court angel. She provided me with a paper clip for my important documents because I didn't have one of those either.

Then the bailiff said we could enter the courtroom.

Here's the courtroom. Just like on TV, right?

We never saw the judge. A clerk came out, talked to each of us individually and then took our documents back to the judge for evaluation. I was the first one to get my petition signed and then back to City Hall for me.

***

And about an hour later, I had voted.

As I was leaving, I saw three weddings.
One "traditional" (for lack of a better word) and two lesbian couples.
All were lovely. And I wouldn't have seen them if I hadn't been scurrying around to get petitions signed and eating Burmese tea leaf salad. Sometimes timing really is everything.

I hope my vote on Proposition 8 helps those gay and lesbian couples who want to have the right to marry.

And City Hall is just so dang beautiful. You should really come and check it out.


And then no other but Abe Lincoln himself thanked me for coming out today.
Now that's an adventure in civics!