Well, that was amazingly easy...

And I have to thank google maps... there's a "find your polling place" section now, and it led me to a link of 'helpful tips' that said 10-1130am and like 2-4pm are the less busy times to vote... I had been planning on getting up super early to go at 6, even though I have the day off...

But instead I went at 11, and there were 3 people in front of me. I was Voter 99 at my booth, but the other districts around me were in the 200-300 range. My landlord (who lives downstairs) said he went first thing, and there were 75 people in line in front of him.

In any case... I'm glad that was easy. I was expecting to wait for hours. :)

Now just to wait for the results.

So... a month or so ago I went to dinner with a bunch of people... met the woman sitting next to me for the first time, and spent most of the night commiserating over the fact that 'men suck'- she having recently been through a breakup, and myself on the verge.

There is also a friend of mine... who I have sort of always had a bit of a crush on... well he started dating someone... who at first I hated, just b/c she took him off the market. But then I actually got to know her a little, and realized I like her.

Well, since then, they've broken up. (her doing.)

And I felt like eating out. So I rounded up the woman from paragraph one, and the guy from paragraph two, and we went out to dinner. Intended as a 'friends go to dinner', but I also knew it had the potential to be an "all three of us just got dumped" bitch session.

So we went to Mulberry's for dinner. off off off the beaten path in Lackawanna, but delicious.

Then we were going to get an after dinner drink. But the other woman decided she had to get to bed. So the guy and I went for a drink. Which turned into a few. Including several random "hey I know you" moments for him- I forgot he's a bit of a local celebrity. I asked him "is that flattering, or annoying?" and he said the 'hey I know you, can I buy you a drink?' and a handshake is flattering. The drunken "let me tell you my life history by the way did i tell you you're amazing?" is annoying.

Anyway, so we had a couple drinks, and then hit the last bar, since he knows the bartender... and as we approached the door he said "oh and XX (the ex) is here." I said "is that good or bad?" (giving him a chance to back out since we hadn't opened the door yet) and he said "oh no it's fine." So we went in... said hi to her... ordered our beer... she then went outside... he had to follow her...

Ugh, how awkward!!! I mean, he and I have been friends for years. But I'm sure it looked strange from her end, to have him show up with just me, so soon after their breakup....

Hopefully I'm overreacting.

and drunken point #2- I hate this election.
I hate the fact that I am made to feel guilty if I am not super pro-Obama.
I am almost ashamed to admit that I do not want "GOBAMA!" stickers on my car.
I mean yeah he's black and that's amazing and revolutionary and all that... but does that in itself mean he's capable/prepared of running our country??
And then there's the added factor that NOT voting for him makes me look racist. there's more to it than race. Sure, he wants "change", but that's so easy to say....
I just don't know what to do. I don't LOVE Obama. I don't HATE McCain. But... Sarah Palin scares the bejeezus out of me. And the right wing republicans scare the crap out of me too, and I really don't want to be associated with them...

But have you noticed that anti-McCain jokes are totally ok and accepted, but if you dare criticize obama you are some racist bigot who thinks poor people should just die?

Part of me hopes that mccain wins just so the holier than thou obama fanatics will put a sock in it.

PART of me.

Ugh. This is why I avoid politics as much as possible.

Fuck. I really don't know what to do. Maybe I'll avoid the subject altogether and vote libertarian. Josh, Jason, where are you when I need you?

Peter made me realize I didn't post my pix from the party. There are only two, but here you go!

making up for lost time I guess...

Or procrastinating. One or the other.

First- Trying to upload a new user sound. (seems I still have sufjan christmas music on there...) The new song is "Each Year" is by Ra Ra Riot. Just discovered them. Like 'em a lot. Very Vampire Weekend-ish.

I would also like to know....
How come they can completely re-pave a big chunk of 198, from start to finish, in like two days this summer, and yet it's been like 5 months now and while Bailey Ave finally has asphalt down, they still haven't painted lines? It's pretty ridiculous. I just figured "wow, this project takes a long time" until they did 198 super fast and made it clear that it CAN be done quickly if they choose to.

