Tinfoil + Raccoon

Me+Obama=Hope

Me+Obama=Hope
Originally uploaded by rochelle, et. al.

Usually I end up dozing another 20 or 30 minutes after my alarm goes off, but this morning, I rolled out of bed, hopeful about how this day might end. I'm writing this around 11 am CST, from a pretty busy reference desk where I can hear the sounds of a buzzing electorate wafting up from the first floor, where staff are trying to make voting as easy as possible. I'll catch up on my morning so far, and update throughout the day.

*****

1:08 pm Wow! It's been really busy and I've not had a chance to do much besides give excellent reference!  The huge lines anticipated have not yet materialized, but there's been a steady stream of voters. I'll be heading downstairs to help with registration after lunch. I've heard from coworkers that there have been more instances of "what do we do about this situation?" than when we served as general registrars. Luckily, we're just sidekicks and have help from the pros at the City Clerk's office.

*****

Buzzed

7:30 am After I dropped the girls off at school, I stopped to take pictures of high school students who were campaigning on all four corners of a busy intersection and getting lots of honks and waves. The two students I talked to were not old enough to vote, but were excited about helping out in any way they could. I was pretty wound up before I talked to them, but was filled with such an intense jumble of emotions as I talked to then, that I was worried I'd start bawling right there. So, I took the middle-aged dork route and high-fived both students and thanked them for what they were doing. But, you know? In their own jubilance, they returned the high-fives without eye-rolling or irony.

Relieved

7:35 I drove past my polling place and saw people lined up out the door, and was glad I voted early.

Giddy

7:40 I stopped by Bean Juice, my coffee place, and saw that my barista had on an "I voted today" sticker. When I asked if I could take her picture, she beamed and said yes. After I snapped her photo, she exclaimed "High five!" and we had an awesomely giddy moment which prompted other customers to share their experiences of the morning.

Pensive

7:50 La Crosse Democratic and Obama HQ. I stopped by the HQ to pick up a crockpot and a dish (I cooked for volunteers Sunday--Obamacue!) and asked if I could take some pictures. The HQ resides in a couple different storefronts downtown. There weren't a lot of folks around, and I didn't find the energy I'd expected. But, these were folks who have been living the campaign for the past few months and are probably looking at today from a different point of view than most of us. I wandered around, took some pictures, got some fabulous Obama schwag and offered to help clean up and close down the office later this week.

Surprised

8:20  I arrived at work and was surprised that the parking lot wasn't full. The library is a polling place and we planned as if there would be super long lines. There were greeters at both entrances and lots of welcoming helpful faces waiting to help. When I peeked into the polling area, there were maybe 15 people. 

Busy

9-1 I worked the reference desk all morning. I thought that our regulars might stay away since we were a polling place, and that it would be a relatively quiet day, but the desk was seriously hopping. In addition to the usual stuff, a lot of folks were calling to find out how and where to vote. So many people assumed they can vote anywhere, so we've been doing a lot of voter education. I didn't even have time to check news sites until late in my shift. Glad to see an absence of sensational or catastrophic headlines so far. The school nurse called to say that Miss 17 was in her office and not feeling well. She had money on her, so I told nurse to let her take the bus home. I'm hoping she's not really sick--have been looking forward to watching returns with her tonight.

Catching my breath

1-2 I've been in my office, eating leftover Obamacue (Carolina Pulled Pork), and wondering what my 3-4 hour voter registration shift will bring. My giddy is gone for now, which is probably a good thing for a Deputy Registrar. Heading down now.  

8:10 pm  Wow. I put in about 4 1/2 hours registering voters. When I left around 6:30, we had registered around 900 people. While we never had huge lines out the door, there weren't more than 3 or 4 lulls of a couple minutes where there wasn't anyone. I didn't have much time to reflect or process--I just kept processing registrations. I'm guessing that 60-75% of the people we registered were college student and there were a notable number of young black voters (for WI, that is). I'm still decompressing after an intense day working with the public and just want to focus on returns. I'll finish my recap tomorrow. 

Bottom line: It's been a remarkable day so far, and I'm daring to predict that it will get even more remarkable before day's end.  

 

Live What?: The Kids are Alright

The Raccoons, Jr. are now 13 and 16.  The Live Earth concerts are today.  (In general, I think the premise of the concerts is ridiculous. Honestly, what is this huge carbon footprint of entertainment going to do for global warming.  But, that's not what this is about.)   

