Comic Book Day

After finding Amazing Spiderman #583 in my drawer last week, I really wasn't expecting to find any of the Frank Frazetta's Moon Maid up for grabs at my comic book shop yesterday. 

Usually the high-demand titles are pretty thin in number by Thursday.

The wooden bin devoted to the new comics did indeed contain two copies, so I grabbed them both.

Score.

The cover art of this one-shot is just fun geeky goodness. The comic was rolled out with three different covers,  and I was lucky to get Cover A, done by Frazetta, as shown above.

The  story opens with the beautiful maiden, Ciena, strolling along on the moon, Kyra. She quickly runs into trouble, and is rescued by a centaur with a spear wearing some ugly costume jewelry. Once they're out of danger, he shares that he is the son of the Moon God, Orel. He takes her to the Temple of Orel, and then by reading the writings on the wall (literally) she discovers that she has been brought there to be sacrificed. Apparently her blood is the element that is needed to give life to Orel. 

Anyway, a  priestess called Lyanna, accompanied by a gang of bad-ass flying monkeys, show up to kick some centaur butt and save Ciena from the blood letting. 

This is exactly why I love flying monkeys.

The final panel of the comic reads, "The Equinox has come....and the rebirth has begun." 

There are only 56 days until the Vernal Equinox- but who's counting?

 

It's a New Day

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

As I take the sacred oath of the highest office in the land, I am humbled by the responsibility placed upon my shoulders, renewed by the courage and decency of the American people, and fortified by my faith in an awesome God.

We are in the midst of a season of trial. Our Nation is being tested, and our people know great uncertainty. Yet the story of America is one of renewal in the face of adversity, reconciliation in a time of discord, and we know that there is a purpose for everything under heaven.

On this Inauguration Day, we are reminded that we are heirs to over two centuries of American democracy, and that this legacy is not simply a birthright -- it is a glorious burden. Now it falls to us to come together as a people to carry it forward once more.

So in the words of President Abraham Lincoln, let us remember that: "The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 20, 2009, a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation, and call upon all of our citizens to serve one another and the common purpose of remaking this Nation for our new century.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

2009: So Far, So Good

I was all set to go to a party at a friend's house last night, but because of various reasons (snowy/slippery roads, a long day at work, and my drinking buddy telling me earlier in the day that she wasn't going to the party) I decided to stay home and just chill for New Year's Eve. 

After hearing that I was going to be alone to ring in the New Year, Michael decided to go to work, ask his supervisor for the night off, pick up a bottle of champagne, and drive down to NH to make sure I had a glass of the bubbly as 2008 came to a close.

When I awoke this morning, I decided to go to the market and pick up some breakfast items, so I could make a tasty brunch to thank my friend for his kindness.

The first person I spoke to in 2009 was a women pushing a shopping cart in the produce section. She looked at me, smiled, and said, "Good morning.....and Happy New Year!"

 And this woman said it as if I was a favorite cousin who she hadn't seen in ten years.

I was taken back, but manage to get out a "And a Happy New Year to you as well."

After all the negative energy that I encountered in public during the holiday season- all the deep sighs, frowns, screaming children, yelling parents, and shopping cart bumper-car games at WalMart, I just couldn't believe that a person was being so very kind and wishing me a Happy New Year.

I'm very grateful that was my first encounter with another human being in 2009. So far, so good. 

I'm 1-0 with 364 to go.

  

2008: A Year in Review

The year started with Hillary shedding a tear for the press and saying, "This is very personal." On January 8th, she won the New Hampshire Primary, but she did not win in Tilton. Later that night, Barack called us at our return watching party to thank us for our perseverance and ask us to keep fighting. We did exactly that. 

On the 22nd of that month, Heath was found dead in his apartment at the young age of 28. The New York City medical examiner's office report read, "We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications." Accidents suck.

In February, I said goodbye to the Cult, and started a new job. Kerry got engaged to Mr. Right, Neal broke his ankle, Verge also got a new job, and Mike's friend dropped a tree on his house. I miss seeing those guys every day. They make me laugh. Hard.

