paradox.

so. the next president of the united states will not be white.

the interesting thing to me is that, despite touting this as the inauguration of a "post-racial" america, we are, in fact, more obsessed with race and racial identity than ever, whether it be our own, our neighbour's, or the president-elect's mixed-racial identity. i think that's actually causing people a fair amount of consternation. just as there are those who are hailing him as "america's first black president," there are those equally determined to point out that he has a white mother. if we really were inaugurating a post-racial united states, we would be open and comfortable with a president who has a mixed-race background.

but we're not, see. historically, people with one white parent and one black parent were considered black. they were kept with the rest of the slaves. they were denied the rights their white parents enjoyed. now, more than ever, a biracial identity is impossible.

he's trying. you have to give him credit. he's widely disseminating pictures of himself with his mother and grandmother. he left race as much as possible out of his campaign. that doesn't stop people from making it the main talking point in his electoral victory (all-important questions about the presidential puppy aside).

we're trying too. we're trying to convince ourselves that we have finally arrived at a nation that judges people not by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character (ahem). i mean, hell, we voted him into office right? no one can argue that progress has not been made. but i don't think it's been made as far as racial identity goes. we're still not comfortable with multi-racial identities. we're still obsessed with the identity that's been handed down by the past. we're still segregated by geography (visit any major american city), religion (visit any american church or mosque(1)), education (visit any american private university), and the culture that results from these divisions.

but if barack obama is right about one thing, he's right about hope. we can hope that we have just taken a giant step towards ignoring the colour of not just everyone else's skin, but also our own.

(1) to those of you complaining right now, i'm not going to list here synagogues since jews tend to be a race defined by their religion, or buddhist and hindu temples since actual worship at those locations still tends to be defined by the cultures that produced them. it's telling, however, that any conversation about asians in america, and to a lesser extent hispanics, is absent from this new insistence on our new, "post-racial" nation.

distractions.

so i stayed up late last night and watched the election results. i don't care where you stand politically, you have to admit that barack obama is one of the most eloquent politicians this country as produced in decades.

and i'm 2000 words behind in my novel.

d'oh.

yes! i'm planning to vote tomorrow!

now stop calling me!

i hope you are too. in the meantime, this is a fun and fascinating article. i read it on my lunch break today.

and again.

it's november. time to try to write another 50,000 words. last year i only made 13,096. first year in 4 that i failed.

wish me luck.

and so it begins.

came home today to find the first political robo-call on my answering machine. dammit. i have got to move to california or something. so sick of living in a battleground state.

we haven't, at least, been getting the nasty ones. at least not yet. this one was about "a woman's right to choose." and then, you know, BALEETED. i already know who that's for. don't need to sit through the whole thing. ahem. if they're going to do robo-calls, they could at least make them interesting or unpredictable. also, maybe do a little demographic research. under 35? yeah. gets most political info from teh intarwebz. not automated phone calls.

i was hoping they'd hold off a little longer. 2 weeks to the election. sigh.

too soon.

first virus of the season.

i feel miserable. not, unfortunately, so miserable that i could justify using a sick day. i hate this in-between sick. i'd rather have a damn flu with fever and everything than this crappy cold.

bleah.

celebrations.

happy new year. it is 5769 as of, well, monday night.

also, happy birthday to me.

what's for dinner?

"do you just make these up?" she asked me.

"yes."

middle-eastern-style kabobs

1lb steak (i happened to have rib-eye in the freezer, so that's what i used)
2 green bell peppers
1/2 onion
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
4 cloves garlic (i like garlic)
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar and/or lemon juice (i don't have any lemons at the moment)
to taste: ground cumin, ground coriander, salt, black pepper, rosemary and oregano (fresh, preferably ...i should plant some oregano next year)

1. combine the cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, herbs, olive oil, and vinegar in a dish or plastic bag.

2. cut the steak into 1" cubes, trimming off excess fat.

3. marinate the meat for at least an hour to overnight.

4. when the meat is nearly finished marinating, cut the onion and peppers into 1" square slices.

5. thread the onion and pepper slices, whole tomatoes, and meat onto skewers, alternating as your whimsy takes you.

6. pour the marinade over the kabobs.

7. grill or broil using high heat so the meat sears. continue cooking to desired doneness.

8. serve with rice, couscous, or flatbread.

happy equinox.

today is the first day of fall.

or spring, i suppose, depending where you are.

in other news...

my 9 year old aloe plant is undergoing asexual procreation. i don't know what suddenly caused it to start sprouting now, but there it is.

it lives in the bathroom to protect it from the cat. aloes and cats are apparently natural enemies.

i bought it back in 1999 in a farmer's market in montreal. it's lived through 2 countries, and 6 moves. quite frankly, i'm surprised it's still alive. not only is it alive, it's apparently feeling quite vigorous.

from what i can find online, i need to wait until the sprout is about 4 inches, by which point, it should have developed its own root system. then i carefully separate it and re-pot it by itself. this ought to be interesting.