I’ve been commenting here and there, and in doing so trying to formulate my thoughts about last night’s election results.

First of all, from an historic standpoint, last night was incredibly amazing. However, I’m not what sure I, a white woman from one of the whitest states in the nation, can say to address that subject. Other are doing if far better, so go read what they’re saying, if you haven’t already.

No, what I’ve been thinking about was broached this morning by John Scalzi, but is more than that.

I’ve become something of a pragmatist in recent years. As much as I cannot stand W and his policies, I was not so foolish as to think, like others I know, that he was evil. Misguided? Yes. Foolish? Yes. Evil? No.

In that same light, I do not believe that Barack Obama is going to usher in a new liberal paradise.

Last night, listening to John McCain’s concession speech, I was reminded why I liked him so much in 2000. And I wondered where that Senator was during the election. But more than that, I saw in McCain’s speech the things I like so much about Obama.

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

To find the necessary compromises. To bridge our differences.

This is what I hope that President-elect Barack Obama will be able to do.

I have strong beliefs about the way the world should be. I also recognize that what I want is not necessarily what others want, and that compromise is an integral part of creating a functioning society.

No one is going to get everything they want. That’s something everyone has to realize. It is something I believe that most effective politicians understand. Because even if you have what you think is the best idea in the world, there may be multiple reasons why it’s unworkable. Or someone may have a way to make the result better, by changing the process slightly.

It’s give and take.

This is something that W. seemed incapable of comprehending, but is something that I deeply hope Obama knows already.

To paraphrase a modern troubadour, you can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.

What erin said.

CNN and NPR have called the election for Obama.

I have tears running down my face. I never thought I’d see this day so soon.

This is amazing.

OMG! CNN is using HOLOGRAMS to talk to corespondents!

AWESOME!

7:31
Election is called for Jay Rockefeller (YAY!) and Manchin (whatever)
7:51
They just called all the uncontested races. Big deal. That means Mollahan has it. Grr…
8:08
Workman and Ketchum are ahead for the state supreme court of appeals. I hope it stays that way.
8:12
Barth is leading by 1000 votes!
8:38
Obama is currently 6k votes up in WV! Not that I expect that to last.
8:49
Charlene Marshall is leading our Delegate race, and Cindy Frich is current LOSING! HA!
But Obama’s lead is down on 2700
9:02
DRAT. All the red counties just reported in. Capito and McCain are now ahead.
9:59
Sorry. Distracted. At least Mon county went for Obama. (sigh) But Frich is still losing. So that’s something. Capito is leading Barth. Boo.
10:49
McCain took WV solidly although Obama seems to have won Mon county. Capito is still winning, which is a shame. But it looks like all 4 of my reps won! Yay!
10:59
They’ve called it for Capito. Boo.

We don’t get “I voted” stickers here, so instead you get me in my Alex Ross t-shirt.

It is your duty and your responsibility. It doesn’t matter who you’re voting for (though of course I’d like you to vote for Obama). What matters is that you exercise your civic responsibility and your constitutional right.

In 2000 less than 600 votes determined the presidential election. Local elections are decided upon far less than that.

Vote.

ADDENDUM the First:
American Astronauts on the Space Station are voting.

You have no excuse not to vote.

I joke around a lot about things that happen to me that don’t happen to other people, and I think some believe I exaggerate.

But I mean really, who else do you know that has passed out in an elevator and ended up in a next brace on a back board and taking and ambulance to go 100 feet to the hospital (becoming the subject of bio safety lectures along the way)?

I just called the doctor to find out the results for the blood they drew on Thursday. They were supposed to call me back that afternoon and let me know if I had mono but I never heard from them.

So I called today, and was told my results hadn’t come back yet, but if she could have my number they’d call me back when they got them.

Which means most likely they’re lost.

I’m pretty sure I have mono, and I’m treating this illness as if that were so. I also know that there’s nothing I can do but wait till I’m feeling better and slowly work myself back up to where I was.

So I’ll keep on doing what I’ve been doing, which is taking NSAIDs and curling up on the sofa reading.

And maybe use being sick as an excuse to have Chinese or Thai for dinner again.

Am I mad or upset? Nope. Because these things happen. And these things do happen to me with enough frequency that I find it amusing.

In the meantime, you’ll have to excuse me. I’ve got a book to read.

I am constantly listening to the radio, from my alarm walking me up with Morning Edition to falling asleep to the Real Jazz channel on XM radio. My days are filled with music, but also with news and the voices that read that news.

I love the voices of Carl Kasell, Bob Edwards, Sylvia Poggioli, Noah Adams, and Susan Stamberg. Those voices make me feel calm and relaxed and even happy. (Really, how can Sylvia Poggioli’s voice not make you happy?)

But in the same way, there are voices that grate on my ears, that I do not like to hear. On NPR those voices include Liane Hansen, Joe Graedon, and Sue Scott. (Something about Sue Scott’s voice makes me run for the radio to turn it off.)

