In honor of Obama's winning the primaries in Wisconsin and Hawaii, I am going to have a very special sandwich. Grilled Wisconsin cheddar cheese. With pineapple. (Pineapple for Hawaii). And bacon. (Just 'cause it tastes so good - and there is good meat in Illinois where Barack lives.)
Sweet. Savory. Delicious.
I'll call it "Obama's WiHa" - Wisconsin. Hawaii.
Get it?
Eat it!
20 February 2008
19 February 2008
Obamamania - No, He Is NOT the Messiah!
By now, you know who my candidate of choice is for the position of POTUS. In case you need a little help, it is Barack Obama. I like him because I think he is smart and honest. I believe we deserve a smart and honest leader. Because I think he is smart and honest, I hope he will surround himself with smart and honest people who will advise him to do smart and honest things.
My politics aren't complicated at all.
Classism annoys me the most of these "isms" - No matter what rung we're hanging on society's ladder, someone can classify us. If no one classifies us - we classify ourselves. Most "isms" are about power. Classism works to seal perceived power, and imagines power where there is none.
Do I think all the "isms" will disappear when Barack Obama is elected POTUS? Not at all! I do think that he will help level the playing field. He will make it difficult for one group of people to wield power because they have money or position. He will also make it difficult for people to throw up their hands and say, "We're powerless." Most of his campaign has been grassroots - and I believe that the grassroots movement will continue into his election. I have to believe it. I need to believe it.
Yesterday's newspaper (either the NY Daily News or NY Post) ran an article on the energy of Barack supporters and how his grassroots campaign has taken off and caused a lot of positive energy. The article went on to suggest that some people believe Barack is the Messiah. Now, I believe we have suffered under Republican rule - particularly under a certain Republican's rule. I think history will agree with me, and generations will laugh at us after they pity us. I believe Barack Obama will help us out of this mess we are in. Will he bring us out of this mess? Oh, no! That is not his responsibility. It is OUR responsibility to save ourselves. He will just be a good leader. I think he will show us how to help ourselves.
We do not need a Messiah - we need a President.
Our first responsibility is to vote!
Good for a giggle: Slate.com has the Encylcopedia Baraktannica : http://www.clearspring.com/widgets/47b48c584dc30217?pid=47b5d3c231acb047
Thisjustin: Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Founders have endorsed Barack Obama's campaign for POTUS. They have named an ice-cream: Cherries for Change. Ohhh! Can I vote twice? I'll do just about anything for cherries! (I hope there's a ribbon of chocolate to be found...)
I am really fired up right now - are you ready to go?
My politics aren't complicated at all.
At the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama stated:Now, I want so desperately to believe this. I blame a lot of the splits in our society on the "isms" - and I am SICK of the "isms" - particularly sexism, racism, and classism. I don't identify as a feminist because I think feminists do to men what they accuse men of doing. Brining our accomplishments and abilities to light is a good thing - but putting down men is not good. Racism is just awful. I am sick of the social construct of racism, the institutional construct racism - I am sick of racism period. There are people who keep their heads in the ground and say that "racism doesn't exist!" - and they are very wrong. There are people who could use a little time in the shade so they can stop attributing everything to racism. They dilute the reality of racism - and racism IS very much a reality.
"there is not a liberal America and a conservative America—there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America—there's the United States of America."
Classism annoys me the most of these "isms" - No matter what rung we're hanging on society's ladder, someone can classify us. If no one classifies us - we classify ourselves. Most "isms" are about power. Classism works to seal perceived power, and imagines power where there is none.
Do I think all the "isms" will disappear when Barack Obama is elected POTUS? Not at all! I do think that he will help level the playing field. He will make it difficult for one group of people to wield power because they have money or position. He will also make it difficult for people to throw up their hands and say, "We're powerless." Most of his campaign has been grassroots - and I believe that the grassroots movement will continue into his election. I have to believe it. I need to believe it.
Yesterday's newspaper (either the NY Daily News or NY Post) ran an article on the energy of Barack supporters and how his grassroots campaign has taken off and caused a lot of positive energy. The article went on to suggest that some people believe Barack is the Messiah. Now, I believe we have suffered under Republican rule - particularly under a certain Republican's rule. I think history will agree with me, and generations will laugh at us after they pity us. I believe Barack Obama will help us out of this mess we are in. Will he bring us out of this mess? Oh, no! That is not his responsibility. It is OUR responsibility to save ourselves. He will just be a good leader. I think he will show us how to help ourselves.
We do not need a Messiah - we need a President.
Our first responsibility is to vote!
Good for a giggle: Slate.com has the Encylcopedia Baraktannica : http://www.clearspring.com/widgets/47b48c584dc30217?pid=47b5d3c231acb047
Thisjustin: Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Founders have endorsed Barack Obama's campaign for POTUS. They have named an ice-cream: Cherries for Change. Ohhh! Can I vote twice? I'll do just about anything for cherries! (I hope there's a ribbon of chocolate to be found...)
