Blarg. I tried to convince my uncle to vote No on 8, but he wasn't buying it. He said it didn't actually eliminate rights; they'd still have all the domestic partnership rights. And when I told him that they wouldn't be able to file taxes jointly because a partner wouldn't count as a "spouse," he said that, well, that's what normal people get to do, and since what they do is not normal, they don't get to do it.

One thing I've noticed is how proud older black people are of Obama. For those who fought for the right to vote, endured dogs and hoses, beatings and jailings, Obama's candidacy is almost a personal triumph for them.

Another heartwarming story--

This morning, I escorted my new husband to the polls (I mailed my ballot in last week). We live on the diverse side of the tracks in Venice, California; the neighborhood around us is still predominantly black and Latino, even as the streets closer to the ocean have gentrified. There was a line; we were happy to see it.

After a friendly half hour in the slowly creeping line, a young black man drove up and helped an elderly black man out of his car. "Go on, grandad," he said. "They'll let you go first. Just tell them you have a hard time standing."

"Oh, all right," said the older man. He wore a loosely perched baseball cap, and a light brown canvas jacket. He could hardly walk, but he was smiling wide, laughing and joking as he came forward on his grandson's arm. We all made way for him without a word.

"I guess I gotta get past you," he said to us, apologizing for jumping in ahead. "I gotta vote for that black kid for president!"

well, that's what normal people get to do, and since what they do is not normal, they don't get to do it.

Would you mind if I re-educated him at the end of an aluminum baseball bat?

Prop 8 is really making me want to bitch slap a large portion of the populace.

Maybe I should eat, my blood sugar might be a bit low.

The top story at Guardian.co.uk (the liberal British paper) is the election. And by top story, I mean that section of the webpage fills my entire monitor, I have to scroll down to see actual British news. The election is also the top story at the London Times, but not quite as big. Still first, though.

The world is watching!

Prop 8 is really making me want to bitch slap a large portion of the populace.

My blood sugar is not low, and Prop 8 still makes me want to take a bat to anyone who's voted for it.

Hey there bitches.

The world is watching!

We are not going to fuck this up! We SWEARS!!!!

that's what normal people get to do, and since what they do is not normal, they don't get to do it.

Ew. Er, VOTE SAXON! No? Um.

Yeah prop 8 is stressing me out too. I just don't want to believe it can pass, but I'm haunted by the specter of elections past.

Prop 8 is really making me want to bitch slap a large portion of the populace.

For reals. We both knew we were not going to change each other's minds, so we calmly stepped away from the conversation, which was good for my blood pressure. I foolishly thought I might have been able to convince him to vote No; I told him he could have all the moral oppositions he wanted, but there was no reason to make it a legal issue.

LET ME TELL YOU A HAPPY STORY INSTEAD.

So a friend of mine has a chronic health condition, which makes it hard for her to commute long distances and work a lot. On a whim, she applied for a video post-production internship because the place was ten minutes from her house and she wanted to explore the career. It was a very small company (seven people), and the head of the company was only four years older than she was.

She did not get the internship. She's way underqualified, and they're looking for more experienced candidates.

BUT.

He's going to let her come in a few hours each day (however much she can do, whenever she can do it) to learn the basics until she gets enough experience to do real work for them.

When she was all WTF WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS FOR ME?? he responded, "You know, there are still some decent people in the world. I hope to be one of them."