Slumber

I am not an American citizen. I am not able to vote for your presidents, or donate to your candidates' campaigns, but I am glad that at least somehow, I am able to witness a turning point in your history, because somehow, I hope, this is a turning point in all of our history.



Grant Park was amazing, and insane, and kind of murderous-- I went with a friend and we arrived at 6pm, working our way through masses of people (Did you see my hand waving on CNN, flist?) until we finally saw the metal detectors that meant we were nearly there, and when we broke into open space we found-- yes, even more people.



We watched CNN while we waited for Barack Obama to appear, and I am sure the rest of the world was tuned in as well, but the vibe in Grant Park was electric. Every time a state was called in favour of Obama everyone cheered and broke into spontaneous chanting.



They called Pennsylvania first, far too early in the race, enough to cause drama, so I've heard. McCain was winning in Texas, but surprisingly, not by much. CNN was turning Star Wars on us, and we waited with bated breath. Wolf Blitzer was excited about calling one state, but we knew it was Ohio. Then NPR called Virginia, just a few minutes before precincts were scheduled to close in the West Coast.



At 10:00:01, CNN called the election, and Grant Park went wild. They quieted to hear McCain speak, booed when he mentioned Palin, but when Obama came onstage and addressed everyone-- well, that was the high point of the night. And man, that speech will be written about, studied, remembered, in the years to come.



So yes, America, you can. Yes, in fact, you did.

And yes, I was there.

Tonight I went to a reading of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman in Downers Grove, which is about forty minutes away by train. I wish I'd taken better pictures, but my camera is quite crappy without zoom (even though I was sat at, like. The second row.) and as I was holding a venti decaf to warm me up, I wasn't able to take a photo of the theater where the reading took place.

But it was amazing. Neil Gaiman isn't quite the rock star he is in these parts (his visit to Manila was still pretty awesome by any standard-- everyone was pumped and excited and man, there were so many people) but perhaps the fact that we were in a large formal theater may have reined people in a bit.

He really is an amazing person to see and hear in person. The chapter he read us was fantastic (also, you must hear him read, I know the videos of his readings are out there somewhere), and I am thoroughly enjoying The Graveyard Book (2/3 of the way done, lol) and highly recommend it to all. (I wish I could point out specific things, but I am tired and about ready to sleep.)

Now I know my last few posts have been frantic panic about school and projects and not having enough time for everything, and I still don't have enough time for things, but. I would not have missed this for anything. It kind of puts things into a bit of perspective-- these are the things I'll remember always, that I'll always relish having experienced, and screw papers and presentations-- I'm never going to tell those stories to my grandchildren. :|


PS: I don't actually mean the text in the icon. :| It was the only decent icon of him around, minus the wording, lol.

I decided two weeks ago, purely on whim, to visit the capital after Terminus. So, um. As of 1 hour before departing for the airport, I have:

• my boarding pass
  
• the confirmation number for the hostel
  
• a mostly packed bag
  
• dressed myself

I don't have:

• directions from the DC airport to the hostel
  
• any other plans

This is the sort of thing that will either be made of epic failure or epic win. Wah or wahoo.

OMG YOU GUYS WHAT WAS I THINKING?

California has legalized gay marriage.

By the afternoon, gay and lesbian couples had already started lining up at San Francisco City Hall to make appointments to get marriage licenses.

Unlike Massachusetts, California has no residency requirement for obtaining a marriage license, meaning gays from around the country are likely to flock to the state to be wed, said Jennifer Pizer, a gay-rights attorney who worked on the case.

I love how it fits. :D

I thought that campus shootings had truly ended in the 90s, that we've heard the last of them and Virginia Tech was simply an aberration. But 7 people have now died in Northern Illinois University, just ten months since Virginia, apparently, and it's just. Short of doing bag checks at every entrance of a campus to ensure our own safety, this is really the kind of thing that no one can predict, let alone prevent. (Do you really think it's a matter of reaching out to the potential gunman in your class? Someone somewhere will tick in a way you would never see coming, I think, and we're all fucked up one way or another and it's just a matter of how we cope, and this is just where others' coping leads, sometimes.)

The thing with tragedies like this is that they should not be happening this frequently. I want to know what's going wrong but I'm inclined to think that these things remain senseless and that there are no answers.

So yesterday I helped a bit in cooking for a Nigerian dinner that one of my hallmates wanted to throw, and for some reason I skipped the dinner. (Apparently, Line, it went on, nobody just told me. :| And I didn't check. :|)

Anyway, today I found a bottle of malt beer on my table as a thank you for the help, and it embarrasses me that since I'm currently reading A History of the World in Six Glasses (what, the title wouldn't make you want to read it?), I've found it amusing that I got "paid" in beer like they did back in Egypt and Mesopotamia.

God I'm such a dork.

I am loving Halloween so far. Today on the way home from the supermarket after buying candies (SWEET ones, none of this sour candy nonsense Line seems to think is NORMAL, yeesh) for little children I walked past a guy dressed up as the Nightcrawler, complete with the blue skin. At work earlier, just before my shift ended, a group of four college students dressed in costume reverse trick-or-treated and gave us candy. There has been a candy basket in the office too, for the past two days.

Back home, around this time people don't give out candy randomly to strangers, and neither do they dress up in costume. Instead they light candles and go to cemeteries to visit dead relatives while they drink and gamble and use the crypts for tables. :|

Needless to say, I prefer what happens over here.



This be my first pumpkin! Ever! Yesterday my groupmates and I were planning on practicing for our presentation that evening but one of them wanted to check out the pumpkin carving, which we did, and you know. Four foreign kids experiencing Halloween for the first time and you know what happened. :|

Pumpkin carving til 3:30, god what were we thinking?

But anyway. That was my pumpkin. :| It's meant to be Harry Potter except I didn't have time to carve his lightning bolt and his mouth because NO MORE TIME PRESENTATION IN TWO HOURS OHMYGOD.

Next year I shall finish Harry, though. Yes.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

I cannot decide if Colbert running for the President of the United States is:

a. no longer funny because Man of the Year was already made.
b. even more hilarious because someone actually took it this step further.