Democracy In Action

October 10, on our 2. day of early voting 

I was the 1,000th early voter 

at our downtown location. 

Santa Fe county had 35,000 early voters, 1/3.

While 4 years ago I voted FOR Obama, 

this year I voted AGAINST Romney.

November 6th, Election day, I needed to get up at 4 am to present myself promptly in my position as Election Judge (no longer Clerk) at a nearby polling station. Trouble was I had dropped my deceased Mom's ancient plastic alarm clock. No matter how many new batteries I replaced, the clock would come to a stop eventually by 12, a mystery to me. So I tried my cell phone alarm, but it rang once only during at least 6 trial attempts, another mystery. So I got my client (yep, I was desperate) to lend me her alarm, only the sound was not exactly alarming! I often wake up in the early morning hours, but will I wake when I really need to? I asked the precinct Election Judge, my boss for this Election day, for the extraordinary favor of a wake up/back up call. In my anxiety I gave her, out of my mind, obviously running on automatic, my old, long since replaced phone number, one I have not used in 20 years which did show something of my state of mind!

I did not treasure the idea of riding my bike in the pitch black darkness of night, dressed appropriately, befitting an Election Judge and the solemnity of the day's occasion. Due to daylight savings time two days prior,  dawn had turned on the light already on the horizon, while the air did not feel frigid, but invigorating as we had experienced unseasonably warm temperatures this fall and earlier in spring. My half hearted hopes of encountering some wild life, such as another coyote or maybe a bear, found no fulfillment though. 

My boss wore purple with bright orange hair, while my co-worker wore greenish yellow unevenly hacked off, wild hair. Unable to resist the day's pay, this young girl stuck her nose in to some kind of cookoo comic book every chance she got. I had squeezed myself in to some undergarment several sizes too small,  not worn in years. Over it I wore layers of silvery/gray  elegant rayon and silk and my favorite 2-stranded white pearl necklace. I brought enough snacks for a week it seemed inside two bright red canisters. Most returned home with me. We worked 14 hours straight, unable to leave the building, unable to check in on the progress of the elections. Nothing that might compromise our professional, neutral stance was allowed; no computers, phones, newspapers, or magazines. 

Most of the day I served helping voters feed their paper ballots in to the voting machine and rewarding them with stickers and my enthusiasm for having done their civic duty. After a bit of an early morning rush voters trickled through, there was barely ever a line, any waiting any problem of any kind. Well there was the woman that wore a Pro Life T-Shirt - illegal and a man that resorted to a newspaper for help in voting - also illegal, and one kid wearing an Obama T-shirt. 

Most endearing was a dad I had watched enter the polling station, hand in hand with his 4 year old daughter. I observed them get their ballot, go to a booth, as it happened right near me. I then heard them talk and heard the little girl say "Obama" as I watched her fill out the oval of her choice. Dad talked some more with his daughter as he progressed down the ballot and they came over to me to surrender their voter permit, a dinky piece of paper, but important in our system of checks and balances. As they fed their ballot in to the machine, their vote got counted, I was able to reward them with their sticker, proof of them having voted. The girl's focus and seriousness really touched me. Dad did not just drag his daughter along, but engaged his daughter, only 4 years old, and made his daughter aware of choices and I believe empowered her as a girl and future woman and citizen. 

Most of the day I spent near that voting machine which also meant near an official Republican Observer, but unable to discuss political matters - a kind of hell, definitely for me. We had received 950 ballots, the voting machine registered 363 ballots, we ended up destroying 600 unused ballots. We were 5 that worked that precinct for 14 hours, the voting machine did cost thousands of dollars and then there is the expense of the technicians and the supplies and others I am sure I have not thought of. All of it for 350 votes! Seems to me that one vote costs us too much. But at least we now have a good system with check and balances all the way through that should make voting a breeze with barely any lines and any waiting. I want to believe in our democracy and I was honored to play a small part in it with actually great enthusiasm and impartiality.

Relief!

Rachel Maddow (msnbc) brought it home to me:
We are not going to reverse Roe versus Wade.

