Do you see all the thought I have expended on this? Do you? If I would take this much time to think through my finances, I wouldn’t have credit card debt. If I would think this hard about world peace, we might have it by now. But no. I waste this brain power on vampire love stories in the Pacific Northwest. And I know at least two teenage girls who have done the same. Fear for America, people. We are the future.

The number wouldn’t matter, except that in August, the Youngest turned 13 and was able to join Facebook like her older sister and I. She was thrilled that she was finding so many friends and thought the was the queen of popularity. She proudly announced to us that she had 100 Facebook friends, and asked how many we had. The Oldest had over 500 (she runs in wide social circles because of her mother’s lifestyle). A little crestfallen, the Youngest turned to me and asked how many I had. Surely an old person like me wouldn’t have as many as a really cool 13 year old. I told her I had about 165 (this was pre-knitter/friend explosion). She was seriously bummed, not taking into account that I’m older than her, work in several different fields and have online friends. At that age, I guess it’s all about the numbers, not the circumstances that would explain those numbers.

Since then, we occasionally compare numbers, and I think she is always hopeful that she will surpass me. Today’s: Oldest, 590. Youngest, 147. Julie, 282. Facebook: helping me fuck with teenagers’ self-esteem and earn the “Evil” in Evil Julie since 2008.

When we eventually move to the new building, the one we all hate already because we will be crammed for space since no one thought ahead and took proper measurements? I can only hope that there is heat. That’s the only chance the new building has of competing with our current building, but regulated temperatures could go a long way towards closing the gap.

1. Where her nose and ears are. I was pointing out facial features on a monkey doll she has, and said “Here’s the monkey’s ear.” J would then say “Here’s Mommy’s ear” and point to her own, and I would follow suit, and then we would say “Where are Samang’s ears?” And she pointed to them right away.

2. To clap after good plays during a football game. Actually, she just learned how to clap after any play in a football game, but she just turned 17 months old. We’ve got time.

3. To say “apple.” I had brought the laptop over to J’s house to do some work yesterday, and Samang was entranced with the glowing Apple logo on it. I told her it was an apple, and she said “Ahhh-pull” for the next ten minutes.

4. Possibly the most important thing I taught her: how to do a fist bump. After a few false starts where she poked my fist with her pointer finger, she is now fist bumping like a pro and gave fist bumps to Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Rick, and Mama Julie. Repeatedly. We are still trying to do “thumbs up,” but that seems a little more challenging. At least now if Barack Obama sees her at the Inauguration Parade, she will be able to greet her new President:

I was cautious about this election. After getting kicked in the teeth the past two elections, I was skeptical that we wouldn’t see a third stolen election. I made nervous jokes yesterday that it was going to be historic one way or another: either we would have our first black President or we would have a country that was rioting because a third election had been stolen. I knew Barack Obama has what it takes, I’ve been saying it since before the primaries. And I knew the polling numbers were high, but I can’t trust numbers entirely. What I didn’t trust was that certain people in power wouldn’t try to steal another one. My faith in Barack was complete. My faith in the system, in tatters.

But last night, seeing first Pennsylvania go blue (yay for those calls I made to PA from the phonebank on Sunday!), and then Ohio (yay for the calls I made to OH last week!)…I knew something was happening. I felt hope surging through me like electricity. I turned to Lori, who is from Ohio, and said “Oh, look at the TV! Your state is BLUE!!!” and we went nuts. I left the party I was at shortly thereafter and went to the Upper West Side to watch the end of the night with Rick and the girls. We had sent the Youngest to bed shortly before 11, but the Oldest and one of her friends were watching TV with us at 11 when the polls on the West Coast closed. At first we all misread the title on MSNBC, and I remember saying “He’s the projected winner of what? Which state?” and then Rick said “He’s the projected winner of the ELECTION.” All hell broke lose, and we ran out onto the balcony to hear the sounds of New York City going nuts around us. Cheers, screams, horns honking, pots and pans banging together, and we were screaming right back at everyone.

The calls started pouring in then, and in the middle of it I saw a shot of Jesse Jackson crying and thought about how much this must mean to him. I heard a black man say that now he can tell his son that the boy could grow up to be President and not be lying anymore. And when Jordana called, I burst into tears because I thought of Samang, our little girl who is half white American and half black African, just like Barack. Jordana put the baby on the phone, and with tears streaming down my face I said “Little girl, you’re not going to remember it, but this is an important night. You can grow up to be President if you want to. You can do anything.”

This morning, I woke up with a smile on my face. There is work ahead of us. A lot of work. And I think you could see that realization in Obama’s smile last night. But I’m hopeful again. After eight years, the nightmare of Dubya is almost over, and we’ve got a smart, caring, thoughtful man as our future president. I hope he knows that his volunteer “army” as the press calls us, is still out here for him. Supporting him, and ready for him to tell us what to do next. Because this campaign has taught us that we can be an active part of this government, that our voices will be heard, and I think we all want to continue in that great work. We’re waiting, President Obama. Just let us know what you need.

This was the scene in my polling place this morning. I kinneared it with my cell. I have NEVER seen this many people there. Ever. In my tiny district, I was number 82 to vote, and that was at 8:15 this morning. And all I could think of while I waited for my turn to vote was “How great is this? How awesome is it that all these people have come out to vote?” I almost had tears in my eyes because this is democracy in action in a way that we don’t normally see it, and it excites me to see voter turnout like this.

If you haven’t already voted, GO VOTE. Right now. Starbucks will give you free coffee if you do. Ben & Jerry’s will give you free ice cream. I will give you respect.

