Back from beyond
There is so much to say, I hardly know how to begin. I'm sorry for disapearing off the face fo the virtual planet, but I'm not really sorry. It was for a good cause and a good time.
The Campaign.
As if my last LJ entry was a prophecy, I stopped having time for anything or anybody after labor day. We hired a field director -- this strange, smelly, mouse of a midwesterner named jessica, who started every sentence with "that's a good point" regardless of whether the only other person in the room was actually sleeping picture of John's tourtois. At one point i developed a theory that good points were beemed down to her from Mars, which could also explain her tendancy to start utterly random and useless projects that she would later abandon. Or, more acurately, ask me to start utterly random and useless projects that she later would decide i was not compitant to handle, take over herself, and then abandon entirely. I found her anoying but passable until she made me waste about 4 hours of my time driving to east hampton and back TO ACCOMPLISH NOTHING because of her incompetance. After that, I spent at least 1/3 of my energy trying to spare her life.
But there was Molly, who I became close friends with. And Jordi, who may have been sent directly from heaven because she made the perfect defuser (sure that's a word) between me and Jessica, and was fun, funny and efficient. And eventually there was the DC staff, who came down and put the party back in demcratic pary. It was good to et new blood, and they're a fun and hardworking.
The work itself was mostly great. the hours were crazy but the work was fun and rewarding. The volunteers cracked me up, esp. the union guys. I've become an honarary member of both SEIU and NATCA, and I've been promised margaritas and a tour of the Air Traffic controll towers from the NATCA guys. which rocks. But when I say great, i mean I worked between 13-16 hours a day for 7 days a week.
If I had more space (read: patience to write) I'd tell you more stories.
But for now
Election Day.
Election day itself was wird. It was mostly sitting around nervously in a union hall. I took a nap on some chairs. I hadn't slept more than 3 hours in weeks. Then I got edgy and left to walk a district, even though it wasn't really necessary, i just needed to get out. The night was like a dream. There was a big party going in the ball room of the Mariot. but when i got there, the Bishop girls wisked me up to the Bishop staff hotel rooms where we were sitting and eating and drinking and laughing because it was FINALLY FUCKING OVER. There was releaf in the room, but tention too. We were still waiting for the results. The congressman grabbed me by the shoulders and shook/hugged me and told me "We're ahead in smithtown" which is my 4/5 republican hometown. None of us could remember the last time a democrat took that town. I was mid laugh when someone said "he's about to make the call. Manger's gonna concede" at which piont the laughter turned to shrieking and crying and more laughter, and we all hugged each other in every permutation and combination. We had won. And by a lot. 2 years ago, we eked out a victory with only 1.2 (i think) percent margin. This year we had a 12%. The RNC had wasted 1 million dollars. We had another two years. The congressman hugged me and wispered a thank you and told me I was the best. Molly cried. So did Sean (the campaign manager). John cried and called his wife and demanded to speak to his tourtois. We were all delerious. I fell asleep. I hadn't slept more than 3 hours in weeks.
The elation didn't leave for days. Even though I heard that the rest of the country had gone to hell in a hand basket. We had won. There's no feeling like the completion of a job that took your heart soul, sweat, tears, and hours and hours and hours of your time, and suddenly realizing it was all worth it and you'd do it again in a heartbeat.
I woke up the next morning and drove home to shower. I paced my house for an hour or two. I hadn't had empty time in weeks and I didn't know what to do with myself. I went back to the hotel for breakfast with the staff. then went home and packed for...
The Road Trip.
Within 24 hours of the election I was back in providence. Andy and I left the next afternoon for Baltimore where we stayed with a high school friend of his, went to some sketchy way-too-heterosexual-for-genna bar and then to a "diner" with a decor that I can only discribe as "Maniquins with bras made of plastic soldiers and barbi dolls" where I got a crappy omlete but had a really good time.