We are not going to repeal Obamacare,
nobody will be refused insurance due to prior conditions.
Medicare will not be turned in to a voucher system
We are not going to spend more on the military
than it asked for.
We are not self deporting.
We are not going to start a trades war with China.
We are not going to bring Dick Cheney back.

Nate Silver was right.
Romney was wrong.
We now hear that Romney was shell shocked by the results.

Bill Maher says it like only he can: 'When even Michele Bachmann can't run as a proud Republican, your brand identification has reached "pink slime" territory." 

Romney lost in all four of his home states: MI, MA, NH, CA.
Obama won in both his home states: HI and IL. 

Romney was so deluded, he never even considered losing. He had no concession speech on hand. Imagine him and his realizing the extent of their delusions, oh it goes so much further and deeper then this election. He must have believed in god having ordained him to the presidency of the United States. His house of cards must have collapsed, his mind ought to have a rare opportunity to glance a peak at Maya, the world of illusion and the world of projections we all live in. Romney's spiritual advancement though is a concern between him and his god. 

My world has just gotten a little bit saner with the resounding defeat of Romney's and the extreme repugnant Republican's right wing agenda. 

Mrs. Obama in Kenya, our President's Grandmother

Tammy Duckworth (D) a disabled Iraq War veteran was elected to represent the 8th congressional district of Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Same sex marriage is on it's way in and so is decriminalization of pot. 

The '3 strikes - you are out', or is it in (prison) rule got relaxed in California.

Romney will not get to appoint the next Supreme Court Justices, instead we will be able to rely on our President's good judgment on a matter of extreme importance due to the long lasting effects of those positions.

Bush has done enough damage, his administration's advisors will not be able to continue their ill fated attempts at dominating the world to benefit US interests, based on US exceptionalism.

Relief!

Autumn

Relief!

Nice knowing you, kid.

I was able to sleep very well

after having listened to the vice presidential debate 

while also having followed it on twitter, a first for me.

I agree with Robert Reich

"Biden delivered: 

Passion, conviction, indignation, incredulity at Ryan's lies. 

He stood up for average working people.

Robert Reich's grades:

Passion and conviction: Biden A, Ryan C.

Logic: Biden A-, Ryan C+.

Facts: Biden B, Ryan D. 

Closing: Biden C, Ryan B.  

I gave Vice President Biden an A on the skewed CNN poll.

Biden ought to keep on smiling

because he clearly displayed his expertise and experience

in foreign affairs.

Biden's outrage at the ridiculous Republican assertions

were absolutely justified.  

I actually share with Republicans

 a belief that life begins at conception.

I consider abortion a very tough choice to make, 

one that I never ever would want to make,

never had to make for myself,

and never ever would want to impose on another woman!

I appreciate our Vice President 

not forcing his beliefs on the rest of us.

"If Obama had been this strong, 

the election would be over now." 

Bill Maher tweet

"My father used to say, 

"Don't raise your voice, 

improve your argument"

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Vice-President Biden argued masterfully.

Relief!

No Attack On Iran!

Julian called upon us to stand for Peace.

 Linda Durham, activist extraordinaire, 

 twice participant in a Gaza Flotilla,

stood for Peace

and against a build up to war with Iran.

 George, an almost retired state worker,

took time out of his busy day to stand for peace

and against the rhetoric of war on Iran.

Seasoned activists, 

Sumo and Isabella watched patiently from the sidelines 

as the protest progressed.

Unequivocal support of Israel 

will no longer do. 

 International tough stances and wishing for what once was, 

will no longer do.

 A groaning and moaning patriarchal system 

is on it's way out.

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is it's current poster child.

A new world order is inevitable.

I Voted Early Today!

I voted today!

Accompanied by my pups

I personally fed the 1,000th paper ballot 

 in to the voting machine

on this second day of early voting.

I voted AGAINST the R & Rs,

against the truly repugnant Republican stance.

Simplistic slogans will never illuminate 

my differentiated point of view, lol, 

but they do make for rather succinct statements.

Expect a post on Republican atrocities to follow shortly.

Shadow Play

Spinning Heads

4 year old spins on his head.