And of course there the voices of people in the news. Which brings me to my point. Now I can’t stand George W. Bush’s voice, but I think that’s more association than anything inherent about his voice. And I don’t like Al Gore’s cadences. There’s nothing wrong with his voice, but his cadences when he’s speaking formally bug me. And John Kerry, something about his voice and speech patterns.

But nothing like Sarah Palin’s voice. All it took was listening to the debate, and her voice makes me twitchy. I want to find her, and smack her into taking elocution lessons.

There’s only one other voice I can think of off the top of my head that does this to me. There’s a very nice woman in my building who has the most annoying voice every. Her voice is located in her nose, and to make it worse it’s extremely high pitched. Sometimes I just want to yell at her to speak from her chest. (Note to Gina: I am not talking about she whose computer senses fear.)

The difference is that Sarah Palin should KNOW better. She was a newscaster. She should know how to modulate her voice. Why she should choose such a nasal register is beyond me.

Especially when dropping your voice into your chest to deepen it is so much more effective when dealing with men. :)

HA!

38 miles per gallon

Created by The Car Connection

My problem with this is that it asked questions about running, which I haven’t done in years and years. But I walk daily. My average pace for walking is about a 14 minute mile.

(via Jim)

I missed this yesterday, but was delighted to learn this morning that John McCain has been endorsed by Dick Cheney!

Really, doesn’t that say it all?

I’m listening to Morning Edition, and Will Shortz wasn’t calling from his home again.

Where was he calling from?

Minsk.

If you’re confused, imagine Michael Dorn in a very serious tone saying, “Minsk.”

Now that I’m properly medicated, I think I can write a better Dia de los Muertos post.

I think the US has a strange and somewhat unhealthy attitude towards death. As S frequently notes, we don’t even call it death, but refer to it with a variety of bizarre euphemisms.

Death is an inevitable part of life, and for good reasons. As humans, we have reproduced at such a rate that food production and land resources in many areas are not able to match growth rates. And our systems of governance are such that we don’t like to share our bounty when we have it.

That is not to say that death is not painful for the living. Loss is both inevitable and painful. But it is a part of life.

I often wonder if we have become too separated from death. Although the hospice movement is attempting to change this, death has become medicalized. It is something that occurs in sterile hospital environments with beeping machines and bright white lights. Not only is this unpleasant for the individual who is dying, but it makes the process of dying alien for those who survive.

That doesn’t mean I think death should be an everyday affair of no note. In the US we are lucky to have progressed beyond the point where many children died in infancy, and life was often short and brutal. No, we have moved beyond that, and this is a wonderful thing. But in our quest to conquer illness, we have made death a stranger–something to be combated, rather than an inevitable end to a life well lived.

And that is what we should focus upon: the life well lived.

Funerals should be a celebration of a person’s life. They should be a time for remembering joy and happiness. They should be a time for telling stories and sharing who the person was and what they meant to the teller.

…

I lost two people this year. My grandmother, Harriet Elizabeth, called Beth. And my cousins’ grandmother, Doris.

I was not close to my grandmother, which is a regret, and not what I want to focus on. What I do know is she loved football, especially watching the Washington Redskins. If our visit was on a Sunday in the fall, she’d be ensconced in her chair in the living room, pack of cigarettes beside her, cheering on the Redskins. Perhaps in some small part, my love of football (even if I don’t like the Redskins) came from her.

Doris, my cousins’ grandmother, had a stroke soon after my cousin Liz was born, and changed from the vibrant, outgoing woman of my childhood to a woman afraid to leave the house, even for her grandchildren’s celebrations. My favorite memories of her were at my aunt and uncle’s little farm outside Hancock PA. Celebrations there were always fun and joyous, whether it was a birthday or Thanksgiving. She was a joyful and loving woman, and I hope that in some small way I learned some humor and caring from her.

One last thought. My grandfather, Popbo, died days before my 5th birthday. My memories of him are few, but all are joyful. Even when he was in the hospital, he’d send the cookies from his dinner out to me. (Visiting rules were different I suppose, and so my memories of him in the hospital were of sitting in the car while my grandmother and dad would go into the hospital and visit.)

May you remember your loved ones on this day, with joy and happiness.

I actually fell asleep around noon and woke up at 3:30. Michael had been checking on me throughout the day.

Michael: You’re awake! Are you hungry?
Michelle: I don’t know. How did WVU do?
Michael:
Michael: Are they playing?
Michelle: (sigh)

WVU won and it sounds like Pat White (121 yards passing, 109 yards rushing) and Jock Sanders both had an awesome game. And once again the third quarter was our strongest quarter. I have no idea why this is, but it’s been consistently this way for awhile.

It looks like after a rough start to the season (understandably so, considering the coaching changes), we’re finally getting it together. I could wish we would do better in the first quarter, but I’m happier with a team that finishes strong after a weak start, than vice versa.

Also? Michigan lost, and now have a record of 2-7, their first losing season in more than 40 years. Way to go Rich Rod.