And you?

Dearest Millicent,

I have spent the last four hours watching Law and Order, and many of the episodes would have been excellent examples of why propositions matter, and how the law is quite a beast, and who we vote in as a judge is a decision that I should be more informed about (versus, me, in my voting booth, trying to calculate my decision based on the listed careers of the judicial candidates and trying to cast them in a Law and Order episode: are they idealistic prosecutor with heart of gold, or evil prosecutor that will do anything to make the case?). I ended up skipping that section, but it made for some good imaginary television. 

So, we are here, Wednesday.  I am thinking McCain slept in today (except he is old, and the old rarely sleep in).  Maybe the Obamas and their staff all got massages? I hope so.  Then again, if I woke up for the first time with the thought that I was going to be president, for reals, in my head, I probably wouldn’t really want a massage. I would want a nice long sauna, though.  I have decided saunas are always a decent answer to the question “what sounds good right now?” 

A friend in DC said that last night, as the city flooded the streets and had an all around good time (they did vote 92% for Obama), was the first time he felt he truly belonged somewhere.  My city, or at least the long tour I took of it from one end to another, was unexpectedly quiet.  I passed one woman who kept honking at me at a red light, insisting that I give her a thumbs up, and also saw a very drunk pack of well dressed youths on the corner.  There were big parties indoors, but I wanted to feel like I was in Rome when Rome won the Italian Futbol Championship.  I wanted to be swept away by civic celebration.  I wasn’t.  But I did have a very nice time, with little traffic, and lots of good radio.  I think so many people happy on one night did affect the overall air quality, or challenge the normal patterns of ions.  I don’t think I have ever, besides Rome during that Championship, been in a place where so many people were elated.  And, I have to admit, between Amy Goodman and Jon Stewart and the updates, it was all kinda gorgeous.  I was home alone when the election got called, but my cat and I exchanged glances, and we both understood that something very big had just happened.

Also, today I told my students my thoughts on abortion, and it went very well.  They asked, and they seemed genuinely interested, and I think we all learned a lot.  It was actually one of my best days teaching, ever, and I am wondering if that is because I got to get up on a soapbox and spout, or if it is because I finally got across to a couple of students that critical thinking matters in real life.  It also made me fully understand the power that teachers have: that we can impress our point of view because we have uninterrupted time where we are the authority figure, and, at least a percentage of the students are very ready to soak up whatever we have to say (which goes against my critical thinking argument).  

And after my great day, I came home and turned to Jello.  Law and Order flavored Jello. 

Yours,

CF