Better Election Pics

Thanks to Margaret for capturing some better photos from our New Hampshire election volunteering experience! Here you see the Triumphant Trio (Margaret, Zac, me), then Zac and I dorking out over our spreadsheet that was used to report our regional return numbers to the big wigs in Manchester, and finally a bunch of the hardy souls who made it a great experience...

Waiting Game

When I turned over the page in my beautiful Nikki McClure woodcut calendar to November, I didn't realize how accurately this month's verb and image would describe how I've been feeling. I am in a lull, waiting to hear if I'll get a job, trying to make something of every day despite feeling pretty low about the whole affair. It has been a long and sorry wait. Some places that I've interviewed decided to postpone their search due to the economy. One place said it was because "Mercury is in retrograde." One place said my skills were too similar to those of their existing employees, and that leaves only one job that might still come through. I've had three interviews with them, but the last one was a few weeks ago. I'm not hopeful. I think I'll be re-starting my search from the ground up, and that means I won't have a new job until January, if I'm lucky. It is really disheartening.

A wise person advised me to make sure every day is "structured and stimulating," so that I don't get too down and waste away in our apartment. So, I'm trying to get my consulting work taken care of early in the day and try to do at least one invigorating New York thing in the late afternoon/evening. Yesterday, I went to my first Gallery Talk at MoMA and loved it. The docent was fantastic, describing selections from their Contemporary collection. They have free Gallery Talks every day at 11:00 and 1:30, so that is a good option for me. I might go back tomorrow.

We're also getting excited for Jeremy's Open Studio Night tomorrow. Once a semester, Pratt opens all the studios to the public and (hopefully) people from the art world in NYC scout through them for new talent, and friends and family are also welcome.

We also had a nice visit with Jeremy's Aunt Pat and Uncle Tim, who took us to a Moroccan place near Times Square. So much light! Obviously some people are making money in this town -- I just need to figure out where I fit in...

Election Reflection

It is accurate to say that I both hardly remember and will never forget the last 48 hours. Right now, I am most moved by how much everyone -- women, men, softies, and non-softies -- can't stop describing their election nights as filled with tears and tears of joy! My friends Zac and Margaret and I could not stop the tears as we watched President-elect Obama's speech on a big screen bar TV in Boston late on Tuesday night. Just looking at our beautiful First Family and listening to Obama's inspiring message was too much. I can be proud of being an American in this world again. But back to some highlights from NH... please excuse the long post...

* I spent about 24 hours in Rochester NH with friends Zac and Margaret. When we arrived at 8:30 PM on Monday, things were not well organized. The Obama headquarters had been under the direction of an 18 year old until then. Zac and Margaret have been the paid staff of campaigns in the past, so they were worried. I have volunteered for campaigns for years and have a certain love of efficiency and organization, so I was worried. We jumped in to help start organizing things for the throngs of volunteers expected the next day, but had to stop for sleep around midnight. This photo is from our hotel room shortly after midnight, when we realized it was now Election Day! The blurriness of this self-portrait reflected our state of mind, but our enthusiasm is undeniable.

* We woke around 6:00 AM to get working. Zac and I were assigned to be poll monitors at various locations throughout the day. We were there when the poll opened in the tiny town of Milton, NH, at 7 AM. I can't believe it, but we both teared up saying the Pledge of Allegiance with all the poll workers that morning! Our job was to sit behind the people who check off voters on the rolls, recording who was there to vote (that info got reported to a huge database called Houdini so targeted canvassing could take place later that day), and we watched for and reported irregularities.

* There was a amazing voter turnout, and a great sense of camaraderie among poll workers, us Democratic monitors, and the Republican monitors. At one point I reported to the volunteer lawyer at our poll that I overheard the workers say they "may not have time to record all absentee ballots," and felt that was an important thing to correct.

* At 5:30 on Tuesday, we went back to Rochester HQ and I was asked to prepare the Excel spreadsheet we would use to collect all the results and report them to the state leaders in Manchester. As the calls came in from our six wards, Obama and the other Democrats were ahead in every ward! Kerry had won Rochester by only 14 votes in 2004 -- Obama won by over 1000! We were jumping for joy! We left around 9:00 to drive back to Boston. Other favorite memories...

* Some of the most dedicated volunteers in Rochester were Canadians who came down to volunteer for the whole week. Canadians for Obama!

