Now it’s real

It wasn’t, not even close, when this spot was made….but it is now. Aaaaaaaaaaaah, I can finally unplug the pollster.com IV and stop worrying all the time.

Report from the polls

LINES at our polling place this morning at 8:15am.  We waited about 30 minutes to vote.  We’ve never seen a line there, in twelve years of voting.  And they had extra booths set up inside, so it wasn’t for lack of preparation.  The weather:  after a dousing pre-dawn storm, we have gorgeous blue sunny skies and 70s at the beach.  It’s a very good day for turnout in Los Angeles.

At last…

Because I’ve still got suffrage on the brain, and because “at last” is a phrase likely to be uttered a lot tomorrow, I share this image of Justice and American Womanhood (both personified as women) embracing, captioned “At Last,” from a 1919 women’s suffrage magazine…

Molly Ringwald!

I may dig out an old pink prom dress and cut my hair asymmetrically just to celebrate her appearance in this fine ad:

Kids pick Obama

Nickelodeon’s “Kids Pick the President” event has predicted the winner in four of the last five presidential elections (and yes, Nickelodeon has been around that long).  And this year, with over two million votes cast, Obama won, 51-49.   Kids also picked Obama, 57-39, in the vote sponsored by Scholastic News–and the results of that one have only been different from the real election twice since the 1940s.

Unofficial No on Prop 8 Ad

Bonus video this week–h/t to Ron Buckmire (first saw it on his blog).  I’ve added a No on Prop 8 button to my hat, and have two No on 8 signs in the yard.  Vote No on Prop 8.

My appalling birthplace (fifth in an infinite series)

Did you see the Biden impersonator’s rant against Scranton (Biden’s birthplace as well as mine) on the opening skit of Saturday Night Live this week?  Scrantonians did.   Read the comments–half are very very angry locals, and half are ex-Scrantonians who completely agreed with the sentiments expressed and thought it was hilarious.  (The title “my appalling birthplace” probably tells you where I land.)   Here’s the transcript:

“I come from Scranton, Pennsylvania, and that’s as hard-scrabble a place as you’re going to find. I’ll show you around sometime and you’ll see — it’s a hell hole. An absolute jerkwater of a town. You couldn’t stand to spend a weekend there. It’s just an awful, awful sad place, filled with sad, desperate people with no ambition. Nobody, I mean nobody, but me, has ever come out of that place. It’s a genetic cesspool. So don’t be telling me that I’m part of the Washington elite, because I come from the absolute worst place on earth — Scranton, Pennsylvania. And Wilmington, Delaware, is not much better.”

Of course it’s not quite true that nobody but Biden has ever escaped the place.  Hilary Clinton’s father Hugh Rodham and several former Pennsylvania governors (including Tom Ridge) are also from Scranton.   And the urbanist Jane Jacobs.   And at least one astronaut came from my high school–Paul Richards (no relation) walked in space–see how far someone will go to get away from the Northeastern PA?

My appalling birthplace (fourth in an infinite series)

New rule for the coming month:  whenever NPR starts a story with a polka band in the next few weeks, I’m likely to be cringing from the Northeastern PA accents (and “logic”) that follow soon after.  Especially if (like this morning) they also play a sample of that polka band’s version of “Margaritaville.”  Shudder.

An Obama pin I made is posted on Daily Kos

I don’t know the diarist (tarheelian51), but he heard about the pin from Kevin, who I don’t know either; but Kevin and I have a mutual friend Christa.  Got that?   The story probably makes more sense at Daily Kos, except they have me living in Portland (where Christa lives).  Not that I’d mind living in Portland, of course…  All this came together through the Obama Craft Project, anyway.

The “Why I Should Be Vice President” meme

Found this meme at Heather Prescott’s Knitting Clio… but please, no write-in votes. I refuse to shave my legs for the inauguration, anyway.

1. Sparsely populated home state: Well, no–but Pennsylvania is a very good state for a VP to come from. Joe Biden and I are from the same town, in fact, so I’m giving myself credit here.

2. Foreign policy experience: I’ve been to Canada (Quebec), and Italy, and England and Scotland. That’s four more countries than Sarah Palin has visited, if you don’t count military bases.

3. Curious: I’m an independent scholar. I do research for absolutely no pay or glory. Put me down for a yes here.

4. The hair: I can pile up my brown hair into a messy ‘do just as well as Sarah can.

5. Age: 42.5. Close enough.

6. Economics: I did take an econ course once! (Did pretty bad in it, but it was required for a social studies teaching credential.) I pay the bills on time, and I’m an excellent thriftshopper.

7. Education: Yeah, too much and then some.

8. The Mommy thing: I win!  I’ve got two cute blonde kids, a boy and a girl, and one uses a wheelchair. When do I move into the White House?

9. Lipstick: Sure, I can do that. You want Crushed Rubies, Toasted Mocha, Fuschia, or what?

10. Personality: Probably closer to Cheney-surly than Palin-perky, but I can be civil for short periods of time.