Next it was down to Xi at UNC Chapel hill. Which was pleasant, though docile. We came on what must have been a slow weekend, unless everything I heard about the Xi chapter of St. Anthony Hall was told to me on some adolescent "Opposite Day" I painted something that resembled human intestines, which the xi's decided was art and displayed it for their parents dinner the next day. We walked around Chapel hill, which is a nice little town, and then we had dinner with the xis and their parents, Watched Garden State on DVD, and went to sleep.
The next day we headed to see the Phi Boys in Mississippi. We stopped for dinner in birmingham Alabama. There were a few restaurants in the AAA book, but when Andy called them he learned that they were all closed on sundays. So we decided to drive into the city and stop at whatever was opened. As it turns out, the whole city closes on sundays, but we eventually found a Soul Food place that wasn't yet closed. We ate their fried chicken and squash casserole and sweet tea and corn bread. They asked us where we were from (even before hearing our accents they could tell we weren't from around here. No white person from Birmingham ever sets foot in that place!) but the people were very friendly, and gave us some historical background on the area and helped us get back to the highway and didn't stare too much.
We got to mississippi and I fell in love with each and every one of the phi boys. really. No, seriously, i felt just like one of the guys who just so happened to be a queerish jewish chick from New York. They are fun and spirited and I got to ride in the back of a pick-up truck, go on some fraternity related scavenger hunt, and eat the worlds best catfish. There was, in the words of David Booth Beers, some "robust fraternization." I was a little wierded out that two of the only african american people that I saw in Mississippi was the cook and the maid. I'm not used to being waited on or tended to or anything like that, and the racial dynamic of it combined with the local history made me a little uncomfortable. Still, she made chicken fried steak, a meal that I can't entirely wrap my head around, and MORE sweet tea, and I was happy. The last day there, the boys took us to some small town called Taylor for a lunch of the worlds best fried catfish. The town hardly qualified as a town. It had a post office, a car/tractor repair shop, the Grocery (where we ate lunch) and maybe something else that I can't remember, in the center was a dirt square where you park your pick-ups (of course you have pick ups). And it's a good thing that there's no real winter to speak of in Mississippi, because none of these places would have made it through a new england winter. The restaurant's schtick was that visitors wrote their name on the wall, so the wooden frame was carved and inky with pen and beautiful. And I think i'm STILL full from the meal.
Mississippi was a strange place. It many ways it was alot like I expected it. Very segregated. Very sparse. the anti-gay marriage ammendment passed with 86% of the vote. ole miss had recently erected the Trent Lott leadership institute. But in many ways it was quite different. The boys teased each other about the hick stereo-types and goaded each other about not wearing shoes. Someone told me how embarassed he was that the amendment passed with so much support, said "It's bad when your state makes Tenessee look tolorant," and assured me that he didn't support the amendment. All this without prodding from me. Also, though I was painfully aware of race issues there, people there seem much more comfortable with it than we are, especially at brown. People weren't afraid to joke or be joked with. At least people in close circles. And people wanted to talk, and learn, and hear different views and different experiences. they were proud, but open minded, and they deserved to be both. I turned some brothers into friends, this week. I can't wait until GC.
After Mississippi, we had dinner and drinks in nashville, listened to live country music and watched middle aged women dance the Drunk-and-Lonely at the bar. It was quite fun; I wish we had more time to spend there.
Next we went to the spy museum in DC, which I highly recommend.
Then back to providence for Reggie Gibson, who deeply rocked my world and stayed at King House until 3am talking politics and then taking part in an impromptu drum circle featuring Joss on the watering-can and someone on the glass bottle and Chair back. Quite the welcome home. Saturday we saw a play (which sucked) at the black rep (which rocked) with Clair and Cassie (who also rock). Sunday I cought up with Brian and then sat through the longest ever fraternity elections.
Monday morning i came back to Long Island, got picked up by Molly and went back to work and started to try to settle in to what may finally become a normal-ish life until I go back to School in january.
