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.