From the ages of 10-29, I was a total music geek.  I had a subscription to Rolling Stone that spanned 20 years of my life.  I hung out in the one, tiny alternative used vinyl shop in Normal, IL.  I not only read, but memorized liner notes from the vinyl I owned and borrowed from the library.  In junior high, the prime hallway note-passing time, I passed my older friend, Lori Brooks a note that only included the lyrics of "Blues for Baby and Me" from Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player. I thought she would understand why those lyrics were so meaningful, but later, on the bus, she just looked at me and said, "Hartman, are you retarded or what?"  I'm just saying that it's good that tattoos were not a big deal until recently, or I probably would have had a body full of liner notes from Born to Run or Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy or More Fun in the New World (and let me now declare my love of Wikipedia for having fairly authoritative articles on all four of those titles).

Had something like Live Earth occurred during my teen years, I would have been all over it.  I could have told you about the line-up, the politics, the bands.  I was also a news junkie during those years.  Please note that my news came from the three networks, our local newspaper and radio, and Rolling Stone. Something like Live Earth would have made me a totally delirious know-it-all.  So, today, when I asked both of my girls if they had heard anything about Live Earth, they both gave me a blank look.  When I explained what it was, (accompanied by my editorializing), they both shrugged and gave me that, "yeah, so" look.

There are moments in a parent's life when you realize that your kids are not you.  I had one of those moments today and it made me wonder where I'd gone wrong. Sure, both my girls know about global warming.  Juniorina is probably a bit more civicly engaged than Juniorette. That's okay.  (My sister, 18 months younger than me, was much more interested in new hiding places for her pints of peach schnapps and figuring out ways of blackmailing me with her stolen knowledge of the contents of my journal, than she was in writing letters to our local paper about the ERA.  We're both successful and can sit in the same room for a few hours at a time.)   But, despite my disparaging remarks about Live Earth, I was hoping that one of my girls would squee  "Oh, yeah! I forgot...let's watch."   They didn't.

The funny thing, though?  I've been writing this while sitting in Juniorina's room, at her invitation, while we watched the new version of Father of the Bride.  Shortly after I started writing it, Juniorina asked me, "You know that Flogging Molly CD we have?"  I said that we didn't have a Flogging Molly CD, then remembering what I knew about FM, asked if she meant the Pogues. When she described the song she remembered, I verified that it was the Pogues.  I had heard about the FMs, but had never heard them.  Juniorina steered me to a YouTube video clip of Full Metal Alchemist, complete FM "Seven Deadly Sins" soundtrack.  No wonder she thought of the Pogues.  Over the next hour, she had me listen to Keltic Cowboys (Kiss My Irish Ass) and the Hazzards (Gay Boyfriend).  In the midst of this discussion, I told her about the original Father of the Bride, with Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor, which we can watch tonight, as a free Netflix download.  In fact, she keeps pestering me to finish up with this post so we can watch it.

My kids live in a much larger world than I did.  They have introduced me to so much that I never would have found on my own.  We share ideas and music and books much more than I ever did with my parents. (I do know that, at this point, I still rule when it comes to who has influenced who more.)  Their iPod playlists include Japanese pop, Rammstein, Broadway showtunes, Celine Dion, King Crimson, O, Brother soundtrack and the Who.  Even though I'd sort of like to be watching Live Earth, I'm happy to put it aside for hanging out with my 13 year-old and watching her pick of the night--the 1950 version of Father of the Bride. 

(PS--no, they would not get my reference to The Kids are Alright.  But, I've got a few years to learn 'em up.)

Illinois to Retire "Chief" Mascot

After 81 years, the University of Illinois is retiring its controversial sports mascot, Chief Illiniwek.  Now I get to make good on my pledge to join the U of I alumni association as soon as the Chief was retired.  This has totally made my day.

Al Knorr and Returning Solider Both Say "NO" to Surge

I posted a picture of La Crosse resident Al Knorr protesting the war outside of Juniorette's high school a few months ago.  Here's more about Mr. Knorr, a former Navy vet and retired pyschiatric social worker, from the La Crosse Tribune (Saturday, January 27, 2007).  I learned that he protests five times a week and I was pleased to read that he hears more support than heckling.  His family still worries about his safety. In response to his wife's question about whether or not he's worried about his safety, Awesome Al says, "No, I'm not. I believe people are essentially good. We can have differences of opinion. That’s what makes us a democracy.” 

