election night

holllaaaa! we did it. as john mccain said, "the american people have spoken"! what an amazing few days. i am speechless (for once). the people came out in masses. they waited in lines for hours - losing pay - to vote. we have elected the first african-american president and our lives and the lives of our children, will be different. my neice and nephews will grow up in a world with racial barriers broken. not even just racial - it's for all of us. for all the minorities, blacks, asians, latinas, gay, trans, women - i could go on. but THIS is what MY america is all about. i'm overwhelmed by emotion. i just keep bursting into tears - i can't seem to control it. as 8:00 pm came and keith olberman called barack obama the next president of the united states, i ran outside and there was my neighbor jillian and her friends celebrating. i was so overwhelmed with excitement that i embraced and cried with perfect strangers. it was unbelievable. then i called my parents, of course! they knew it was me. i've been crying with joy and excitement and hope - i did it again this morning seeing the front page of the oregonian ... OBAMA's Time is what it says. but like he said last night, it's OUR time. we can't let this excitement wane and president elect obama can't do it alone. this is a revolution and i for one plan to be a part of it.

i'm having a slight problem with the closeness (still) of proposition 8 in california. i can't believe the residents of california can support that kind of hate and discrimination. not all the votes have been counted but it's 88% of precincts in and it's 48%-52%. this reminds me of oregon's "one man/one woman" of 4 years ago. constitutional measures like this are dangerous. it's been proven that the same sex marriages that have been celebrated over the summer have no effect on anyone except the people who love them.

however, i'm not going to let them get me down today.

the countdown begins ... 1/20/09