Letter from Yvonne:
After the Election
Hi, Everyone —
Did you know it was possible to feel so excited and happy and relieved that one could actually end up 180-ing directly to NUMB?
Perhaps watching the election coverage at home, alone, was a bad idea. This was a collective moment: too heavy with context and consequence to be experienced in solitude and while wearing jammies; too rich and sweet to be celebrated with a glass of lime-y Sauvignon blanc. My husband, Robert, a journalist (no, no, the good kind! — the kind you wish there were more of!), was off covering the local election scene. So I sat in front of the TV, anticipatory tissues balled up in my hand, watching all the emotional faces…and failing to cry. Even when the soul-stirring new First Family walked out onto that stage! Even at the most moving parts of Obama’s speech; even about the puppy. What is wrong with me?
I’m hoping I will bawl myself sick with joy on Inauguration Day.
Or that the frozen tears will suddenly well up and wash over me at some unexpected hour. Perhaps as I’m out shopping tomorrow…say, at Bed Bath & Beyond, where I might hurl myself onto one of those little gussied-up prop beds and weep into the careful-but-comically-excessive arrangement of decorative pillows.
For the past two days I’ve been not only dry-eyed but rather dread-filled — surveying the clutter (both literal and psychic) that’s accumulated in my life recently. That is, since I began putting everything off until After the Election, citing lack of concentration and lack of time (“Must. Refresh. HuffPo…”). And now, here we are, After the Election! Those deferred projects, big and small: their time has come.
So far, I’ve not made much progress, but am quite firm on two matters:
1. President-Elect Obama: as of yesterday, you are going to have to choose your staff and Cabinet appointees without my participation in the obsessive media analysis of each flurry of rumors, each decision, each ginned-up controversy. To reward your near-perfect judgement throughout a two-year-long campaign, I’m going to trust you! Big hug!
2. Political bloggers: as of yesterday, I am weeding out those of you who’ve come to specialize in provocative posts that keep your readers churned up — and churning out comments for your blog. Yes, bad news must be (responsibly) reported; but if you’ve become addicted to toxic blogging, I wish you well, but I’m quitting you.
Whoo — feeling better already! A welcome energy boost. For I have set my jaw like Barack Obama’s as he gazes into a brighter future (“posing for his coin” is Jon Stewart’s description of that look), and I’ve organized an ambitious to-do list. (Interesting that, logically, nothing in any category actually needed to be postponed due to a Presidential election [in which I myself was not one of the candidates]; apparently I’ll take my excuses any way I can get them.) A sampling:
Correspondence: If I know ya, I prob’ly owe ya. And no more political screeds — at last, my infamously lengthy and meandering letters can be 100% about our cats.
Reading: Can I now settle down and read a book, cover-to-cover? Robert had bought me Obama’s autobiography, Dreams from My Father, a while ago; that will make for a gentle transition back to books. I also look forward to revisiting Emerson’s essay on Compensation, which I first read online just two weeks ago…next time, I shall read it slowly and thoughtfully, while reflecting on my own heart’s potential for betterment. It seems counter to the spirit of the thing to have been hooting, “Yeah! You’re gonna learn THAT lesson, John McCain!!” after nearly every paragraph.
Home: A November spring cleaning is in order. That gravity-defying tower (with impressive cantilevered balconies!) of L.L.Bean catalogs is not going to walk itself to the trash compacter, it seems.
Self-Improvement: A long list, but I am determined. It includes “Try again to grasp the difference between affect and effect”. (Also: “Facercize“! Hee.)
Husband-Improvement: Buy him some beautiful purple neckties. Unless purple ties are Out already?….so Early Fall, 2008?
One task is finished: sorting through almost two years of emails in my Sent box! You see, I wasn’t just slogging through election stuff on the internet every spare minute of the day, I was sending links to Robert — so that he could be as riled-up well-informed as I was. It was equally frustrating and funny, opening some of the old emails to which I’d assigned subject headings like, “Oh my god, you won’t believe this!”. For the message itself, I’d usually copied a link — then punched the caps lock, and typed short detail-free sputterings. Often along the lines of “Well, this is the worst thing that could’ve happened.”. Since many of the links now lead to an error message (This page no longer available), those mystery-tragedies are forever forgotten…and were ultimately meaningless anyway.
There was some good nostalgic fun to be found in many of the old links. I’d like to share with you a few that amuse me now — now that Obama has won, that is.
Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare of Peace and Prosperity Is Finally Over’ — The Onion was prophetic! This was published just prior to Bush’s inauguration in January, 2001.
I love the little girl who plays Young Hillary Clinton.
A comedy group called The Public Service Administration was responsible for several funny election-based videos; here are two of my favorites: He Said It First and Message to Ralph Nader.
So, “cool-as-the-other-side-of-the-pillow” Barack Obama has his moments…
…but his organizational team was even smarter than we realized.
Jon Stewart: Sarah Palin is less smart than we realized. (But we had an inkling.)
Purr…: the election is over, and we can return to our wonderful lives.
Best wishes,
Yvonne