My Spirit of Bipartisanship...

... will start tomorrow.

Tomorrow I pledge to try my very best to live up to the good example our next president has set for us.

But for right now, to mark the glorious end of the sickening feeling of gloom and despair I have felt every day for the past eight years, I would - just for today - like to say that

you

and you,

and you,

and you,

and you,

and yes, even you guys too,

and you,

and you

and, oh yeah, definitely you,

and you,

and you,

and last, but certainly not least, you,

can suck it.

God Bless America.

A Bittersweet Day

I think it's safe to say I've been waiting for this day for eight years. At the same time, for a different reason, it's a day I had hoped wouldn't happen for several more years. The two aren't really connected as far as most people can see, I guess. But, in my heart they are.


1. "Democracy is not a spectator sport"

I love to vote. I live for tradition and ritual. It's fairly safe to say that I'm a sap. A proud sap, indeed. My love of voting comes from a love of country as well as a love of state, city and community. When voting in my first presidential election, while in college in Ohio, I made the extra effort to vote absentee in Tennessee. I wasn't going to let my first presidential vote count for any other state. I also made one of my roommates, a Republican, sign as my witness that I voted for Bill Clinton and Al Gore. My love of voting, country, state and city also includes love of irritating the beejeezus out of any Republicans still willing to claim me as a friend or relative.

To mark the occasion I re-watched the Northern Exposure episode "Democracy in America." The quote from this title comes from this episode as does this (from my beloved Cicely radio personality, Chris "in the Morning" Stevens, of course):

"Today every runny nose I see says 'America' to me. We were outcasts, scum, the wretched debris of a hostile, aging world. But we came here, we built roads, we built industry, powerful institutions. Of course along the way... we basically stained our star spangled banner with a host of sins that can never be washed clean. But today we're here to celebrate the glorious aspect of our past. A tribute to a nation of free people. The country that Whitman exalted:

'The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislators, nor in its ambassadors or authors or colleges or churches or parlors or even in its newspapers or inventors, but always most in the common people.'

I must go out now and fill my lungs with the deep clean air of Democracy."


2. "He Will Always Be My Coach"

I haven't been writing about football much this year, but there hasn't been much to write about that was good. And I spend enough time on here griping and complaining already and goodness knows that there are plenty of other people out there on the interwebs running their mouths with their opinions about what's gone wrong and what should be done. My love and devotion to my state and my team isn't any less, I just didn't want to add my negativity to the mix.

Yesterday, however, Tennessee Head Football Coach, Phillip Fulmer, announced that he would not be returning next season. I don't know what to say. On the one hand I'm not surprised. On the other I am heartbroken. Much like my post a few weeks ago comparing the destruction of Yankee Stadium to a greater dysfunction in our culture, I think this speaks to much the same. I don't know for a fact, but I have a pretty good feeling that on election day, Coach Fulmer and I would not be in agreement, but this I do know:

Coach Fulmer is from Winchester, Tennessee. He was a student and football player at the University of Tennessee and played his first game in 1969. As an adult he was an assistant coach for Tennessee and then has spent the last 17 years as the head coach. His record today is 150-51. During the height of his career in the 90s, his record is 75-5. Student athlete after student athlete has praised Coach Fulmer over the years for mentoring them, for helping them through difficult times, and for being the father that some of them never had.

These days his record is not as good and it has been extremely disappointing. Yes, you could maybe argue that he's off his game. He's past his prime. He's too stubborn and unwilling to change with the times. But you can't argue that he's not a good coach. And more importantly, that he's not a good man, because his love of our state and our university and the boys that come to play for him is undeniable. Many of the people that have been calling for Coach Fulmer to resign are the same people that I spoke of in my earlier post. Those who don't value tradition or history. You're not going to find a new coach with the same knowledge and respect for being a Tennessee Volunteer that Coach Fulmer has. And maybe we'll win more games, but we also may lose a top five recruiting class who is already committed to Tennessee in the face of dismal season because of the kind of person they see in Coach Fulmer. I guess we'll have to see.

There are all kinds of things being written about this right now that have touched my sappy heart and that I'm sure I'll be bombarding you with at a later date. But I think Peyton Manning has said all that needs to be said for now.

"This is a sad day for the Tennessee family. Nobody loves the University of Tennessee more than Coach Fulmer... I will always be indebted to him for the impact he has made on my life and my football career. I know I speak for hundreds of players when I say it was an honor to have played for him at UT. I am fortunate to have played four years for one of the greatest coaches in the history of college football. His legacy at Tennessee will be that he built men and won championships. He will always be my coach."