My head spins on credit cards

- metaphorically speaking.

Today's Tidbits

I snatched away a garish purple balloon flower about to be discarded by a mom and passed it on a little ways down the road to a blond little, lanky, timid boy - little pleasures that bring on big smiles.

Checking out at the fruit and vegetable store, a guy entered and asked for eight, yep 8 carry out plastic bags. I mentioned the exhibit at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich that featured humongous amounts of plastic trash recovered from the ocean. He told me to get a life. I should have told him to get an environmental conscience.

I am for calling each other out on unacceptable behavior as long as it is done with civility. I myself was about to walk out with the plastic bag of groceries, despite the two bags I had brought, but caught myself and repackaged.

My last tidbit of the day, I got once again a security guy at our park to help me move those heavy metal benches back in to their proper places. Visual peace of mind is nothing to sneer at, the act contributed greatly to my well being for that moment, alas those moments never last.

Grant Me The Serenity

 Grant me the serenity

 to live juicy

to take my time to smell the roses

to notice the writing on the walls

the poems in the skies

to feel my feelings

be they blue or pink.

Diaphanous

 

Living Juicy

"I always thought you were pretty" out of a mouth with missing front teeth. The guy had climbed a tree for me two years ago to shake and throw down those remaining apples left up  high. Sumo, my little dog, running alongside my bike,  barked ferociously at him, while I smiled and waved in passing.

One Mexican painter with bike, from out of town,  a stranger to us, barely able to communicate in English, expressed a desire to paint me in my shocking pink scarf, colorful dress, white hair and camera slung over my shoulder. He said not in his more normal surrealistic style, but "realistic" (rolling the r which pleased my Swiss ears) and proceeded to inquire about my work.

Onward to hug a charming lady with a glorious big smile who recognized me from when I had passed her earlier on bike with Sumo. Recognizing her Texan twang, I challenged her on their hideous, most certainly uncivilized death penalty law. Turned out the lady had served on death row and was in full support of it! We parted with a hug, big smiles and a casual promise to engage in civil discourse given another opportunity.

International Day Of Peace

Taken with my new/old Olympus C-8080

With such beauty all around us

why do we have to indulge in war?

May we reflect and act upon darkness and light
and act today, no matter how small or big,
for peace
love and 
light. 

Happy Equinox
May Peace Fill Our Hearts 

9/15 - Part 5

Mid-September marked another milestone that offered more opportunities for reflections. September 16th is when I first set foot on US ground at Kennedy airport, 24 years old, a cultural refugee from the banking capital of Europe, in search of my soul, my creative expression, my deeper, or as I like to call it Lower, rather then Higher Self.

Four years of living in Manhattan had made my prior dream of living in San Francisco, another big city, unappealing. My coat to coast trip across the US that started out in a Hippie Magic Bus had given me a taste for the immensity and awe inspiring beauty of this land. It had gotten me to wonder about a small American town, pleasing and diverse enough to be worth living in.

28 years ago we arrived in the City Different in his red Toyota pick up. At the Coop bulletin board we found a note for a rental of a studio on Cerro Gordo, a rather picturesque part of town as it turned out. Next day he had a job and I was stuck up on the hill. 30 years old I had not yet learned how to drive a car, although I had taken every opportunity to practice behind the wheels of his truck earlier that year. (Curvy highway 1 got on his nerves though and he would dampen my enthusiasm by taking the steering wheel back in to his own experienced hands.)


Anemic and suffering a staph infection I had a rather hard time adjusting to what must have been the altitude. I woke during the nights struggling to catch my breath while during the days I felt tired and limited not only by my energy, but also my budget, I was broke. It took me nine months to find a position in a spa in my profession as a massage therapist. The spa business was then not yet booming as it would be in only a few more years. It took less then two weeks to realize that I was not for all practical purposes in Mexico, even though we are only a six hours drive from the border. Was I surprised when the rooster woke me to a magical, white landscape. It had snowed in late September! These were the times before computers and learning anything and everything on the internet. Following my inner guides and promptings it had never occurred to me to consult outer guides such as maps much less tourist manuals. So our 7,000 feet and then some altitude was a big surprise to me. Having grown up with measurements of meters and centimeters, I still have trouble comprehending the meaning of anything measured in feet, my Germanic mind just can not grasp such an imprecise measurement.