I went to see 10,000 B.C. in March. Not bad.

I don't remember much happening in April.

In May, I saw Iron Man (my second favorite movie of the year) attended Free Comic Book Day at Larry's store, and watched Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian with Lindsay, Em, and Verge. The geek boys that sat in back of us that night were very funny. Em threw up.

The Obama campaign came back to the state in June, and we rallied the troops for the final stretch. Hillary and Barack had their event in Unity, but I chose to work that day. I got my name back that month as well. This time for keeps. I also drank lots of cold Mojitos. Lots.

In July I finally got to view, The Dark Knight. Wow- my favorite movie of the year. I hope they retire the Joker as an onscreen Batman villain. Who could top that performance? Seriously?

Lindsay also had a birthday party in July for her two beautiful babies, Darren and Abby. Later that evening, while sitting next to a fire, I fell over backwards in my lawn chair....slowly. And I do mean slowly. Dean was the one to offer a hand.

I had my heart broken in August. I lost my cousin Dale to cancer. It's still an open wound that is healing as time passes. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him. 

Michael taught me how to boogie board on the ocean in August, and took me dancing high above the waves on the pier at Old Orchard Beach. Tears of joy and tears of sadness. It gets blurred sometimes, doesn't it?

September was a great month for the Obama camp, as Sarah gave a huge shot in the arm to the campaign. I was hoping for Republican homes to canvass that month, and giggling at the SNL YouTube videos. Good stuff right there.

In October I watched my Em up on stage and hoped this would be the year she would win the crown. She was the prettiest girl there, and had the hottest evening gown ever. She's just so beautiful. 

John's band released their first CD, and Verge and I were witches at the merch table. Boo- Yes.

Election Day was November 4th, and I spent 14 hours that day getting our supporters to the polls, canvassing the neighborhoods, and was an accomplice to killing a raccoon or two. I spent that night home alone, watching the returns on t.v., and crying. My 18 months with the campaign had come to an end. Barack won. Straight up.

December brought a horrible ice storm, and left over 400,000 homes without power. Michael bought a kerosene heater up in Maine, and drove it down to my house so my pipes wouldn't freeze and burst. Colter came over and got a tree off my roof.  John cut up the tree that had fallen in the front yard. Soon we were warm again. 

Christmas was at Lindsay's house, and she made the best turkey dinner ever. Santa brought me a 1966 Batmobile, the Joker, pearls, a microwave, and wine. We had cheesecake for dessert on Christmas. 

Mmmm........cheesecake.

The Shortest Day

"And so...the Shortest Day came and the year died

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen;

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive.

And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, revelling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing behind us- listen!

All the long echoes, sing the same delight,

This Shortest Day,

As promise wakens in the sleeping land:

They carol, feast, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends,

And hope for peace.

And now so do we, here, now,

This year and every year."

Yes We Did

At 12:00 noon on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United States.

Shazam.

He promised us if we all worked everyday to spread his message of Hope, that Change would come to this country. He was right.

My experience with this campaign, the Primary and General Election GOTV staging areas, and Election Day 2008 are forever with me. 

I arrived at 4:45am to our staging area on Election Day. I was exhausted, excited, and yet ready to go. It had come down to the final few hours, and our country was about to elect its next leader.

Upon my arrival, my field organizer pulled me aside and asked me if I would be willing to be a jumper rather than a driver for the pre-dawn canvassing. She explained to me that there was a woman named Helen who was in her eighties and wanted to help distribute door hangers but only wanted to drive. I of course agreed and thought it was sweet and admirable she wanted to be a part of our movement.

Helen and I loaded up our materials, grabbed our turfs, checked our flashlights to make sure they were in working order, and wished the other teams good luck.  Team Obama was ready to roll.

Helen had a lead foot. I could have lived with that, but she also drove down the middle of the road. The punch line here is that even while sitting on a cat-print rocking chair cushion, Helen could barely see over the steering wheel.

