I’m hoping to make time to visit England in February. It’s my first international trip (other than a trip to Canada as a kid, which I don’t count). I didn’t have my passport yet.

While I knew not to expect the 12-week-style delays of last year, I was expecting it to at least take 2 - 3 weeks before I’d get it.

To my amazement, it arrived yesterday - just 5 business days after applying. I don’t know if I’ve ever been that shocked on checking the mail.

I was anxious for it for a few reasons:

1. I didn’t want to seriously look into hotels and flights until I knew I had that in-hand.

2. I found out recently that I was born a dual-citizen (US and German). I needed to get this passport before I could go up to NY to the German mission and apply for a German passport as well.

Because it came so quickly (and if I get some news I’m expecting this week), I may even have the German passport before going to England. I don’t really need it while I’m in England, but if and when I go back to Europe, it means I can travel a bit more freely (read: quickly) between EU countries. Being the family history buff that I am, it’s also pretty exciting uncovering a birthright like that - especially one that connects me to the most difficult branch of my family tree to trace (my namesake no less).

Anyway, I voted for him (I believe I had 5 elections yesterday, and voted pretty typically - on a case by case basis that ended up with 3 democrats and 2 republicans).

I tried to convince myself that I shouldn’t watch the results come in. The last time I did was 2000, when I voted for Gore, and well… we all know how that one went. I gave in though. I couldn’t resist.

I ended up watching MSNBC (mostly because I’ve always like Chris Matthews). I was nervous as hell. After voting it got worse - I realized there wasn’t much more I could do but wait.

So I waited.

And thankfully I didn’t have to wait very long.

Around 11pm, they announced it - Obama will be our next president.

Something happened - a reaction I didn’t expect, because I didn’t realize previously exactly how “down” I really was about this country and our government. I cried - like a friggin’ baby. Not because we had our first black president (that’s historically important of course, but I hope it doesn’t distract everyone from everything else this election says). I cried instead because this huge weight was lifted - this incredible, heavy gloom that loomed over me for much of the last 8 years was gone.

Yes, Bush is still our president. But for the first time in years I realized that I could have faith in the American people again. I was finally proud again. We stood up, and said “Not anymore!” We took the country back, and can finally look forward to trying to heal - our economy, our relationships with other nations, and our relationships with each other.

I know everyone’s not happy about the results. Frankly though, I don’t give a damn. Those who feel that dread now can finally see what so many of us felt and feared for years. They called us “Un-American” while being so out of touch with what the American people really wanted themselves. I don’t see us doing the same. In time, I hope that most people will warm to Obama like I did (I know “all” never will). More importantly, I hope he earns that respect and warmth by finding ways to unite us after the divisions of the Bush administration.

I think everyone with an ounce of sense knows things won’t suddenly change for the better the moment he takes office - things take time. We took 8 years to fuck up this country, and it’s going to take time to fix it. What I’m finding amazing here though is that Obama’s helped a lot of folks realize that they can take steps to fix it - they’re not just puppets of their government. And for that, I’m pretty damned thankful. It’s exciting to see that excitement brewing in people who want to get involved. Let’s hope Obama keeps that spirit alive.

Listening to Obama’s speech, I didn’t hear anything overly fascinating. It was about what I expected, and he delivered it well as he often does. I was particularly happy to hear him reaching out to the international community though. Having so many international friends, colleagues, and clients, I often hear what others around the world really think of us beyond what we hear from our government or in the media, and frankly it’s been scary (even from people in countries that are supposed to be our allies). I think Obama will make an excellent diplomat, and I hope he steps up on that front.

Listening to McCain’s speech was similar I suppose. I figured he’d concede as gracefully as possible and not do anything to even further damage his party’s reputation (like acting like a whiny, pouting bitch demanding recounts left and right). So bravo to him for that and for asking his followers to unite under our new president elect. I do wish he’d put less emphasis on the race issue early in the speech though. At the time, I almost got the vibe that it was a “he won because he’s black” sort of thing (although I’m sure that was unintentional), and it disturbed me until he moved past it. Nothing terribly surprising in what he said, but I have to admit, it was the best speech I heard him give. Why he sounded more passionate and involved in a concession than in running is beyond me. Or maybe I was too caught up in feeling hope, faith, and pride last night to hear any typical boring, droning elements.

Anyway, congratulations to the incoming first family. Now let’s sit tight and see Obama’s first important decisions - who he fills his cabinet with.

I received more campaign garbage in the mail on Saturday, including one flyer that really rubbed me the wrong way.

It was dubbed something like a “complete voting guide” for one of the parties - listing the party’s presidential candidate and all of the local, state, etc. folks running. That was their “complete guide” - a list of names, with the party name emphasized below each one, and the office they’re running for. No mention of the issues.

What really got me is that the list was done in vote ballot format, showing voters that they could either manually fill in their little circles for each one, or that they could just fill in their little party bubble and vote party lines.