This morning I was driving to a meeting at South Campus... and there was a guy on the corner of Bailey and Winspear... at first I thought he was trying to catch the bus. Then after he jumped in and out of the street a few times, I realized he was just plain old crazy. (like, mentally ill for real. Not just "wow, he's c-razy!")

He was running up and down the side of the street, using a banana like a telephone and talking into it. And then he started walking up to (moving) cars and holding the banana out to them, as if they had a call.
It was funny... but pretty sad to see at the same time.

There's a similar guy that's often on the corner of Elmwood and Forest... older black guy... salt and pepper beard... usually wearing a sportcoat... often yelling at traffic and shaking his fist. Then I saw him in the ER at ECMC one day. His name is Sylvester. Apparently he takes an ambulance to the ER every day, complains that his feet hurt, asks for a box lunch and two vicodin, and bus tokens to get back downtown, and does it again the next day. Everyone in the ER just knows him and is like "oh hey sylvester how's it going".

Not exactly an efficient use of healthcare dollars if you ask me. I mean clearly the guy needs help, but... there has to be a better way.

And on that note... I'm going to go try to get me a flu shot.

Hi everyone...
Good to see so many of you last night- sorry I had to duck out early. I had promised to meet some friends at Cozumel, and thought I would come back, and by 230, when I could no longer handle being the only sober one (I was on call), I didn't think you guys would still be going. Can't wait to see more pix! Did IMK every show??

Cozumel was ok... but it's "Dan's bar" so I was a little on edge all night. Plus no drinking. Plus... I'm just not really back to myself yet... or something. I'm not sure what it is, but my game is off. So I spent the whole night feeling invisible, and watching my friends get picked up left and right, which is a little depressing. I'm also a little sad that not ONE SINGLE person got my costume. I was a Drama Queen! One guy thought I was Burger King. Yeah dude.

And speaking of costumes...
I don't think storebought "slutty cop" costumes should even be allowed to ENTER costume contests, let alone win. I also don't think Sarah Palin or Michael Phelps should have been big winners, since that seemed to be about what ever 3rd person I saw was wearing.

But I *did* see a few good ones-
One girl was Kan Jam (disc golf), with two yellow circles that said KanJam on her boobs, and a big black can-thing around her waist, that said on the ass 'jam it in the slot and you win'. I don't know if she made it or bought it, but it was pretty clever. One guy was dressed up as... a scary dead nurse joker zombie? in a dress? I dunno. his name tag said "i believe in harvey dent" or something like that. Guess it was a batman thing? Either way, he creeped me out. A friend of mine was a sock monkey... it was pretty fantastic. And the unoriginal "doctor" costume. There were lots of those. Have to say, this is the first year in a while that no one has asked me to steal scrubs for them. maybe next year I'll go in REAL blood-spattered scrubs, and real white coat, complete with blood/coffee stains, and my name on it. Somehow I'm not sure that would be much fun. And then there was the usual gaggle of slutty girls. Slutty cops, slutty nurses, slutty beer wenches, slutty witches etc etc ad nauseum.



There was one girl wearing this weird outfit... a shimmery 'cape' and some silver shield, and a belt, and underwear over black tights, and lots of black eye makeup, and silver sparkly stuff in her hair... and an alien/baby (not sure which) pinned to her waist.... I finally asked what she was, and she said "Astro-girl" (or was it "Estro-girl" I'm not sure) "a super hero of my own creation." At one point her baby/alien fell on the floor - the nasty floor of the bar - and she picked it up and put it in her mouth. Ew. One guy was wearing a jacket and tie, very conservative/preppy looking... with a name tag on that said "wall street", and he had a little stuffed doll thing strapped to his pants... ('bent over'), and the doll's name tag said "my 401K"



Sock monkey and tooth fairy


The aqua teens. Love it!


And the absolute best costume EVER: the yip yip aliens from sesame street.