I am really fired up right now - are you ready to go?
12 February 2008
Time for a Gratitude List
I like to keep a Gratitude List, so I do. The list is very personal, and usually doesn't lend itself to publication - BUT - this is MY blog, it is MY list - and I'd like to share this segment with YOU...
Here's what I am thankful for today:
Here's what I am thankful for today:
- Nieces and nephews. I saw two nieces and two nephews this past weekend. One nephew was in his high school's production of "The Wiz" - he was the Lion - and he was fiercely wonderful. The other nephew is eight years old. Suffice it to say that you haven't lived until you've had a pillow fight with an eight year old. It is a sheerly joyful experience. My nieces are lovely. One niece is a very happy person, secure in herself, and really nice. The other is very quiet and reminds me of me. She is a very nice person. (I am not putting their names in my blog because I am protecting their privacy.)
- I just listened to J.S. Bach's Violin Concerto #1 in A minor. Few things are better than music. (With the exception of nieces and nephews!)
- It is snowing right now. Everything looks as if dusted with confectioner's sugar. And, I swear it - the snow is falling to the rhythm of the music.
- Peanutbutter and grape jelly sandwiches are the absolute best things in the world. The truest comfort food. Even goes well with Merlot.
- My sisters. One is a bossy pain-in-the-ass. The other isn't. Both have a quiet grace. They are really generous and have done wonderful jobs with their children. Both made me an aunt.
- My grandmother, Sissy. She is 97 years old, and still pretty sharp. Sometimes she surprises me with her observation. We were watching television on Sunday. Someone was being interviewed, and she noticed that "Hannah" was spelled the same way front and back. My grandmother noticed a palindrome, yet cannot understand why we aren't celebrating her wedding anniversary on the 28th of this month. (Reason: my grandfather has been dead for over 20 years!)
- My dog, Bella. I never knew I could love anything as much as I love my dog. She has me well trained: she gives me a look, then she walks backwards to me and sits down. She gives me another look. This tells me she wants a back rub.
- Glaser's Bakery. It saved my ample beeeeeehind. Enuf said.
- My aquarium. I have a pleco who has grown from one inch to over 9 inches in less than two years. I have a sword fish who just hangs in there. And there are two gouramis. One is very aggressive. Both are beautiful. They are relaxing to watch.
- I am grateful for the end of the day - especially when I need to go home and get in bed.
05 February 2008
I Voted Today!
Today I cast my vote for my candidate, Barack Obama, and for ME! He's running for President of the United States of America, and I am running to be a delegate for him.
Pack rat that I am, I requested and received three paper ballots: one for my scrapbook, one for Sissy, my grandmother in Washington, DC, and one for my Aunt Sarah in Louisville, KY. Now, seeing your name on a ballot in a booth and on paper is BIG ego food! So I walked down the street with the HUGEST grin and kept staring at my name. (#6 under Barack Obama!) A man - a rather handsome man - stopped me and asked me why I had "those" - I explained that I am on the ballot, blah, blah, blah. He laughed and said he had to take them from me because it was illegal for me to have them. I guess he thought I was going to give him some lip, because he was surprised that I didn't. He was just doing his job, and I didn't realize I was doing something wrong.
He took the ballots and tore them into little tiny, teensy, weensy pieces and threw them in the trash can on the corner of 88th and Second.
My bubble wasn't totally burst because I can get a copy on the internet. If there isn't a copy on the 'net, there is something in existence that I had a brief moment of celebrity. (Even if the celebrity is just in my head.) The other reason it wasn't burst is because I accomplished what I set out to do - VOTE.
I'll never forget his eyes - and I hope I get elected.
Pack rat that I am, I requested and received three paper ballots: one for my scrapbook, one for Sissy, my grandmother in Washington, DC, and one for my Aunt Sarah in Louisville, KY. Now, seeing your name on a ballot in a booth and on paper is BIG ego food! So I walked down the street with the HUGEST grin and kept staring at my name. (#6 under Barack Obama!) A man - a rather handsome man - stopped me and asked me why I had "those" - I explained that I am on the ballot, blah, blah, blah. He laughed and said he had to take them from me because it was illegal for me to have them. I guess he thought I was going to give him some lip, because he was surprised that I didn't. He was just doing his job, and I didn't realize I was doing something wrong.
He took the ballots and tore them into little tiny, teensy, weensy pieces and threw them in the trash can on the corner of 88th and Second.
My bubble wasn't totally burst because I can get a copy on the internet. If there isn't a copy on the 'net, there is something in existence that I had a brief moment of celebrity. (Even if the celebrity is just in my head.) The other reason it wasn't burst is because I accomplished what I set out to do - VOTE.
I'll never forget his eyes - and I hope I get elected.
04 February 2008
Obama Mama!
I have been working on Barack Obama's campaign during the last few months. I turned 18 the year they let 18 year-olds vote and I am proud to say that I haven't missed an election - local or national. Voting is our right, our privilege, and it is exciting.