That’s always disgusted me. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think anyone should be allowed to place all votes across party lines by simply filling in a little circle (or whatever you do where you are). While I’m sure this is an unpopular opinion, I feel that if you don’t know the issues, you really have no “right” to vote in that particular race. Anything else is ignorance - something we have far too much of here already. I’m sure it happens elsewhere, but obviously it’s on my mind locally with the election tomorrow.

I never vote in a race where I’m not aware of the candidates’ positions on issues that are important to me. I also never vote strictly along party lines - I very regularly end up with a pretty even mix of votes for liberal and conservative candidates depending who I feel is the best man or woman for the job, period. There’s no other valid reason to vote for someone as far as I’m concerned. And frankly, as an American, knowing exactly what we’re voting for is more than a simple suggestion - it’s our responsibility.

So if you’re an American who plans to vote tomorrow, I truly hope that you’re more than just a label.

Jenn says 5am start times for work are awesome… or at least they would be if it meant getting to stop at one o’clock.  No such luck today, so just awesome-ish.

I’m up, because I’ve spent the last 3 - 4 hours working.

I think I just have an aversion to busy Mondays. Can you blame me? Who wants to start a new week on a sour note with too much going on and not enough hours in the day?

So I tend to look at Monday’s work list Sunday evening, and get as much of it out of the way as possible (it helps that I tend to work most productively in the early morning and very late evening hours).

Tonight I actually cleared up all of my “required” client projects scheduled for tomorrow. If I had done the same work tomorrow, it could have taken me twice as long (everything seems to take twice as long through the afternoon hours). The good thing is that I’m waiting on final details for a few small projects, so if that comes through tomorrow I’ll be able to get on them right away. I also have a few larger projects (both for clients and for myself) that I’ll now have some unplanned time to devote to tomorrow.

I’d consider doing this every day if I didn’t need my evenings for my own non-work-related projects.

I suppose I should eventually try to sleep.

That is all.

Anyway, down to business - I haven’t had the time to watch too many movies recently, but here are a few I’ve watched that didn’t completely rot.

The Jane Austen Book Club - I’d wanted to see this one for a few weeks. I love Jane Austen (note to self: must re-read all - yeah yeah, I occasionally have a stereotypical female urge to do such things). That of course made me curious about the movie. At the same time, every time I picked it up debating whether or not to rent it, I just wasn’t “feeling it.” Finally I broke down (read: there was nothing better to rent, and I was in a hurry). I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t overly sappy bullshit. I was happy with most of the ending (all but one story line). There was a certain amount of truth in there - any movie that makes me reflect on my own life in even a small way gets my vote. Not amazing, but one of the “smarter” chick flicks I’ve seen lately (although as the movie tries to show - Austen ain’t just a chick thing).  - 3.5 stars

Halloween 4 - The Return of Michael Myers - If you’ve seen my past “movies that don’t suck” posts, you may have noticed that I’m finally working my way through the Halloween series (sans 3 for the time being). I was very pleasantly surprised by the first. In true sequel fashion, 2 wasn’t quite as good (but I still enjoyed it). I was worried about 3. I actually rented it three times I think before I finally sat down and watched the thing.  I was concerned that by the third, we’d be getting to the point where they’d dive more into the gore and other shit for the sake of competition (and for the record, I have no problem with violence, sex, gore, etc. in movies as long as it furthers the plot and isn’t gratuitously thrown in there for the sake of appealing to a young male audience too dense to see beyond it). In that sense, it was better than I expected (although, and I’ll admit I was kind of distracted by something else while watching it, did it seem like there was an odd amount of ripping holes into people - was it maybe just me?). The storyline itself was annoyingly predictable for the most part (life’s too short to watch shit when you know what’s going to happen), and the whole Dr. Loomis thing was too much. It’s one thing for the villan to be some supernatural-esque death-defying stud. It’s something else entirely for Donald Pleasance to mysteriously survive all kinds of crap. Anyway, the kid was cute and not bad, and she might be the only reason this one barely squeaked by with a high enough rating to make the list. I’m not thinking I’m going to enjoy 5 - seems to be quite the downward slope from one to the next. In 4’s defense, it did give me nightmares (well one) - waking up was kind of funny, because I couldn’t believe I’d dreamt about some murderous movie-based foe. Cool. - 3 stars

Near Dark - This one I watched on a recommendation after mentioning that I tend to like a good vampire story. It wasn’t bad. Nothing amazing, but overall the characters were pretty strong. As it often is in horror movies, the youngen was one of the better actors on board. There did seem to be one really odd discrepency in the dialogue that was driving me nuts, but it’s possible I misheard something, so won’t judge on that until I eventually watch it again (if I watch it again). The ending kind of ruined it a bit for me - pissed me off actually. (Spoiler: The whole “cure vampirism with a blood transfusion” thing was just a cheap-ass way out, and frankly, I wanted him to let the bitch fry - after all, she was the one who caused all of his problems, put his family at risk, etc. because she decided to turn him rather than kill him.) - 3.5 stars

I’m like that with e-books, the books I’m working on, blog posts, and today I’m having that issue with a white paper I’m starting on for my business.