I did learn to drive eventually. I still feel thankful that parallel parking was not part of my test. Downtown parking and traffic congestion had not yet become a  problem, there still were plenty of open spaces downtown and wherever the eye would wander off to, especially for one who had lived in one of the most densely populated cities of Europe, in Amsterdam.

So here I am having lived in the City Different now for 28 years. Some friends thought I had it made, that I was living the American Dream once I owned my own home and drove a brand new car. Of course living the American Dream was not, has never been and will never be my dream. Living a life of consumerism and materialism is not what brought me to the US. These days I wonder if in an attempt to escape the suffocating materialism of my place of origin, Zurich, Switzerland I fell from what we would say 'Regen in die Traufe'?

OCCUPY - 1 YEAR

While Occupy lost significance since it's sudden explosion on to the world scene, locally I can report that a handful of activists have been meeting regularly three, then two times a week until recently. One young man told me only yesterday that it is because of  Occupy and his involvement that he stopped drinking and that he is now a committed activist involved with several local progressive groups. Occupy brought concerned citizens together, we now recognize each other and know we are not alone in our discontent. While the movement failed to thrive and bring meaningful results, the nerve that it hit is still raw, still hurting and is still in need of real change.

I Too Want To Cry

This past week has been tough. I blame Michelle Obama for my having succumbed not to one, but two chocolate croissants within 15 hours (one in the evening and one the next morning.) This after not having touched croissants ever since Trader Joe's had stopped offering them, maybe a year ago. 2 for $2, made locally, seemed like a deal and we all know that cheap or free calories do not count. But my binge did not stop with those croissants. Despite having abstained from bringing home bread and dairy products for the last 3 months, my need for consolation made me devour not one, but two, then three tubs of Tapioca pudding, topped with my own spicy apple sauce and garnished with a medley of fresh fruit that featured figs and strawberries. This kind of fare can make me dismiss any notions of  fresh vegetables, not to mention meat and abandon any notion of a reasonably balanced, healthy diet. 

So back to our First Lady, surely an image of grace, poise and intelligence. A First Lady we could be proud of and with a 65% approval rating many are kindly disposed of. Certainly my facebook contacts  (no friends there) were gushing and sharing in their joy and pride, including the head of our local Upayah Buddhist Monastery.

What boggled my mind and created a storm in my heart and mind is especially the following of Michelle Obama's speech given at the Democratic Convention:

... "when it comes to his character and his convictions and his heart, Barack Obama is still the same man ... being president does not change who you are. No, it reveals the who you are."

Long  befuddled silence.

Really?

Guantanamo is still open, men are still imprisoned without due process despite Obama's promise to close the facility four years ago.  Admittedly the practice of water boarding and torture has supposedly ended, but Obama, a constitutional lawyer, is the same today as he was four years ago, really?

Despite winning the 2009 Nobel Peace price our president made Afghanistan his cause and shattered our hopes for real change. How can we justify President Obama's kill list?

Drone Attacks (according to US government)

Total US strikes since 2004: 337
Total Obama strikes: 285
Total reported killed: 2,524-3,247
Civilians reported killed: 482-852
Children reported killed: 175
Total reported injured: 1,204-1,330

President Obama, a constitutional lawyer, endorsed the hunting down and the killing and then unceremonious disposal of Osama Bin Laden, rather then demand proper due process, even deserving of the worst of criminals. In this way our President, the man I voted for in dire hopes for real change, continued to carry out the Bush policies, in deed not just in rhetoric.

When President Obama, the former tireless community worker, appointed Geitner he chose to support a corporate bail-out, really a give-away to the banks on cost of the people.

Michelle's husband just signed on Shell for the further exploitation of our earth - arctic drilling for oil. This the same man we rooted and hoped for four years ago - really? This is not the change we had seen coming, we had longed for, hoped for, wished for.