If you’ve already voted, good job. Now go ask all of your family and friends if they’ve voted. If they haven’t, take them to the polls. Get them out there. Because as we all know in this country, it’s not over until the votes have all been counted three times, and even then we’re not sure if the elections have been stolen. Get out the vote!

I totally stole that from Regan, by the way. I had to, because it is full of win. And it’s all political all the time here until the votes are in, so we might as well have some fun with it.

I made calls for the Obama campaign again last night, and might again tonight and tomorrow night. This election has got me edgy, and the only way I can take the edge off is to make more Get Out the Vote phone calls. Because if I’m making phone calls, I am not sitting around watching MSNBC and wondering how the state I grew up in can be so damned close to red right now.

The phonebank yesterday gave me a lot of reasons to hope. It’s what’s termed a “mega call center,” because for the first time in history, the Obama campaign is outsourcing its phonebanking in battleground states to volunteers in neighboring states. In my case, they get lots of giant spaces in New York, get as many volunteers as possible together in those places, and we make the get out the vote calls in Pennsylvania. That means that the campaign volunteers who are actually in those states can be freed up to go knocking on doors and get out the vote in person. It also means that the poor people in Pennsylvania are feeling completely besieged, because we’re calling them and knocking on doors and so are the McCain campaign people. I ended up introducing myself yesterday as a volunteer for the Obama campaign and then saying “I realize that you have probably gotten calls from everyone and their brother today,” which broke the ice because they admitted that they had and started laughing.

But anyway, my reasons for hope: when I came in at four, they had me sign in on a sheet of paper that had room for about 15-20 sign ins. They were on sheet number 21 for the day. I’ll let you do the math, because I suck at it, but people were coming in in droves. This was just one of the call centers in Brooklyn. I can only hope that all the other call centers were that busy with people who really want a change in goverment to happen tomorrow. The other thing that inspired me was that people had brought their kids along with them. I saw kids as young as 8 or 9 making phone calls because they wanted to help, too. I love the idea of getting kids involved in politics in such a real way. Let them know that they can make a difference too, educate them that their voice matters, and in ten years you will have a generation of young people who are eager to vote. I really believe that Barack Obama has the potential to do that for the next generation, and I’m glad of it. We’ve been cynical about politics for as long as I can remember, and it’s nice to see that changing.

I know we’re all tired of this election. I know we’re tired of getting bombarded with phone calls, and negative ads, and junk mail. But if we hold on for another 30 hours or so, and get out and vote, and drag our friends, family members, co-workers, neighbors, etc. out with us…we might have what we’ve been craving for a long time. Change. Don’t give up now, we are so, so close. And as Barack said, “You don’t run up *to* the finish line, you run *through* it.” Keep running, people.

You may or may not have noticed, but the blogging has increased here at Casa de Julz, and it’s all political. This is intentional on two counts: one, I have to blog about it because this is what I’m thinking of all the time right now, and if I don’t get it out somehow, Zuul will escape out my chest ala Alien by Tuesday. Two, this is my own personal get out the vote campaign. I know not as many people are reading the blog these days because I was such a slacker for months on end, but if I can get anybody who is reading it to get involved in some way in a campaign or even more simply, just to vote? I will be happy.

Voting information, in case you don’t know your polling place, or what ID you need to bring, or what the regulations are about wearing campaign buttons or t-shirts in the polling place, or you just want to find out about voting rumors you may have heard, can be found here: VoteForChange.com (rumors and everything other than polling place info can be accessed through the links at the top of the page).

Someday, when I can think about something that isn’t politically related? I will tell you how Samang was a champ at the trick-or-treating. Kid has brought me candy. Now she just needs to learn to bring me some beer.

I have this wild hope growing inside of me right now, and all it will take to make it a reality is if ordinary people like all of you remember that in America, the people are supposed to have a hand in politics. We choose who we want in office, we have the right to call them and say “Hey, I think you should oppose this law or support this one,” and we can actually run for office if we have the inclination. Focusing on that first one, I really believe that in an election like this, choosing who you want in office doesn’t begin and end with going to the polling place. There are things you can do, like calling people, driving elderly and disabled to the polls, knocking on doors, and if you don’t have the time to do any of that, you can give money to a campaign so it has the funding to hire people who do.

I know. You’ve been hearing stories about how much money Obama has in his “war chest.” That money is getting used up big time right now. The last few days of a campaign are an all out blitz, getting the candidate and his endorsers to key rallies all over the country, running ads to combat robocalls, getting out the vote, all of that. If I have to eat a little ramen because I’m giving the man another thirty dollars today, then so be it. That money is needed.

Volunteers are also needed, however. If you go to BarackObama.com and feel like skipping the donation part, on the right hand of the page are tons of ways that you can volunteer. You can make calls (either by finding a phonebank or from your own house), or knock on doors, or drive to a battleground state this weekend and get out the vote there. Jordana and I made phone calls from a phonebank Wednesday night, and it was really kind of great. We were calling people in Ohio to make sure they knew about early voting and were taking advantage of it (early voting means that if for some reason they tell you you’re ineligible to vote, you have time to report that and still get your vote in before Tuesday). We talked to people who had voted for Obama and people who hadn’t, and while Barack Obama is the candidate I support, as long as I heard that someone voted I said “That’s awesome. Thank you for doing that.” That’s what it’s all about, people. Voting. Getting people engaged in our government again. I was nervous as hell when I started making calls, but fairly soon I remembered these were just people like I am, and this election is something we’re all going through together.

Tonight we’re taking Samang out for her first trick-or-treat, but tomorrow we start back on the phone calls. Because time is running out, and I am still way too unsure of how this is going to turn out to sit back and relax. There will be time for that later.

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