Count Every Vote

I found this lovely message in my mailbox this morning:

No American citizen should wake up the morning after the election and worry their vote wasn't counted. No citizen should be denied at the polls if they are eligible to vote. And, as the greatest, wealthiest nation on earth, our citizens should never be forced to vote on old, unaccountable and non transparent voting machines from companies controlled by partisan activists.

Tomorrow, members of Congress will meet to certify the results of the 2004 presidential election. I will not be taking part in a formal protest of the Ohio Electors.

Despite widespread reports of irregularities, questionable practices by some election officials and instances of lawful voters being denied the right to vote, our legal teams on the ground have found no evidence that would change the outcome of the election.

But, that does not mean we should abandon our commitment to addressing those problems that happened in Ohio. We must act today to make sure they never happen again.

I urge you to join me in using this occasion to highlight our demand that Congress commit itself this year to reforming the electoral system. A Presidential election is a national federal election but we have different standards in different states for casting and counting votes. We need a national federal standard to solve the problems that occurred in the 2004 election. I will propose legislation to help achieve this.

Florida 2000 was a wake up call. But the Republicans who control Congress ignored it. Will they now ignore what happened in 2004?

There are nearly 3,000,000 of you receiving this email. We accomplished so much together during the campaign. Now let's use our power to make sure that at least one good thing comes from the voting rights problems of the 2004 election. If we want to force real action on election reform, we've got to demand that congressional leaders hold full hearings. Make sure they hear from you and help hold them accountable.

Speaker Dennis Hastert: 1-202-225-0600
Leader Bill Frist: 1-202-224-3135

And please report that you've made your call right here: http://www.johnkerry.com/signup/electoral_reform.php

I want every vote counted because Americans have to know that the votes they stood in line for, fought for, and strived so hard to cast in an election, are counted. We must make sure there are no questions or doubts in future elections. It's critical to our democracy that we investigate and act to prevent voting irregularities and voter intimidation across the country. We can't stand still as Congressional leaders seek to sweep well-founded voter concerns under the rug.
Please join with me in calling Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist and telling them that you want action on election reform now.

A recent report from Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) reveals very troubling questions that have not yet been answered by Ohio election officials. I commend the Democratic National Committee for its announcement this week that the DNC will be investing resources and reaching out to non-partisan academics in a long term study of Ohio voting irregularities. I am only sorry that we haven't seen the same from Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell and GOP officials.

Congress must play a positive, proactive role on this issue. That's why I will soon introduce legislation to reform our election system, ensuring transparency and accountability in our voting system and that all Americans have an opportunity to vote and have their vote counted.
Please remember to let us know that you made your call when you're done. We're hoping to ensure House and Senate leaders' offices hear our demand for action on election reform in meaningful way. Please take a moment to let us know you have made your call here: http://www.johnkerry.com/signup/electoral_reform.php

Thank you,

John Kerry

I believe it does not matter which side of the political fence you align yourself with or whom you voted for, but I do believe that your vote should be counted. The fact that there are votes in Ohio that were not counted is troubling. And I also think federal elections reform are needed. (Why can't we vote on paper like the rest of the world? Traceable, re-countable, simplistic paper?)

Every vote should count. Please call. It's important.

It was an smacksident!

Last night, or sometime in the dark hours of the morning, I'm trying to sleep in an enjoy the holiday. The cat is doing his best to lick every inch of Andy's face and Andy is struggling. By struggling, I mean keeping perfectly still and whimpering but not doing a thing to defend himself against the cat. Fairly unhapply about being woken, I lean over, spy something round and furry, and smack it.

It was Andy's head. The cat, knowing that it was meant to for him, took off like a rocket.

"I'm sorry!" I plea. "It was an accident!"

"Sure you are, just a little smacksident."

Christmas A Go-Go

The last of the packages has arrived and I would like to thank everyone for their gifts. You all rock! And I love the bag Jenny made, it's multicolored and fuzzy and a little crazy and has a book signed by Chris Baty (chrisbaty!) inside. i love it. And Clare sent me the best smelling soap, I mean the best smelling. I'm enchanted by the foot scrub. And I got a fancy jewelry box from Natalie and a Fortune Cat (mo-nee-neko?). And I got a nifty looking book from Melanie, which I started to read already. It's cool. Andy got me a fancy Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I had to make a batch of cookies immediately with my new toy and the cookies were deicious!