The Return

I have returned from the Atlanta 3 Day / 60-mile breast cancer walk. Alive. And with all of my lower appendages in tact.

My calves and feet did try to secede from the rest of my body several times, but they're hanging around for now. My very wide feet were part of the problem. Seriously, if they were webbed I could give Michael Phelps a run for his money. But on land all it means is that my shoes tend to not fit as well in the heel and that caused very nasty blisters. Also, I apparently have tendinitis. At the time I just thought it was normal for your feet to feel like they were on fire after you walked 18 miles or so. Turns out they're not really supposed to do that AND there's a name for it. Who knew?

Things are pretty much all better now though and it was totally worth it. Not hey-lets-do-this-again-next-year worth it, but I'm definitely glad I did it this once.

I walked all but six or so of the 60 miles, which at times really bummed me out, but I eventually came to my senses and decided that it's not too shabby.

There will be more details to come and of course lots o' photos, but I just wanted to take a minute to say thanks again to everyone for their nice words - and cash :) Our team raised more than $7,000 and the entire event raised more than $8 million. Also not too shabby.

Later,
Gert

Shopping That's Good For You

No, really. I promise...

An acquaintance of mine has a business called ASK Apparel. She and her sisters make hand-printed and hand-painted t-shirts, scarves, totes and such. All organic fibers, natural dyes, and a sustainable business ethic to boot. Plus, they're super nice.

I recently bought a t-shirt from them at our neighborhood farmers' market and I loooove it. It's a screen print of a rooster crowing at the sun. A nice reminder to be happy in the morning especially now that it's dark when I get up. It was a hard choice though - they had lots of cute designs.

In the process of my purchase I also signed up for their e-newsletter and today received an online $5 coupon on my next order. So... I thought a good way to spread the love of my shirt and of my few lovely readers would be to offer up the coupon to anyone who might want to purchase something.

So if you've been hankerin' for a new t-shirt or need a unique baby/kid gift, post a comment to me and I'll find a way to forward you my coupon.

Happy shopping!

Just Wondering...

...why it is that when I have a day off from work or am at home sick, Oprah never has a really good guest.

It's never "today on our show we're going to spend an hour with George Clooney in his swimming pool." Never.

Today it was Suze Orman. I do enjoy Suze's financial advice. Even have one of her books. But come on Oprah, it's a holiday. Yes, it's only Columbus Day, but STILL what is the more appropriate way to celebrate the Imaginary Discovery of Our Country:

This?

Or this?

The Rest of the Story

Here are some more photos from the debate festivities on Tuesday.

The bell tower at Belmont. I'm so proud of our local college. They did a great job. You might not know this, [WARNING: useless trivia alert] but Nashville has the most number of colleges and universities per capita of any city in the country. Fisk, TSU, Belmont, Lipscomb and Vanderbilt just to name a few. Over the past few years I think Belmont has risen to be my favorite - or at least very close to the top. It's hard to compete with the Fisk Jubilee Singers and the TSU Marching Band, but almost beating Duke in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament helped a lot :)


The rally before the march. Lots of people lined up along 21st ave at Magnolia Blvd getting cars to honk their horns.

The march up the median of Magnolia to Belmont's campus. This isn't my photo. It came from here. I really wanted to get a good picture like this, but it wasn't easy and I finally got tired of trying. One of the many contributing factors as to why my original career plan of photo journalism didn't quite pan out...

Our seats for the debate. The real live debate was going on only a few yards directly behind us. We stood in the mud behind the MSNBC stage. They were very nice and set up a TV for us to watch. Unfortunately we could only watch and not hear most of it because a gaggle of extremely immature and inconsiderate Vanderbilt students set up camp behind us and decided we should instead listen to their loud and insipid conversations. Yet another reason why Belmont has become my favorite local college.

Another shot of the lovely Chris Matthews.
He was actually very friendly and funny.

We bumped into several friends.
Mostly from church and/or the neighborhood.

The different signs people made were really interesting. It never would have occurred to me to make a sign, but you could really tell some people put a lot of thought and their feelings onto a little piece of poster board - or the shirt they wore.

Kids:

International:

Funny:

And the trifecta - funny and international AND a kid:

Like I said before, a good time was had by all. I think I may be volunteering at the Obama offices on Wednesday and watching the last debate - so you may have to endure another round of photos next week too :) Happy Friday!

P.S. - say a little prayer tonight for my boys in orange. They're having a tough season this year and they have to play Georgia tomorrow. Yikes.

GO VOLS!!

GO OBAMA!!

For Better or Worse

I'm sure it's pretty easy to tell how I'm voting in this year's election, but for some reason I hadn't felt the need to spell it out. I'm quite passionate about my choice, but I haven't been shouting it from the rooftops and I certainly haven't been volunteering my time. Very unlike me.

