Why can't we be friends?

In response to Ona's comments about the deaths in the NW and the news reports about the deaths in NJ, I would like to remind people that a sale is just a sale. Please, just break a nail. Don't break somebody's back.

Have we really gotten to the point that sans Tickle Me Elmo, we'll kill people for Christmas gifts? Chill the freak out people and know that life is not about Wal-Mart. God help us all if it is.

Next time we stampede, can't it be for a good cause like civil rights? Go stampede in California- that's where they really need aggressive shoppers. Except, there, the prize is fairness and equality. Now, that would be some kind of Christmas gift.

Surviving the Black Death

The number of people: innumerable. The number of sales: immeasurable. The collateral damage: painful.

Yes, folks, that's right. I survived Black Friday. This crazy lady went at midnight last night with her crazy grandmother, brother and brother's gf to a mall. Then, at 2am came home and slept till noon, got ready and went all afternoon to another mall with the same grandmother and Mom. Some may think this is crazy, but I call it tradition.

Now, the rain was setting in, and the mall was at full bustle. We commandeered the sales at Ann Taylor Loft, AE, Macy's and Nordstrom. The last one was less a sale and more a gift card run. We were suffocated with the lack of air at Ann Taylor Loft, and I was forced to run reconissance for a red sweater in my mom's size. Phew! I got it.

After several pit stops along the way, we made it back to the car around 7pm. I threw the packages in the trunk and promptly broke my thumb nail. Yes, broke it. OUCH!

Badaged and safely at home, I would venture to call this Black Friday a success. Oh wait, I opened a Macy's account to get the discount. Drat!

Milk

All I have to say is go see Milk! It was phenomenal. Learn why you should never stay a silent "us."

Hope everyone is in a happy turkey or tofurkey coma!

Turqui Day

First off, Happy Thanksgiving everybody! OR Happy Turqui Day! (in good Spanglish)

Lately I've been wondering why Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to blend together. This year, especially, it feels like the whole of the holidays brings with it a particular cheer. Everyone is losing their money, and every family feels like Christmas will be just that much tighter. However, maybe tighter is a good thing? (Follow me here...)

Sometimes we get so caught up in the shopping and the gift giving that we forget just how much it means to have each other for another year (month or even day). Maybe buying less will cause us to refocus and retool just what it means to be a family member and a citizen. Barbara Walters had footage of Obama handing out turkeys at a Chicago soup kitchen (like him and Michelle do every year), and it reminded me that it's those moments, the ones where we really connect to strangers, that are the true meaning of togetherness.

So, today, instead of my usual pop-political comparison (rant- however you choose to see it), I would like to simply remind you to give thanks for another year and for a new beginning. And, let's all remember to say a special prayer for the turkey who didn't live to see 2009.

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Good Cheer!

The Boob Tube

Lately I've been watching a lot of TV. Now, TV watching prior to college was a daily ritual. I used to do my calculus homework in front of the TV. Cable-less college came, and I found myself online more than ever but rarely in front of The Boob Tube.

Funny enough, I was traveling recently. Crisscrossing the country, more accurately, and what do I spy on every TV in every airport? Sarah "the pitbull" Palin. Since when did losing become the new winning? I don't recall seeing a losing politician on TV since Gore came out with his An Inconvenient Truth. Even then, however, it was for an environmental crusade. It was socio-political not "look at me four years in advance."

Our friend, the Pitbull, seems to be another story. Since when did we get so fascinated by the lives of "ordinary" people? (I say this not to discredit her but rather to emphasize her own self-perpetuated identity as an "everywoman.") Oh, wait, I forgot. Survivor and Big Brother. So, essentially, Sarah Palin is the next great reality TV series. I can just see it now: Sarah and Todd's Alaskan Brood. The Alaskan John and Kate.

Just next time I'm traveling, which is soon, I pray to God that every channel is devoid of her folksy charm and now trendy glasses. I'd rather watch her in my own time on TLC.

This is a hard world...

So after speaking with several people, all jobless to some extent, it seems that this really is a hard time. You may be reading this and thinking, duh!, but it really is.

