Nov 4 - Election Day!

So the big day is finally here! We’ve been in the grips of election anxiety for weeks, but last night it got so bad we had a hard time sleeping. The more I lay awake ruminating, the more I got upset at myself for not doing anything to support Obama in a battleground state, like we thought we would. I had wanted to go to Florida to canvass for Obama just before the election, and then tack on a little scuba diving vacation in the Keys afterwards. Ritesh was more for staying closer to home and driving to Nevada, New Mexico or even Colorado. But after my diagnosis, we never really got it together and none of these trips materialized. We didn’t even make any phone calls this weekend, which left me so guilt-ridden, I donated more money to the campaign, yet again.

But still, this morning, my self-loathing over my apathy was such that after giving up on the idea of sleep, I got dressed and drove over to the Obama phone bank right next to work and finally made a bunch of calls. The list of people I was given was of registered voters in Virginia, Virginia being top of the list because it was raining hard over there, and the campaign was worried that people wouldn’t go vote. So I called my list of Virginians, left a lot of messages but also spoke to a bunch of people, mostly African-American seniors, which was a treat. They were lovely, friendly, excited, and had all gone or were going to vote in spite of the rain and the long lines, no matter what. ”I’ll bring umbrellas for the other people in line”, they said, and “I wouldn’t miss it for the world”. So by the time I had to leave to go into work, I felt a whole lot better.

9.29am - some grapes for breakfast, at work, after calling Virginia11.54am - some banana bread, apples, crackers at the Meet&Greet w/ the new folks in the Technical Group. As though anyone could talk about anything other than the election!1.25pm - a hasty, crappy lunch of pasta and Caesar salad from Wolfgang Puck's outside of Gelson's

I went back to the phone banks right after lunch, and it was a zoo! Now everyone was calling Indiana, as their polls are one of the first to close. There must have been several hundred volunteers there. Instead of three people being trained, like my little group this morning, they now had two groups of 25, they were already out of seating space, and there were more and more people rolling in. They were so well on their way of reaching the target of 1 million calls today that they had upped the target to 1,100,000. So I went to the bathroom, see below, and then I went back to work.4.45pm - an apple, back at work. This is the view of the Hyatt Regency Hotel right out of my window. The Hyatt is where the Century City Obama phone bank is, as well as the Obama for America and Democratic National Convention Gala tonight, for which we have RSVP'd.5.54pm - a veggie juice, while the first results roll in, at work6.29pm - at the Obama for America/DNC Gala at the Hyatt - this is the grand ballroom on the second basement floor, the same room where MGM had our Christmas party last year. Tonight it was standing room only, there was no food, drinks were $10 a cocktail, and over $16,000 people had RSVP'd. A bit too much craziness for my taste, plus I was hungry, so I went home to be with Ritesh.7.10pm - hummus, Indian brussel sprouts, radish salad, while watching the Daily Show/Colbert Report Election Special...8.20pm - .... which would be interrupted by the announcement that victory had been called for Barack Obama! So quickly! And such a landslide! We didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so we did both ...I called my family in Germany (at 5.30am their time - they didn't actually pick up but I'm sure they appreciated the thought) and my goddaughter, then checked the news:

8.41pm - Die Welt

8.43pm - Le Monde (the French gave Obama the biggest spread of all)

8.46pm - The Guardian

8.50pm - El Pais

8.56pm - Die Zeit

9.00pm - (midnight in Chicago) - our new First Family, at Chicago's Grant Park!

I have imagined this moment so many times, wondering what it would feel like if it really were to happen. Predictably, I'd get choked up every time, and I did again today. But I also thought I might feel the urge to get in the car and drive around LA, honking the horn like crazy, like Italians do when they win a soccer match. It works beautifully as an expression of joy in Italy, because so many people do it, plus everyone is out in the streets anyway. Not quite so in LA. Apparently people were out in the street in Westwood and West Hollywood, but we just sat on the couch, very quietly, taking in the moment and the magnitude of what just happened. There's not a lot of moments that can compare, at least not in my lifetime.

Ritesh claims that I said Obama would be our next president back in 2004, after his convention speech. That is very flattering, although I have no recollection of it. It makes sense that it would have seemed to me and probably everyone at the time that after the Kerry debacle, the Democrats needed a new and different kind of leader, someone transformational, with a vision to motivate people. What I can say is for certain though is that I rooted for him ever since the primaries, and have donated money to his campaign on several occasions, which is a first for me.

I keep thinking about Noam Chomsky, who in endorsing Obama called him "the lesser of two evils". Let's see how much change he can actually bring about.

If he can't do it, my sense is, nobody can.

Although Obama would probably say that Change is up to each and everyone of us, and that we all have to contribute. But how? And where do we start?

If this is our time and this is our moment, what are we going to do?