So on Sunday I finally went for a volunteer training in preparation for the debate. It was great. I was overwhelmed by the dedication and enthusiasm of the people there. It's a feeling I hadn't felt in a while and one that I missed. So what took me so long? What's my problem? At some point it hit me. I'm gun shy. I've had a life-long love of political campaigns - especially presidential campaigns. But I've been burned. The presidential campaign process and I, well, we've had a pretty tumultuous relationship. Let's review:

1980 - Schoolgirl Crush
I was nine. I adored Jimmy Carter. On election night at the dinner table I begged my parents to tell me who they voted for. My father finally gave in and said "Reagan." I cried.

1984 & 1988 - Surly Teen Angst
My disdain for all-things-Reagan/Bush/Quayle continued but I had no faith that the adults in my country were capable of doing anything about it. Most of this phase in my relationship with politics was spent writing bad i'm-going-to-die-without-a-decent-president poetry and listening to angry music on my Walkman.

1992 - Annoying Co-Ed Infatuation
It was the first presidential election where I could vote. I was full of entirely too much pep. I did cartwheels when Al Gore was named Clinton's running mate. I bugged the beejeezus out of my one Republican roommate. I did all kinds of volunteering with the campus Dems. I was clingy, needy and ready to put me and my love for campaigning in a frame and paint our names on it in glitter.

1996 - True Love
I jumped head first into a super-serious relationship with the presidential campaign. That summer I worked part time for Rock the Vote. That fall I worked part time for the Clinton/Gore campaign and spent most of my free time as a volunteer. I spent every available moment with that campaign. We moved in together. We bought furniture and got a dog. Life was grand.

2000 - The Honeymoon Ends
Did I get too serious too soon? Did I misread the signs? Did I have a foolish and naive expectation when it came to Democracy and elections in our country? When the Gore/Leiberman campaign was too busy to pay as close attention to me as the last campaign I worried about what I had done. Was it because I no longer lived in a swing state? Was it something I said? My solution? I just kept shamelessly calling. We saw each other when there was time. I attended rallies and did some volunteering and even though it wasn't the relationship I really, really wanted, I knew that on election day it would all be worth it. It would all be OK.

Oh, but it wasn't. At some point on election night it all went to hell. My love of politics and presidential campaigns abandoned me on a street corner in downtown Nashville. Literally. (You'll hear that story another time.)

Over the next couple of weeks I held out some hope that things could be fixed and we'd go back to how it was supposed to be. But it didn't. I'm not good with break-ups and when Gore conceded the election I couldn't watch. I took a bubble bath and ate some ice cream. And very few days went by over the next four years where I didn't wake up angry.

2004 - Jilted and Bitter
Poor John Kerry. His campaign never really had my complete loyalty. I wanted it to work, but part of me knew it wasn't going to end well and that it was just my transitional campaign. After election day the angriness I had started each morning with for the last four years was pretty quickly replaced with four years of cynicism and disillusionment.

2008 - Ready to Try Again? Or Just Too Jaded?

So here I am. I don't come into this election lightly. I have a lot of baggage. I watched Barack Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. I heard him speak in person in 2006. I knew that one day he would run for president - just not anytime soon. But he did. I voted for him in the primary even though I didn't think he'd get the nomination. But he did. I've been wary and hesitant and tried not to get too attached. But I am. And even though this is all written tongue-in-cheek I honestly don't know what I'll do if it ends up being another election like 2000. So I've tried to remain detached. But I can't. And then fate put a presidential debate in my own backyard and told me to just suck it up and get over myself.

So I did.

I went to the training on Sunday and then earlier tonight I met up with several hundred - possibly thousand - other Obama supporters from across our supposedly red state.

There was a march to Belmont's campus where the debate was being held:

And a rally on the quad:


With the exception of a small hand full of McCain supporters and third-party-activists, everyone was pro-Obama - and this is only half the crowd. I'm really not trying to exaggerate or be catty. I was expecting a far more even crowd, or frankly, to be outnumbered. Maybe there was a different area of campus where FoxNews was set up and the crowd was different, but where I was, it wasn't even close.

Before and after the debate our job was to stand around the MSNBC tent/stage and keep Chris Mathews "entertained" (he looks thrilled, doesn't he?) Check out the "Nash Vegas for Obama" sign behind his head. Ha. So much fun. Even in the pouring - and I mean POURING - rain.

I'll have many more photos available later but for now I am sleepy and soggy. Proud and inspired. For better or worse.

But very soggy nonetheless.