So that's what I've been up to. How are you?
The Campaign.
As if my last LJ entry was a prophecy, I stopped having time for anything or anybody after labor day. We hired a field director -- this strange, smelly, mouse of a midwesterner named jessica, who started every sentence with "that's a good point" regardless of whether the only other person in the room was actually sleeping picture of John's tourtois. At one point i developed a theory that good points were beemed down to her from Mars, which could also explain her tendancy to start utterly random and useless projects that she would later abandon. Or, more acurately, ask me to start utterly random and useless projects that she later would decide i was not compitant to handle, take over herself, and then abandon entirely. I found her anoying but passable until she made me waste about 4 hours of my time driving to east hampton and back TO ACCOMPLISH NOTHING because of her incompetance. After that, I spent at least 1/3 of my energy trying to spare her life.
But there was Molly, who I became close friends with. And Jordi, who may have been sent directly from heaven because she made the perfect defuser (sure that's a word) between me and Jessica, and was fun, funny and efficient. And eventually there was the DC staff, who came down and put the party back in demcratic pary. It was good to et new blood, and they're a fun and hardworking.
The work itself was mostly great. the hours were crazy but the work was fun and rewarding. The volunteers cracked me up, esp. the union guys. I've become an honarary member of both SEIU and NATCA, and I've been promised margaritas and a tour of the Air Traffic controll towers from the NATCA guys. which rocks. But when I say great, i mean I worked between 13-16 hours a day for 7 days a week.
If I had more space (read: patience to write) I'd tell you more stories.
But for now
Election Day.
Election day itself was wird. It was mostly sitting around nervously in a union hall. I took a nap on some chairs. I hadn't slept more than 3 hours in weeks. Then I got edgy and left to walk a district, even though it wasn't really necessary, i just needed to get out. The night was like a dream. There was a big party going in the ball room of the Mariot. but when i got there, the Bishop girls wisked me up to the Bishop staff hotel rooms where we were sitting and eating and drinking and laughing because it was FINALLY FUCKING OVER. There was releaf in the room, but tention too. We were still waiting for the results. The congressman grabbed me by the shoulders and shook/hugged me and told me "We're ahead in smithtown" which is my 4/5 republican hometown. None of us could remember the last time a democrat took that town. I was mid laugh when someone said "he's about to make the call. Manger's gonna concede" at which piont the laughter turned to shrieking and crying and more laughter, and we all hugged each other in every permutation and combination. We had won. And by a lot. 2 years ago, we eked out a victory with only 1.2 (i think) percent margin. This year we had a 12%. The RNC had wasted 1 million dollars. We had another two years. The congressman hugged me and wispered a thank you and told me I was the best. Molly cried. So did Sean (the campaign manager). John cried and called his wife and demanded to speak to his tourtois. We were all delerious. I fell asleep. I hadn't slept more than 3 hours in weeks.
The elation didn't leave for days. Even though I heard that the rest of the country had gone to hell in a hand basket. We had won. There's no feeling like the completion of a job that took your heart soul, sweat, tears, and hours and hours and hours of your time, and suddenly realizing it was all worth it and you'd do it again in a heartbeat.
I woke up the next morning and drove home to shower. I paced my house for an hour or two. I hadn't had empty time in weeks and I didn't know what to do with myself. I went back to the hotel for breakfast with the staff. then went home and packed for...
The Road Trip.
Within 24 hours of the election I was back in providence. Andy and I left the next afternoon for Baltimore where we stayed with a high school friend of his, went to some sketchy way-too-heterosexual-for-genna bar and then to a "diner" with a decor that I can only discribe as "Maniquins with bras made of plastic soldiers and barbi dolls" where I got a crappy omlete but had a really good time.
