May I Be Excused Please

As a child, the memories of my mother's Thanksgiving are limited to the clink of glasses and the scrape of forks against china plates removed from their behind glass storage for one day only and woe to anyone who broke one, the press of interloping male shoulders at a full table, the gross sense of too much and of a sick belly.

As a teenager, my memories of family Thansgiving are of sullen slouching, of glaring through the curtain of overly long bangs, of being singly chastised for eating seconds and of a sick belly. 

As a young adult my memories of my sister-in-laws Thanksgiving are of loud and louder voices, of the piercing screams of children, of vomit on the table, of too much and of not enough, and of a sick belly.

As an adult my memories of my brother's Thanksgiving are of sitting across the table from my childhood abuser and pulling down the curtains of my eyes so the hate didn't shine out, of pretending everything was tasty and wonderful when every bite stuck in my throat and of a sick belly.

As a woman who makes the hard choices, my memories of my own Thanksgiving are of laughing stories, of crappy food, of small warm arms wrapped around me, of using the china and no longer caring, and of a belly full at last. 

Change is Coming

So the night before last (or as my great Niece Naya used to say - lusterday - aka last night yesterday), I had this dream in which I kept shitting change.  There was no actual shit involved, so it was easy to just pick it up and use it directly from the....er.....source.

I hope this is an indication that money is coming my way and that it will arrive with less effort than taking a good dump.  That the stream will be continuous and without needing it to be cleaned up.

I hope it isn't that my dream muse has an ornery sense of humor and that major amounts of change are coming my way like it or no.  She does have that rep, so this one got my attention.

I must say that trying to keep the change from collecting in my ass crack was a full time thing.  And seeing the change that stuck to my behind made me laugh.  So at least there was that.

Election Day!

It's election day!  My trip to vote took less than five minutes!  THAT my friends is a good start to a good day.  But the blog post isn't about that, I just wanted to crow a bit. 

Today I have the inestimable Billie Holiday stuck on a continuous loop in my head.  "God Bless the Child" to be exact.  I keep feeling like it is related to the election, but maybe it's more a reflection of where I am.  Anyway.  There's always room for Billie.  So without further ado....

Fired UP....and ready to GO!

It was my great pleasure to see Barack Obama in person in Cincinnati yesterday.  This entailed a 4 hour wait in line in fairly cold windy temps.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely.  I think everyone should see the President at least once in their lifetime.  And wouldn't it be cool if everyone also got a chance to meet and shake his/her hand?  Why yes, that her is an optimistic nod to future elections. 

Barack has been busy in Ohio, as has Romney , as has every major political candidate from every presidential election I can remember - which BTW kiddies is quite a few.  I can't remember the last time a presidential candidate came to Kentucky, this despite the absolute IRONY that Air Force 1 lands in KENTUCKY and the motorcade then drive the 20 or so miles through KENTUCKY to get to Cincinnati.  You would think that my home state would warrant a stop by a candidate, but it never seems to. 

It's not that Kentucky has only 8 electoral votes up for grabs.  Barack is heading to Iowa whose electoral votes are 7.  I can only assume then that the lack of Presidential visits is the following:

• That KY is so solidly red that the blue dudes consider it hopeless and write it off and the red dudes consider it a done deal and not worth time, effort and money to campaign a red state. 
• That KY and Northern KY where I happen to get my groove on are overshadowed by the so-called "swing" state to the north.  UGH!!!

Last week I was taking a lot of crap at work (I work in Cincinnati), crap that continued over the weekend about how my vote didn't matter because I didn't live in a swing state like Ohio.  I can't even begin to say how much that got under my skin.  I felt completely disenfranchised from the voting process EVERY TIME someone said this to me.  (PS - I know you all were kidding, but give it a rest).  While I have voted for several Presidential candidates that have gone on to win, those same candidates have NEVER carried my home state.  So every four years I trudge to the polls, wait in lines, and cast my ballot.  But it gets harder and harder to get excited about any election, but especially about one when I don't feel like my vote makes any difference at all, when I feel like my voice is never heard. 

Why doesn't your vote matter in the Presidential election?  Because of the Electoral College and the insane set-up that indirectly elects the President.  So, whoever wins the majority in Kentucky, wins all 8 of its Electoral votes.  For example 51% of the state votes Romney, 49% Obama - Romney gets all 8 votes.  And the 49% of the state that voted for Obama?  The voice of the 49% is not heard.  Pretty sure some absolute FUCKTARD designed this process. 

You might ask - So, if it matters that much, why not move the 10 miles north and be part of the decision making process?  My response would be that I have lived in Ohio and pretty much hated it.  Even that small displacement made me unhappy.  Kentucky is my home.  I intend to stay here. 

A better question in my eyes is why should my vote be DISCOUNTED just because the majority of people in my state vote a different way?  That is completely fucked up!  I just imagine saying that to one of my Ohioan neighbors and can easily visualize the complete hissy fit that would ensue.  As I said, it makes no sense to me at all. 

Why can't there be a direct election of the President by the people?  Why is it OK to do some actuarial kind of acrobatics to nullify any votes? 

EVERY VOTE MATTERS.  EVERY VOTER SHOULD BE HEARD. 

(And in the meanytime if you Yankees would ease up on the harrassment over the next two days, it would be appreciated.)