And my political musings continue in accordance with this. President Obama faces something of a perfect storm. To use a common Whitman metaphor, the "captain" is really on a sinking ship. The eye of the storm is approaching, a Christmas calm, and then 2009 will bring with it uncertainty and God knows, some important changes. Obama faces not only the burden of the storm but also that of navigating the ship. And much like the Flying Dutchman, this ship disappears and reappears in various iterations with various directions and courses. There is no telling who will fall victim to its reappearance. Recently, it seems, the whole world is (not just those ships in the Bermuda Triangle).

As all of us seek employment, stability and care in this time of great uncertainty, we should remember that just as ships pass in the night, land may be just beyond the horizon. In the meantime, pray that "the prize we sought is won" and that our new Captain steers this unpredictable ship to its charted destination.

Greatness

Rosa sat so that Martin could walk.

Martin walked so that Obama could run.

Obama ran so that our children could fly.


Puts it all in perspective.

Dancing, singing and acting

As I was watching a recent episode of Family Guy, I realized that musicals just follow me. I don't ask for it. They just do.

And I know you all now expect some analogy to current politics... this one doesn't have one. Perhaps that's just a sign of how when an election ends, other things still happen. People will still randomly break out into song and dance, and I'll remember every lyric and melody.

Wait, people don't actually break into song in real life! Oh well, I guess some realities are better as dreams and some dreams as realities. Thank God for politics and entertainment.

"Let me entertain you..." Name that musical!

Great Line

"Tacky Mexican stuff is so kitschy. What? I can say it. It's my heritage." -Ugly Betty

Say Yes to the Dress

So, I was sick of watching political pundits and reports and, instead, watched mindless TLC- Say Yes to the Dress. Let me tell you, watching a bunch of women and their mothers try-on and decide upon wedding dresses puts it all in perspective.

How? you ask. It's simple. By watching the ludicrousness of wedding shopping, it becomes clear that the circus that is a Presidential election is not so different from all the other circuses in our lives: A lot of people are invited. Everyone bickers on how it's supposed to happen. Tears are shed. Battles won and lost. AND in the end, the wedding still happens.

So stop complaining about Palin or the outcome or the cabinet or the madness, and just maybe, we should all just say, "Yes to the process" and keep on living. Just like the "perfect" wedding dress, a President-elect often loses his appeal after the Big Day.

Remember, it's just a dress.

A New, New Hope

To say I am still in shock is an understatement. I don't think I will fully comprehend last night until Inauguration Day.

Something I have seen echoed by many peers and is an age old mantra within the black community is that there is still so much work to be done. With this success comes great responsibility both domestically and globally. We have taken the first steps toward asserting change; however, we still have a long way to go.

"Nobody told me that the road would be easy. I don't believe He brought me this far to leave me."'

May we all remember that Obama is just a man. A powerful and transformational man but a man nonetheless. He will commit errors. He will have great successes. BUT through it all, we must, as a people, take it upon ourselves to better the Nation. He is just one man. We are many people.

Don't let the dream of Hope become a dream deferred.

The Gentleman from Illinois

I would like to share some thoughts:

Today a mixed race man. An African-American man. A white man. A Hawaiian. A Chicagoan. A Kenyan.

Is the 44th President of the United States of America.

A man who 40 years ago could not sit in the front of a bus. A man who would have been hosed in Selma. A man who would have been in chains 150 years ago. A man who would have been denied the right to vote because he could not "pass" a "literacy" test.

This man is the President-elect. This is the man who will move the country in a new direction. This is the man who invigorated an entire generation of cynical 20-somethings. A man who believes in something greater than himself. A man who understands his great responsibility. A man who understands his privilege.

Barack Obama. Mr. President. Welcome to The West Wing.

VOTE VOTE VOTE

Everyone- no joke. Do not speak to me if you don't vote. (International, non-citizens excluded from this threat)

No talking to me if you don't vote. I'm that serious. As serious as a heart attack. Tough love. Tough love.

See you out and about exercising your right!!

VOTE

So today's message is.... go VOTE! I don't want to hear any excuses. Tomorrow is election day, and this election is NOT in the bag.

Exercise your right. And please, drive safely.