Milestones

so this is apparently my 301st post! WOO HOO!!

but that was off the subject. it was my birthday on saturday. and it wasn't thanksgiving weekend so people were actually able to make it to the celebration. so i really had a birthday party on my birthday. with cake and ice cream and i'll tell you this - cake and ice cream never get old and are never overrated. it reminded me of another birthday party i had many many moons ago, i must have been about 9 or 10 and my little sister was 5 or 6. we were so excited and could barely sleep for the week before.

at that time in my youth, my sister and i had dreams of becoming famous musicians in our future. my father had us taking recorder lessons and we didn't watch enough tv to realise that recorders have not been mainstream pop instruments for a while now. and we spent lots of time singing along to all kinds of songs - sometimes even harmonising!

we decided that it was time to show the world - at least the part that was coming to the birthday party - that we were poised for greatness. we would write and sing a birthday song:

the sun is shining
the sky is blue
we're here to welcome
a girl who's new
'cause it's her birthday
bum-bum bah-bum-bum bum-bum
yes, her birthday
bum-bum bah-bum-bum bum-bum

we practised and we were psyched. until saturday when we woke up to seriously overcast skies. what now? well, if we were going to be stars, nothing could stand in our way. we regrouped and came up with contingency lyrics:

the sun ain't shining
the sky is grey
but it's okay
it's still a wonderful day
'cause it's her birthday
bum-bum bah-bum-bum bum-bum
yes, her birthday
bum-bum bah-bum-bum bum-bum

i can't remember how the song was received but i do know that my sister and i still share music - even though she always insists that i am flat. but that's okay:
'cause it's my birthday
bum-bum bah-bum-bum bum-bum
yes, my birthday
bum-bum bah-bum-bum bum-bum

If Loving You Is Right, Please Let Me Be Wrong!

I am not what one would call a fashionista - I break out in a cold sweat at the thought of browsing a clothing store. I will postpone a shopping outing until the day of the event I need clothing for but I will say this: I think that clothing should make sense.



And, well, open-toed boots do not even begin to make sense. For all the things boots are supposed to have been invented for - warmth, protection against the elements and even just looking cute - the open toed boots just fail. I can't wear those in the rain, snow or just plain old bitter cold! And anyone who tells me I look good in them just needs a new pair of glasses. Sadly those boots are not alone. There are several items that boggle the brain:



The sleeveless turtleneck! Because if my neck is cold, chances are my arms are too. In a related category is the sleeveless poufy coat. My friend who drives says it's handy when driving because then your arms are free to drive but your body is warm and you can jump in and out of your car and run errands without getting too cold. I love her dearly but it still doesn't make sense to me.

Thong underwear. I mean, who invented it? Was it a bully who wanted to spread the suffering on a global scale in one fell swoop. Oh, oh, I've got it. It was someone who was bullied in their youth. Their revenge was convincing the world that the "cool crowd", who tend to be former bullies, could only become more awesome by subjecting themselves to walking around all day long with a wedgie. Seriously, a wedgie? Very little is less uncomfortable.

Wearing tights as trousers. That is just not a good look. They are called tights and sold with hosiery for a reason. I'm just saying.

I know some will call me an outdated old fart and tell me to get with the times. "It's cutting edge," they'll say. And I shall wonder? Cutting the edge of what? Sanity?

The Finish Line!

And was I ever ready for it. This is what it felt like: there was an election in 2004 that left me, quite frankly, stunned. George W Bush? Again? Really? Where had I been living? Apparently in some insluated bubble. Then, it seemed as though the day after the election, 200 people crawled out of the woodwork and declared their intention to run for the next president of the United States of America!

Bah Humbug, I thought. A little bitter yes, but this is because, despite the world leader tendencies that some have accused me of having, because I was born in a country my parents were not from, I cannot be a president anywhere. At least not anywhere I know of (I am very open to moving to a private island in order to serve as the great leader). But I digress.

They say the election season was about two years long but it feels a heck of a lot longer for me. This time around I had a stake. After tiring of people making decisions that I had absolutely no say in (real or perceived) I was finally able to become a citizen and thus exercise my right to vote. I could lie to you and tell you that I was very blase and uncaring about the whole deal, but I am a terrible liar. I tried to resist. I didn't want to be disappointed as I had been in 2004, but I found myself being sucked in.

It is not such a bad thing though. I mean, isn't it better to vote knowing what is being promised? I mean, how else are you going to hold the president's feet to the fire? However, with an election season way longer than any human's attention span, I had to take many many breaks. This year, however, has been mostly elections, most of the time. I admit I got worked up, I was tempted to throw things at the TV, I shouted at it a lot, even though it never answered me back. And finally, the day arrived.

Let me explain. I left home just after I turned 18, in order to go to college in the US. I went back to Zimbabwe after graduation but had just missed an election. One of the first things I did was register to vote but I moved back to the US two months before the next round of elections. And went through 2 presidential elections where I was not able to vote, as I was not a citizen. Which brings me back to this point - my first presidential vote.

I walked over to the voting center (aka School) and joined the line that was coming out of the building. After being confused several times, I joined the line for my electoral district and just happened to end up in line right behind a guy in my building. Three people joined the line and they live the next block over. We share a courtyard (that none of us have access to). So we bonded by complaining about the dreadfully unmusical windchimes that one of our neighbours has and promised to throw a block party where we would reunite. It took nearly two hours before I was at the booth but the time was spent surrounded by patient and relaxed people.

I stepped behind the curtain to come face to face with what must be the oldest voting machine in the country. I wouldn't be surprised if it was rusty. It was a huge hunk of metal with a big red lever at the bottom and a bunch of knobs on it's face. The instructions were to pull the lever to the right, turn the knobs next to the names you wanted and then to pull the lever to the left. Of course I had a moment of panic - was I sure which way was left or right? Had I turned the knobs all the way? Had I missed anything? Finally I inhaled, pulled the lever to the left and stepped out of the booth. Some poeple get stickers declaring that they have exercised their right. I got a thumbs up from my neighbours and that was good too.

I headed out to work, stopping only to get my free coffee from Starbucks. I then spent a rather unproductive day, wondering how the voting was going around the country. I dashed out of the office to head to the subway. They were setting up an election center at Rockefeller Center and I paused to watch and take photos. I also picked up a map on which to tally the results as they came out, along with a red marker and a blue marker. I then went over to Ben & Jerry's for my free ice cream and headed out to a local bar to meet with friends to follow the results while wining and dining. Mostly wining took place. And me marking off the map, during which I was called both cool and a geek - and you know, cool geek ain't half bad.

The bar was packed, standing room only, with a rowdy crowd that reacted vociferously to any results that came out. The minutes ticked by and some felt the election had been determined as soon as Pennsylvania had been called. I would not be satisfied until it was called for real. I had lived through 2000 where an election was called for one candidate, then the other and then we lived in limbo for weeks. I was not making any assumptions.

Eleven pm rolled around and 30 seconds later the election was called for Barack Obama. The room roared, people wept and those behind the bar popped bottles of champagne that they sprayed all over us. I figured then that I wasn't the only one who had been sucked into the election. HiDef and I then rushed home so that we could actually hear the speeches made by the candidates.

And before I start getting all thoughtful and deep and meaningful about the future, I'll share some photos I took on election day while I try to find out if anyone else is giving away ice cream or cake... just because.