Dictionary lessons

Definitions

• School pride: rooting for a team that can't win a rigged homecoming football game to save itself; also, diligently draining your bank account monthly to finance the prized education while working strange campus jobs to buy your books.
• Financial Aid: A tear-jerking, nightmare of the past seven years.
• Payoff Amount: The total amount required for the loan account to be paid-in-full.
• Elation: The knowledge that I have now fully paid for my undergraduate education!

That's right, as of 9:00 am tomorrow, I will have ZERO remaining financial obligation to the Federal government for my education! This freedom will last all of about eight months, before I am thrown into potentially gallons of debt for graduate school, but I will savor this now, in the midst of the recession. This feels so good, I may have to celebrate (in a totally budget way!) Hello Salvation Armani!

Thoughts on Prop 8

When I read of Prop 8's passage in California, I was devastated to think that millions of people turned out to interfere with the romantic lives of complete strangers. As you can tell, I'm still having trouble articulating my feelings on this because I feel so passionately about it. This morning, Alex sent me this video of Keith Olbermann which captures both the intellectual and the emotional issues wound up in this devastating show of democracy. If you have 6 minutes, it's pretty interesting and heartfelt.

Talk about it at Videocracy

On this Veterans Day

Last night, Alex and I watched War, Inc., a satire about the US-led wars in the Middle East. While a somewhat farcical cross between Thank You for Smoking and Tank Girl, the movie's message was painfully serious: the corporate and political interests in these wars are inextricably linked, often to tragic and unneccessary ends for millions of innocent people. I recommend it for those willing to take a critical look at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and to fans of John Cusack or Hillary Duff).
With the movie on my mind as I opened my browser this morning, I found an incredible story about the many and varied ailments Iraq War vets are facing, and the amazing courage and hope they are finding with the assistance of service dogs. These loving Laborador/Golden Retriever mixes are trained to help sense out seizures for those with brain trauma, fetch things for soldiers missing limbs, and generally calm the stress and anxiety of PTSD, a disorder vets are facing in record numbers.The article is just a step away from the important issues of veterans' benefits, insufficient medical care, and the needless injuries thousands are suffering. Reading the veterans' stories of devastating physical and emotional injuries leaves me wondering: for what gain?
While Bush is atop the USS Intrepid receiving the Freedom Award for "embodying the ideals of world freedom," it's important we take a moment to consider those veterans who are too traumatized to leave their houses for such a ceremony, and who lack the medical care they require to be able to celebrate today. We must remember them too, and the many thousands still deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan who may return broken or wounded and in need of support. On this Veterans Day, I am grateful for both the soldiers who have risked everything for their country, and for their families and friends who are working tirelessly to help make their lives more livable.

Tears of Joy, Relief, and Pride

Every time I stop and really digest the reality of what happened Tuesday night, I begin to cry. And then I find a slideshow of others reacting to Obama, and I cry some more. My favorite part is watching people around the world rejoice in the hope of change to come (this, of course, also makes me cry).

(Image from the Huffington Post)

Electing a Hero! GOTV Day 4

I am at a loss for words. The love and joy I saw and shared with thousands of people, from the working class neighborhoods of Philly to the screaming multitudes of Times Square, fills me with such pride and hope for our country's future.

The people we met were so incredibly supportive and excited about this historic day, most enduring long lines early yesterday m0rning to cast their votes. I will try to collect and recite the stories that made my experience so wonderful, because I think it's best told through their eyes.

At 6:40 am, a full twenty minutes before the polls opened, we stepped outside our hotel to this line, already two blocks long, across a Center City side street. A group of Obama volunteers paraded up and down the line, singing songs, distributing coffee, and eliciting cheers.
In the afternoon, in Southwest Philly, We encountered a brigade of children marching to a church with their teachers chanting, "Kids vote! Kids vote" holding handmade Obama signs.At dusk, we knocked on the door of an elderly woman who had just returned from work as part of our final push to deliver the 3rd Ward of Southwest Philly. Speaking in a whisper, she told us, "My boss said I couldn't talk about who I supported, that I couldn't let anyone know that I voted for Obama this morning. But I did, I voted at 6:30. And it's incredible."

Catherine, my friend and partner for the day, smiled and said, "It's OK, you can shout it out now!" Then, she raised her voice to the quiet neighborhood and called out, "Obama!!!"

The older woman grinned, and then on cue, all three of us belted into the street, "OBAMA!"

As we left her house and moved on down the block, we could hear her calling out through her closed door, "Obama! Obama!"

***

I don't know if I've ever laughed and sobbed simultaneously before, but last night was a first for a lot of things. What a wonderful day we have created.

