We could all see it coming for months, but tonight it finally happened.  Barack Hussein Obama was elected as the 44th President of the United States of America.  While he wasn’t my first choice – I voted for Hillary in the primary – I’m really moved by how powerfully people are reacting to Obama’s win.  Even living in Canada, I feel very connected to my fellow Americans, perhaps in feeling some hope for the future of the country for the first time in a very long while.  Two people have already suggested that now it’s "safe" for me to come back to the US. haha 

Since Tracey and I got into it again yesterday, I spent the evening watching the election coverage alone. In a way, I’m glad.  I’m sure if she were around, she’d have just sat there bitching about how Obama stole the job that was rightfully Hillary’s turn to have a crack at.  While I wanted Hillary to win the primary, I can see the significance Obama’s victory is having on so many people, so I don’t feel so upset about the turnout now.

I really believe – and it’s pretty obvious already – that Obama’s election is a pivotal point in American history. I hope that people of colour will feel empowered by his being able to make it all the way to the presidency in spite of all the crap that was thrown at him re: his background, his supposed muslim connections, etc.  Having grown up in the South and seeing so many black kids still being raised to feel as though they are limited in their potential because of their race – and also being taught to take advantage of the system rather than working hard and elevating oneself, even out of a bad environment – I really hope that Obama will serve as a beacon of hope and self-respect and possibilities for people in those situations.  It’s always really bothered me that people would choose to raise their kids and not encourage them to go out there and pursue their dreams.  I’ve thought many times how, were I not white myself, I would love to go and talk to some of those kids and tell them that they CAN do something different and better with their lives. They CAN achieve anything they want.  It’s been my experience that that type of talk would not be terribly well-received from someone who’s not in the same situation themselves, so it’s a drag because I really do believe in empowering people as to their own potential.

I really hope that, going forward, Obama will be able to live up to the hope he has helped instill and the passion he has helped to awaken in a lot of the country. If he were to ever become just another in the line of politicians that say one thing and do another after being elected, I think it would dishearten people so badly that they’d truly become tuned out. So, I really hope he can get enough done to live up to the hype! I know it will take a while, but it should be interesting and God knows he can’t do any worse than what Bush has done in the past 8 years.

My only worry now is some dumbass bigot (no doubt from a Southern state) will try to kill him, which would set the country back so far if it were to come to pass, God forbid!

I feel like the country has spoken volumes about how far we’ve come in trying to overcome prejudice. Of course, being from the South and seeing all the Southern states go red tonight is a bit frustrating, because I feel like it says how far behind the times the mindset there is in a lot of places. Thank goodness I don’t live there anymore! West coast is much more in tune with my way of thinking!

My congrats go out to everyone who is hoping for a more perfect union in which to pursue life, liberty and happiness.

Emily actually called to see what I thought about the results and was one of the people who suggested it was safe to move back south of the border.  She said she was thinking of taking a road trip to DC for the inauguration since it falls on her birthday and asked if I’d be interested in flying over to go with her. Hmmmm….I’ve wanted to go to DC for a very long time!  Might have to consider prostitution as a temporary occupation to accumulate the cash to go. NO, Frank, you CANNOT be my first customer!  😛

I’ve been looking at IllustrationClass.com – Von Glitschka’s web site that shows his techniques for sketching illustrations and logos and then getting them into Illustrator to vectorize them. I’ve wanted to know how people do this stuff for AGES, so I’m THRILLED to have found a place that shows step by step info on the techniques!  Thanks go out to Cyndi on the HOW list for posting the link!

It’s almost 3:00am – I should get to bed!