Our First Lady must cherish her own organic garden, but she endorses the appointment of a former Monsanto vice-president to the FDA. Due to her now public support of her husband and asking for four more years our pretty First Lady is complicit.

 Yes, we have a very photogenic, very charismatic First Lady with great oratory skills, but let us not lose sight of some very important facts while swooning over our attractive First Lady who must be smart enough to know truth from fiction. Vote for the Obamas, but not with rose colored glasses and not with eyes clouded by the mist of sentimentality and sweet nonsense. Vote for the Obamas because the alternative is just too grim to contemplate. Vote for the Obamas and work towards alternatives for the near future, for third, fourth and fifth party nominations. For this year's election we have no better choice then the Obama's and not voting should not be an option. Voting is our civic responsibility. Let's not gloss over the differences of red and blue, they exist. Let's not get stuck in wishful thinking, in wanting a world other then the one we live in. Michelle Obama's audience shed tears during her speech and I too wanted to cry - from my sense of betrayal by the Obamas. Such a charismatic, likable family, seemingly so genuine, easy on the eyes, bright and articulate. I will vote, likely with tears of bitter disappointment, but I will vote for the Obamas although I will take no pride,  while I really would wish that I could.

9/11

Dancing Girl With Dog

We should consider every day lost 

on which we have not danced at least once.

Nietsche

Dancing Girl With Dog

Sitting Boy With Dog

Tidbits

Cute little bunny crouched down low, tucked in it's long translucent pink ears and flattened itself to the ground. Hunkered down, it held still, played being a rock, and successfully avoided detection by my two terrible terriers, but not by me. Such observations may be the norm in the boonies, but they are not common for me living downtown for more then a quarter of a century.

In my 'hood a sign on a gate on Gomez street reads Chien Lunatique which ought to scare any malevolent spirits away, although I do wonder how many of our local souls would comprehend the Gallic tongue? No linguistic skills needed I believe for this sign I have not yet put up, but might:

I chatted up a Linguist the other day while watching the light of yet another pretty, yet ordinary sunse while we hung out and about our community garden. The man, an obvious to me for no good reason foreigner, revealed that he was based on the East Coast, Boston to be exact, which might just be another country with it's different mentality. He came to our City Different on account of an invitation, a temporary job, to help establish a museum for native languages. As is so often the case, the project got initiated by a probably filthy rich white guy. While the Dineh (Navajo) people are supposedly supportive, the Tewa Native American Pueblo people are supposedly not. Who can blame them after the abuse they suffered not so long ago by white folks that stole their children and forbid them their mother tongue! They are, I am told, afraid that the sacredness of their way of life, which includes their language, will be taken away from them. Being an Anglo, the strange idea of a museum for languages immediately appealed to me. I will be curious to learn what will come of it.

On the political front, my TV is now permanently disconnected after repeated 6 month-intervals of non-use, my provider had enough and we parted ways amicably. This means that I do not have to follow the repugnant Republican drama and was successful in avoiding all of the speeches given at their convention, including the one given by our own governor, Susana. What caught my attention though was the Palinesque Bachman, who insinuated on the Piers Morgan show that single (but whole, not lacking a husband, thinking women) would vote for Obama, we have to assume on his  admittedly not insignificant sex appeal.  Meanwhile the properly married ones would vote for Romney. What an insult! A study supposedly claims that 60% of single women support Obama, only 31% are for Romney. So let me state publicly my support for President Obama, an antidot to the repugnant R & Rs.

Floppy ears may not be our President's most sexy feature, but I support him despite Guantanamo still holding prisoners for indefinite detention, without due process, despite his authorization to kill, rather then apprehend Osama Bin Landen, despite his choices in Afghanistan, and despite his outrageous  appointment of a former Monsanto vice-president and lobbyist to the FDA, and despite a lot more objections! We have no alternative for this year, none and we all know it. Those pushing to vote for a third party candidate are kidding themselves and are playing with very dangerous fires. A few votes could make a whole lot of difference this year. Are You In? It just so happens that I got an offer to work a voting station on election day. It will be another long day, but I do believe in our privilege and our right and our responsibility of voting.