The experience has been good, and at times challenging. Lots of smart, young, and enthusiastic supporters have been working on the campaign, in the NYC campaign office and on the streets (this is a grassroots movement!), and I feel good about the future. I feel that someone is finally "getting it."
Throughout his campaign, Barack Obama has said, "I see one America!" I believe that's what he sees and wants us to see and be - one America. That's the kind of American I want to live in.
I fear that a lot of people don't. Yes, I feel good about the future, but I worry about the present, and sometimes, I curse our past.
While distributing Obama literature, ("Lit" is the lingo), an older, not yet elderly Black woman said, "I don't think Black people are smart enough to be president." I've heard similar statements from Black people, and from shock, shame, and sheer bafflement, I didn't respond. Yesterday, my tongue caught up with my guts and I responded, "Maybe it's the people YOU know." A man who owns a newsstand that I frequent - or, I should say used to frequent - remarked that he would die before he went to a Black doctor, and he sure wasn't going to vote for a Black man to be president. At a dinner party last summer, a woman who thinks highly of her opinion voiced her belief that this country isn't ready for a Black man or a White woman to be president. I asked her if she voted, and my assumption was correct when she said, "No!" I felt comfortable in telling her that her opinion didn't matter. (I liked her even less - and I didn't think that was possible.) A friend cannot seem to understand that it isn't just Black people who are supporting Obama. American people from all walks of life are supporting Obama. Some people don't get "it" and probably never will. Poor them.
I am supporting Obama.
I have always been an idealist, and for better or worse, for once, I can support a political candidate who I believe thinks like me and can include all people in his vision. Of course, I don't know anyone who thinks exactly the way I do. I don't want anyone to think exactly the way I do. I am an anarchist at heart, even though I know it isn't practical.
There is "something" about Barack Obama. Toni Morrison so eloquently put it: "That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom."
To all the naysayers who say (and think) that this country isn't ready for a Black man or a White Woman, or a Black woman for that matter, I say, "This country is ready for the RIGHT person to lead it!"
I urge everyone to vote. People are dying in other parts of the world for the right to vote. People have died in this country for the right to vote. You have the right. You have the privilege. VOTE!!!
(And if you live in my Congressional District, please look for my name under the list of delegates for Barack Obama. Yep! That's me. If I am elected, I intend to take the train from New York City to Denver, CO, where the Democratic Convention will be held. I will keep a blog of my American Journey - and tell you all about my adventures at the convention.)
The experience has been good, and at times challenging. Lots of smart, young, and enthusiastic supporters have been working on the campaign, in the NYC campaign office and on the streets (this is a grassroots movement!), and I feel good about the future. I feel that someone is finally "getting it."
Throughout his campaign, Barack Obama has said, "I see one America!" I believe that's what he sees and wants us to see and be - one America. That's the kind of American I want to live in.
I fear that a lot of people don't. Yes, I feel good about the future, but I worry about the present, and sometimes, I curse our past.
While distributing Obama literature, ("Lit" is the lingo), an older, not yet elderly Black woman said, "I don't think Black people are smart enough to be president." I've heard similar statements from Black people, and from shock, shame, and sheer bafflement, I didn't respond. Yesterday, my tongue caught up with my guts and I responded, "Maybe it's the people YOU know." A man who owns a newsstand that I frequent - or, I should say used to frequent - remarked that he would die before he went to a Black doctor, and he sure wasn't going to vote for a Black man to be president. At a dinner party last summer, a woman who thinks highly of her opinion voiced her belief that this country isn't ready for a Black man or a White woman to be president. I asked her if she voted, and my assumption was correct when she said, "No!" I felt comfortable in telling her that her opinion didn't matter. (I liked her even less - and I didn't think that was possible.) A friend cannot seem to understand that it isn't just Black people who are supporting Obama. American people from all walks of life are supporting Obama. Some people don't get "it" and probably never will. Poor them.
I am supporting Obama.
I have always been an idealist, and for better or worse, for once, I can support a political candidate who I believe thinks like me and can include all people in his vision. Of course, I don't know anyone who thinks exactly the way I do. I don't want anyone to think exactly the way I do. I am an anarchist at heart, even though I know it isn't practical.
There is "something" about Barack Obama. Toni Morrison so eloquently put it: "That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom."
To all the naysayers who say (and think) that this country isn't ready for a Black man or a White Woman, or a Black woman for that matter, I say, "This country is ready for the RIGHT person to lead it!"
I urge everyone to vote. People are dying in other parts of the world for the right to vote. People have died in this country for the right to vote. You have the right. You have the privilege. VOTE!!!
(And if you live in my Congressional District, please look for my name under the list of delegates for Barack Obama. Yep! That's me. If I am elected, I intend to take the train from New York City to Denver, CO, where the Democratic Convention will be held. I will keep a blog of my American Journey - and tell you all about my adventures at the convention.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