* Seeing hundreds of people from all walks of life making the effort to come out and vote. They included a man who had recently had a stroke and had trouble walking and telling the poll worker his name, but he stood in line to vote. People who got off work, brought their kids, and taught them about voting. Black men (a real minority in Rochester NH) who had never voted waited in long lines for same day registration and voted. A woman who had a small seizure standing in line to vote, but she stayed long enough until she could fill out the ballot.

* A great volunteer who worked all day named Lee told us at the end of the night that she hadn't been motivated to work on a campaign since Adlai Stevenson ran in '56. Her enthusiasm represents why Obama could win this election. He represents change people believe in. He represents hope for a better future. Now, he represents us.

Hope

I'm packing to leave Monday morning on a bus for Boston. From there, I'll meet my friends Zac and Margaret and we'll drive up to Rochester, New Hampshire, where we'll volunteer until Tuesday night for Get Out The Vote efforts. NH is a state that is likely to go for Obama, but we want to make sure. Whether or not the landslide I'm hoping for comes, I want to know I did what I could to ensure this country has a hopeful, inspiring, intelligent leader, and we can begin to crawl out of the hole we've dug for ourselves with the rest of the world. To quote Obama, "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

For some extra inspiration, I walked around one block in my neighborhood (the block next to ours) and took a photo of every form of Obama support I could find. It resulted in 22 photos! Many of the people of my neighborhood (Clinton Hill) probably never dreamed a man of color would be elected president in their lifetimes, but are they seriously motivated by it. Here is a selection of the photos. I hope they inspire you to get out and vote, no matter who you vote for...

Marathon Joy

We watched and cheered on the NYC Marathon for over two hours this morning, and it was incredibly fun and exciting! The route goes just two blocks north of our apartment, so we arrived on the route before the lead runners had gone by. Here is a photo of the lead women with their police escort - very cool to be so close to such elite athletes. In two other photos, you can see how the street quickly filled up with runners. We happened to stand across from a huge Baptist church whose choir and band played and sang the entire time. It was rocking, loud, uplifting and beautiful, and the runners LOVED it. In the photo showing the church, it is the runners who have their arms up in the air, cheering on the band! I estimate more than half the runners were from foreign countries, and many of them wear their country name proudly across their chest. In addition to the awesome diversity of the runners, spectators all around yelled out support in the languages of their countrymen and women. I tried to represent for the many Scandinavians who ran by.

Fake Blood, with Poncho

Last night we went to see the Upright Citizens' Brigade annual Halloween show "Killgore." The UCB is an improv theater company in Chelsea that was founded by a small group in the 90's, including Amy Poehler from Saturday Night Live. We didn't realize their Halloween show has ledgendary amounts of fake blood until we were handed plastic ponchos at the door. We sat in the second row, but people in the first row had ponchos and a tarp over their laps. You can see the fear in Jeremy's eyes. The show was silly, pretty funny, and definitely bloody (although we came away only slightly damp). Here's a shot of the set before the show, and during clean up...

Halloween Warning

Just a little reminder of what can happen when Halloween falls on a Friday...

Moboxo In Action 2008

What is Moboxo, you might ask? For the uninitiated, I will explain. Moboxo is the time honored martial art that combines the physicality and spirituality of all martial arts in one. It is rarely practiced these days, but here is a unique glimpse into the world of a group of committed followers of the tradition. You can learn, but must always keep, its secrets.

Jeremy's Birthday Weekend

Jeremy's birthday is actually Tuesday, but I'll be leaving Tuesday evening for New Haven, where I'm facilitating a day-long workshop at a University the next day. So, we had to do it up with birthday-style this weekend! On Sunday, we had brunch at a great neighborhood place and then went to Fort Greene Park for Halloween Fest. The highlight of the Fest was the Dog Costume Contest -- our favorite was The Golden Parachute -- a small boxer wearing a golden cape with dollar bills all over it, dragging a golden parachute behind him. We also spotted a large pet pig on a leash (see photo), which was pretty random. Then, we headed to Broadway and took in the musical Chicago, from the second row! We got half-price tickets the day before. The dancing and singing were truly amazing. We are excited to go back to Broadway, once some visitors show up who want to go!

Jer and the Silkscreen Shop

Here are some photos of Jeremy at school in the silkscreen shop -- he is taking Silkscreen as one of five classes this fall. Here are photos of him working, showing off his screen, and showing a print that isn't done yet. So far, he really loves Silkscreen and may take it again in the spring. And yes, there are three cats that live permanently in the shop. And yes, Jer says they were cute at first but now are annoying because they sometimes hop on wet prints. This is probably Pratt's way of keeping the mice population down...