Next it was down to Xi at UNC Chapel hill. Which was pleasant, though docile. We came on what must have been a slow weekend, unless everything I heard about the Xi chapter of St. Anthony Hall was told to me on some adolescent "Opposite Day" I painted something that resembled human intestines, which the xi's decided was art and displayed it for their parents dinner the next day. We walked around Chapel hill, which is a nice little town, and then we had dinner with the xis and their parents, Watched Garden State on DVD, and went to sleep.
The next day we headed to see the Phi Boys in Mississippi. We stopped for dinner in birmingham Alabama. There were a few restaurants in the AAA book, but when Andy called them he learned that they were all closed on sundays. So we decided to drive into the city and stop at whatever was opened. As it turns out, the whole city closes on sundays, but we eventually found a Soul Food place that wasn't yet closed. We ate their fried chicken and squash casserole and sweet tea and corn bread. They asked us where we were from (even before hearing our accents they could tell we weren't from around here. No white person from Birmingham ever sets foot in that place!) but the people were very friendly, and gave us some historical background on the area and helped us get back to the highway and didn't stare too much.
We got to mississippi and I fell in love with each and every one of the phi boys. really. No, seriously, i felt just like one of the guys who just so happened to be a queerish jewish chick from New York. They are fun and spirited and I got to ride in the back of a pick-up truck, go on some fraternity related scavenger hunt, and eat the worlds best catfish. There was, in the words of David Booth Beers, some "robust fraternization." I was a little wierded out that two of the only african american people that I saw in Mississippi was the cook and the maid. I'm not used to being waited on or tended to or anything like that, and the racial dynamic of it combined with the local history made me a little uncomfortable. Still, she made chicken fried steak, a meal that I can't entirely wrap my head around, and MORE sweet tea, and I was happy. The last day there, the boys took us to some small town called Taylor for a lunch of the worlds best fried catfish. The town hardly qualified as a town. It had a post office, a car/tractor repair shop, the Grocery (where we ate lunch) and maybe something else that I can't remember, in the center was a dirt square where you park your pick-ups (of course you have pick ups). And it's a good thing that there's no real winter to speak of in Mississippi, because none of these places would have made it through a new england winter. The restaurant's schtick was that visitors wrote their name on the wall, so the wooden frame was carved and inky with pen and beautiful. And I think i'm STILL full from the meal.
Mississippi was a strange place. It many ways it was alot like I expected it. Very segregated. Very sparse. the anti-gay marriage ammendment passed with 86% of the vote. ole miss had recently erected the Trent Lott leadership institute. But in many ways it was quite different. The boys teased each other about the hick stereo-types and goaded each other about not wearing shoes. Someone told me how embarassed he was that the amendment passed with so much support, said "It's bad when your state makes Tenessee look tolorant," and assured me that he didn't support the amendment. All this without prodding from me. Also, though I was painfully aware of race issues there, people there seem much more comfortable with it than we are, especially at brown. People weren't afraid to joke or be joked with. At least people in close circles. And people wanted to talk, and learn, and hear different views and different experiences. they were proud, but open minded, and they deserved to be both. I turned some brothers into friends, this week. I can't wait until GC.
After Mississippi, we had dinner and drinks in nashville, listened to live country music and watched middle aged women dance the Drunk-and-Lonely at the bar. It was quite fun; I wish we had more time to spend there.
Next we went to the spy museum in DC, which I highly recommend.
Then back to providence for Reggie Gibson, who deeply rocked my world and stayed at King House until 3am talking politics and then taking part in an impromptu drum circle featuring Joss on the watering-can and someone on the glass bottle and Chair back. Quite the welcome home. Saturday we saw a play (which sucked) at the black rep (which rocked) with Clair and Cassie (who also rock). Sunday I cought up with Brian and then sat through the longest ever fraternity elections.
Monday morning i came back to Long Island, got picked up by Molly and went back to work and started to try to settle in to what may finally become a normal-ish life until I go back to School in january.
So that's what I've been up to. How are you?