So there we were, driving in the dark at light speed, in the middle of a windy back road, when suddenly I saw a family of raccoons ahead. I knew instantly it was not going to end well.

Sure enough, Helen never slowed down, not even a little, and we hit the biggest raccoon head on. I think some of the smaller ones went flying off the road as well. The sounds of the hit and the squealing were more that I could process at 5:10am. I could feel the pumpkin spice coffee start to come up into the back of my throat. 

"What was that?", Helen asked me. 

"You.... killed a raccoon. I think it was a mother. We sent some smaller ones airborne as well." I replied.

"Oh. What is the name of the first road we are looking for?"

I managed to stay in the car with her for an hour and get one of our turfs done. We drove on sidewalks and knocked over garbage cans- at least I hope they were garbage cans. I even received a goose-egg on my forehead when I leaned forward to get paperwork off of the floor....just as Helen decided to slam on the brakes. No kidding.

Finally- when I could take it no longer, I told her that we were going back to HQ and re-grouping. She wasn't pleased with my decision, but she complied.

I shared the experience with my field organizer and told her that I needed some time alone. I asked her to give me my own turf, explained I would canvass that area, go cast my vote at the polling station, and then return to pick up my team for the afternoon/evening canvassing.

The rest of the day went well, and I canvassed until 6:45pm before going back to our staging area, turning in the paperwork, and saying goodbye to everyone. I was toast. Burned toast.

I decided to go back to my house and watch the returns from my living room.  My inbox was filled with supportive emails from friends, and my cell phone was ringing with calls wondering how I was doing. My friends are fabulous.

 I will never forget when ABC News reported "Obama has taken New Hampshire." The tears started flowing down my cheeks and did so intermittently for the next 24 hours. I went to bed that night knowing that we had won New Hampshire and the country. I cried myself to sleep with tears of joy and hope.

The following day I received a congratulatory email from Kone' in West Africa. He wrote, "All my congratulations for the work you have done in New Hampshire for the victory of Barack Obama." 

He had watched the returns at the U.S. Embassy in Cote d' Ivoire, and wrote of the feelings there- "The joy was captured everything beautiful...the emotion was strong."

There was indeed dancing in the streets on November 4, 2008. Not only in Illinois, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania,  California, Florida, and New York, but all around the world. 

The Change that has arrived is for all of us~

GOTV

We've finally arrived at the Get Out the Vote phase of this campaign. It is a very exciting time for those of us who have been supporting Senator Obama since the spring of 2007. This is what we have been working towards and waiting for 20 months now.

Our GOTV staging area this time is a large, nine bedroom farmhouse that a kind soul was willing to share. Plenty of room for all of our out of state volunteers and campaign workers. 

This morning we have a bus arriving from Massachusetts with union labor members that want to come to NH and spend the weekend canvassing. My job will be to drive them to their turfs in groups of three or four, and then pick them up when they're done. I'm anxious to meet them and listen to their stories of why they got involved. 

Our goal is to completely saturate the state this weekend, and with the ground game we have in place, I think we just might do it.

On Monday, I will be doing data entry until 10:00pm, go home to get some rest and a shower (who will be able to sleep?) so I can return to our staging area for 5:00am. on Tuesday. My first assignment on Election Day is Lit Drop, and after that I'll be driving canvassers to their turfs, and voters to the polls.  

Once the polls close, I will be able to sit down, grab a glass of wine, and wait for the returns to come in. Our work will be done.

I've been with the campaign so long that I've been able to choose my jobs for GOTV. My days of phone banking, knocking on doors, and being yelled at by angry Republicans are over. The Pirate Queen commented that this was kinda like playing a video game and reaching the highest level. I can just have fun now, and enjoy these last few days with the campaign.

I love having geek friends.

A fellow supporter sent me a YouTube link this morning that is definitely worth sharing. My daughter recently remarked that she found it odd that McCain uses "my friends" so much in his speeches. Friends like that we don't need.

I'm Fired Up and Ready to Go~