Get Out the Vote Day 3

I went for a crisp run through Center City this morning, and was so encouraged to see so many people buttoned up in their chic winter coats adorned with Obama pins!

We set out to Southwestern Philly for door knocking, and passed some gorgeous murals along the way. I love how this arm is like a birch branch.
At the Southwest office, we spent a few hours sorting, stacking, and bundling packs for all the thousands of volunteers who will set aside their jobs, their parties, and their scheduled activities to get out and make history tomorrow.After making the packs, we hit the streets ourselves to turn people out for tomorrow. We met a great group of kids who were jumping rope on the sidewalk, and as soon as we approached, a five-year-old shouted, "I'm voting for Obama tomorrow!" Erica and I gave them all our buttons and stickers. As we were leaving, I heard her cry out as she kissed the pin with Obama's likeness on it, "This is the BEST thing ever!"

Then it was back to the union's HQ to assemble food and maps for our GOTV efforts tomorrow. Each of those sandwiches was lovingly made by a team of dedicated volunteers. I took on more poster duty.
With the final maps in place, envelopes stuffed, and door hangers wrapped, we have to catch a few hours' rest before a VERY long and very exciting day tomorrow. As I was painting the last "yes we can" sign, I realized that tomorrow may be the most important, historical day of my life. And that is a realization which makes the necessary sleep that much harder to achieve. Bon soir and bon chance to all of those hard-working volunteers, you are all incredible. See you on the other side!

Get Out the Vote Day 2

This morning, my friend Erica and I strolled through Center City Philadelphia in search of some delicious breakfast, and ID'ed a cute Belgian Waffle place near our hotel. The city has so much history, and the quaint side streets and carefully tended row houses reflect the simple beauty of an earlier time. We stumbled across these lovely brick homes during our morning expedition.Soon after, we drove out to the Barney trailer to make some calls to local residents. The guy staffing the 12 computers inside estimates around 300,000 calls have been made there in the past few weeks. And we were only calling union members within the city. It was a great operation.When the robo-calls got to be too much, we headed outside to make colorful signs for a rally we're holding in West Philly on election day. The goal is to raise awareness of the issues facing middle class Americans, such as healthcare, the right to organize, and trade.With less than fifteen minutes' rest, we jumped back into action and met up with the Obama Campaign office in West Philadelphia for a round of door hangars. The people we spoke with where so excited, and a majority of the lawns we passed were decked out with Obama signs, posters, stickers, and banners. It was such an encouraging, uplifting sight. I have to say that almost every window and street front in Philly is representing its Obama flair (and the only McCain sign we've seen was a bumper sticker from an out-of-towner). I'm trying not to watch the polls and just focus on our task at hand, which is helping Obama take Philly in a landslide to help couterbalance the rest of PA. The fear here is voter suppression, both indirectly through long lines and poor staffing, as well as directly through intimidation tactics at the polls. We heard one story from the last election that men in suits drove up to a West Philly poll in unmarked black Cadillacs and approached each person in line, asking for their IDs and if they have any outstanding debts or parking tickets. Hopefully that won't happen this year, as we have over 400 lawyers volunteering to monitor the polls, but we must be prepared for anything. The Republicans won't give up this state that easily.

Well, it's off to bed before another long and varied day of election work. We're all anxious for Tuesday to get here, but tomorrow will be important to get everything ready for a smooth Election Day.

Headed west...GOTV Day 1

Up at the "crap of dawn" and whisked away on a charter bus that blew a tire somewhere along the New Jersey Turnpike, I knew it was going to be an eventful day as I headed out with some of my best friends and union members to hit the streets of Philadelphia and canvass for the Obama campaign.

We were fortunate to catch the last of the glorious foliage as we passed from New York into New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I love the soothing, rosy palette, although I'm generally feeling shades of BLUE this week.
It took a few minutes to make sense of our packs and get the small, cobblestone streets sorted out before we started door knocking.But we were really successful, and earned ourselves some Philly-sized Hoagies! My friend Matt (on the left) thought he would be too hungry for just one sandwich, so he ordered two. Turns out, they were each two feet long. Yikes!Before heading out to our final round of doors, we caught up with Barack. He thanks everyone for their time and would like to know if you'd donate just $25 more. (Has everyone else been getting 5-10 emails from Barack and Biden every day?) It was nice to catch up, and we promised to do everything in our power to be sure he takes West Philadelphia on Election Day!
I'll try to keep up with our events over the next three days as we phone bank on the "Barney Mobile," (a purple SEIU union bus), ready signs and chants for rallies, and generally tear up the pavement. I'm definitely starting to feel that brotherly love, and it's just Day One! Anyone else getting involved in a swing state this weekend? Go to www.moveon.org to find ways you can help.