Christmas, of course, is not about presents but about spending time with loved ones, blah blah blah. Enough lip service. I love prezzies. Everyone does. And thank you for the wonderful ones I received this year.

Fuck it's cold!

Today the temperature in Philly rose to a balmy 22 Farenhiet. And in the morning when it was 9 degrees, there was a cheery layer of ice on my car. Grrrr. Pardon me, Brrrr.

People with broken heaters called all day. Not much we could do there but refer them to the Heater Hotline, which I'm sure was doing a blockbuster business. I had clients call because they had no food so I ran out boxes of emergency food and blankets, for good measure. It was an exciting, cold, cold, fucking cold day.

Rick called as I got home. He was on his way to clean up a gangland style triple homicide but wanted to get my mailing address first. I said, "No one has ever quite said that to me before. Thank you."

Checked out Rant Your Writing to peek in on the status of my short story, Tempus Fugit, only to see that 15 people have viewed it but not one of them could be bothered to write anything. What's up with that? Is it perfect? Must be. That's the only conclusion I can draw.

To sum: my heater is working *knock wood*, there's plenty of food in my pantry, and Andy and I are getting something in the mail from Rick, and Rate Your Writing can't actually be bothered to rate my writing.

Meanwhile, Back at the Krispy Kreme

I'm driving back from my home vivist (which went lovely) and I have to pee so bad I'm seeing yellow. There are no public bathrooms anywhere in Philadelphia so I'm pretty much screwed. I suck it in and drive to the Krispy Kreme on Cottman Ave.

Once there, I purchase a small hot tea and a doughnut because it's just not right to use the facilities and leave. Krispy Kreme has a beautiful, clean bathroom and deserve my money.

I'm drinking my tea and listening to the music. It seemed to be a Beatles version on Let It Snow. Could it really be the Beatles? Sounds like them. How come I haven't heard this before? I should try to find it. Then Feliz Navidad comes on. I just can't resist this song, it's pure joy sung by Julio Ingelsias.

At the exact moment Julio started to sing, I and this blue eyed freckled boy started singing, too. "Feliz navidad!" Then we looked at each other in embaressment. Kindred spirits, me and this freckled boy who was cutting class. I started laughing, the whole situation was too funny.

A Retraction

As Clare rightly pointed out, Andy doesn't actually celebrate Christmas and perhaps he fails to realize how important it is to me to haul in a dead (or plastic) tree annually, decorate it like the Queen of Sheba and stash prezzies underneath. It's morbid and weird but very important.

And if I happen to stumble across a tiny fiber optic tree (and it needn't be pink) suitable for placing on top a filing cabinet, it's mine! Now I have an excuse for dropping in on the Christmas decoration stores.

Nano Withdrawl and Psuedo Trees

So I have loads of free time. Never knew before. All weekend I kept wandering around thinking I ought to be doing something constructive but there was nothing! Well, only cleaning but I didn't want to do that, so it doesn't count.

After taking a few well earned vacation days from my computer, I'm rested and wanting to do something. Create. Write. Paint a room, something, anything! I now realize how much I MISS Nanowrimo. Clare calls it the post-nano blues. I've got 'em, too.

What about rewriting? Well, Chris Baty (it's one word when I say it: chrisbaty) says to let it rest a bit before rewriting. Fine. I guess I'll start rewriting those previous year novels that I never seemed to get around to rewriting.

Did do most of the prezzie hunting on the weekend. Took Andy to the mall, let him carry all the bags. And most of the purchasing. Men are handy that way. :) All that's left is to get niftly little treats to stuff in Omouse and Athene's packages. Verve's is already wrapped and waiting under the close approximation of a christmas tree, so don't bother asking.

Oh, the tree. Andy wouldn't let me put up a tree this year, the Scrooge. Says there's no room. Says he feels claustrophobic. Whiny baby. So I snidely asked if he didn't feel too claustrophobic, could I still put up decorations? Sure.

So I drapped the filing cabinet with the tree skit and set the angel on a little base made from garland. Hung some decorations around. It's a close approxiamation of a tree. I sang, "Oh, psuedo tree, of psuedo tree..." Hrothgar immediately climbed under, guarding the Cave of Christmas, as is his right and responsibilty.

I think Andy felt like a bit of a jerk for not letting me set up the tree, as he should.