Now, I don’t always keep my working title for the end product, but I must have one, or I can’t make progress. I don’t know why that is, but it’s a habit I’d love to break.

Today, for instance, I know the material I need to outline for the white paper and know who I need to contact for interviews. Yet I can’t bring myself to do it until I have that title just right.

Anyone else have this issue? Or better yet, share some of your own “odd” work-related (or non-work-related) quirks. Make me feel a bit less silly today.

–

Sidenote - Even for this blog post I had to have a title before writing - and then I went back in and changed it - why must I commit to one from the start? *sigh*

It started with me and this guy I know together (we were “involved” in the dream - apparently exclusively - assume such as least, as I don’t do things any other way). We both lived in NY (although we both live pretty far from NY in reality - me near Philly and him, well, “elsewhere”). I was having a small get-together and was borrowing a DVD from him to watch with the friends and family coming by. He said he couldn’t make it. OK.

No big drama during the get-together (barely remember that part). Afterwards is when it got exciting. It was late on a weekend evening, so I figured I’d surprise him with a late night visit. So I grab his DVD (may as well return it while I’m there), and head to his place.

I get there and knock. Someone else answers the door - there’s a party going on (no wonder he couldn’t be bothered to come over - and it was obvious he didn’t want me knowing about it). Everyone’s completely toasted.

I don’t see him anywhere, so I ask this guy where to find him (in real life, this guy doesn’t exist, but in the dream I knew he was the other guy’s best friend - oddly I remember what he looked like pretty vividly - about 3 inches shorter than me - or maybe taller and just not standing up too straight because of his “condition”, a bit of a baby face, with blondish, short, not quite spiked-not quite buzzed hair). Anyway, he’s obviously been drinking way too much. He tells me the guy I’m there to see is back in the bedroom.

I go back there, DVD still in hand, and open the bedroom door.

The bed itself is completely stripped. All of the bedding is down on the floor where he, 3 chicks, and another guy are all having a little post-fuck-fest smoke. Needless to say, in the dream, relationship… over. The odd thing is that I didn’t say a word about what I’d walked in on, and he didn’t even begin to act like he was doing anything wrong (and I normally would have said something - or perhaps lunged for a sharp object). Instead, what I do say is that his best friend is completely drunk off his ass, and I ask if he wants me to take his keys and have him crash there. He tells me to “let the bastard drive  himself home.”

And even more oddly, that’s what finally had me livid in the dream. I threw his DVD at him (I’ve thrown worse) and slammed the door behind me. He didn’t even seem phased.

So I go back out to the front room to his best friend. He’s not in the mood to give up the keys. So I turn on the helpless damsel in distress routine, asking him ever-so-sweetly to give me a ride home (wasn’t going to let him drive alone). Between there and his car I manage to charm him into giving up the keys and letting me drive (nevermind how).

Problem: I have no idea where the guy lives, and he keeps babbling something that makes no sense. Lovely.

So I take him back to my place. I get him setup on the bed, and I go out to my living room and crash on the couch.

In the morning, I don’t have a clue why, but before he woke up, I got up and left for some reason. So he wakes up in my bed, only vaguely remembering anything from the night before.

He goes to his friend (the one throwing the party the night before) and tells him that I must have slept with him (there’s no sign I was on the couch - I guess I’d cleaned up before I left?).

And the oddest, most infuriating part of the dream? My then-ex, or whatever he was, came storming into my place later that day furious at me for “sleeping with” his best friend. Needless to say I was baffled - a fucking orgy the night before and he barely blinked when I showed up, but he had the nerve to be pissed at me for looking out for his best bud. We got into a screaming match, and I guess that part was tense enough to finally wake me up, because that’s where it ended.

–

I really don’t get my mind sometimes - I have plenty of screwy dreams. But this one actually made a lot of sense. It was like an over-dramatized version of exactly how I’ve been feeling in regards to this person over the last few weeks - the drinking, the orgy bit, the getting upset with me over something small when he’d done worse without even acknowledging it, and even the DVD … it completely made sense.

Perhaps it was just my mind’s way of trying to work out issues and what I wish I had the nerve to do. Or maybe it was my mind’s way of showing me that our own bit of bickering and frustration really isn’t a big deal or anything to be too upset over in the grand scheme of things. I honestly have no clue. But seriously… I should work that scene into the novel I’m working on. (j/k)

Gotta love dreams where you wake up, still feeling the raw emotion of it all.

(And for the record, I had a much more pleasant dream about said guy last night, so at least it’s not like my dreams are telling me I subconsciously hate him or something - always a good thing.)

So… any dream interpreters in the house? lol