The last time Knorr was in the library, I told him that I was the woman who took a picture of him and who waves whenever he's at Central High.  He laughed and said, "It's always a lot warmer when people wave."  It's the least I can do.

A very related aside:  On my flight back to La Crosse, I overheard a discussion in the seat behind me.  It was a 22 year-old man talking to his seatmate about his upcoming spinal surgery.  Apparently, he was a soldier coming back from Falujah.  His back had been really messed up from something that happened to him during his tour.   At one point, his seatmate asked him if  "it would work."  The young man thought he was being asked about the surgery and said, "Oh, yeah," and explained that his cousin had had similar surgery and got a lot of relief from it.  The man clarified and said, "The SURGE...I was asking about the troop surge."  The solider replied, "Hell no!  It won't work."  He indicated that he had no faith in the decisions coming from the Bush administration, and that a bunch more  "kids" like him, could not make a difference. 

Right before I left for conference I read an article in Esquire magazine about  25 year-old triple amuputee Bryan Anderson (amputations courtesy of the Iraq war). In fact, it was the cover story. It was fairly neutral, but an amazing story, sort of along the lines of the teen surfer girl who got her arm bit off by a shark.  Click on the link and read through to the end of the story. 

Al Knorr--Stop the War

  Al Knorr--Stop the War 
  Originally uploaded by rochelle, et. al..

One the very few things I missed about leaving my previous library were the patrons--the ones I grew to know as acquaintances and friends.  Yesterday I even got one from one of my favorites, Walt, a Shakespeare afficianado, who brought me up to speed on the remodeling project and complained that "his" bust of the bard would no longer be on display.   

My first few months at LPL were a bit isolating since I literally didn't know anyone, save for my new co-workers.   Graudally, I started to learn the names and personalities of folks they started to call me by name and ask how I liked La Crosse.  I can say that today, on my 6 month anniversary (I assume I'm off probation, right, Kelly?), I'm feeling at home here on the second floor. 

Al Knorr was someone I had read about even before I moved to La Crosse.  I found an article about him when I was searching for information about the community.  He's a well-known, long-time community activist whose recent passion, the Iraq War, was highlighted in a Chicago Tribune article early in 2006.  It didn't take me long to get to know Al as one of our treasured regular patrons.  As he was doing when the Tribune article came out, Al can still be seen on sidewalks and street corners all over town, regardless of the weather, holding his "Stop the War" sign.  I give him a honk of support whenever I see him, but earlier this week found him outside of Central High School where I was dropping off Juniorette.  I hopped out, shook his hand, chatted a bit and asked if I could take his photo.  So, here's Al, a community treasure and another reason I'm glad to be here.

Wisconsin Votes Yes: No Fair!

While it didn't look good for the defeat of the gay marriage and civil union amendment last night, I was hoping for an overnight miracle.  But, nothing changed overnight and the amendment passed.  My initial response was anger, disgust and deep disappointment, but Mike Tate of Fair Wisconsin gave a grace-full and hopeful speech last night when it became clear that the amendment would pass:

We know for certain that many of the same people who voted for this amendment today are the very same people who will support equality for gay families within the next 5 or 10 years. That change might not have been on the timeline forced on us by our opponents, but we cannot ignore the fact that we have laid the foundation for long-term change in Wisconsin. Because of our work, more people in this state than ever before understand that gay families exist in this state and discrimination hurts them.

We may not have won the election, but there were so many victories along the way. We achieved many things that have drastically altered attitudes about gay people, gay families, and the way we do politics around this issue. We transformed a “gay rights” issue and made it a Wisconsin issue.

Our accomplishments are not in vain.

VOTE NO to the Ban on Civil Unions

  VOTE NO to the Ban on Civil Unions 
  Originally uploaded by rochelle, et. al..

It's a month until the election.  I was surprised to hear that a Baptist church has come out against the ban. The congregation of the First Baptist Church in Madison has declared their opposition to the ban, an opposition informed by the Gospel.   This is heartwarming and encouraging, even to a heathen like me.

Fair Wisconsin and the Gay Marriage Ban

Wisconsin voters will have the opportunity to vote on a ban on civil unions on November 7.  I will be voting NO to this proposed constitutional amendment:

Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.

Here's an impact story about why this piece of legislation is just plain wrong.  And, please have a look at the Fair Wisconsin blog.  This group is doing an amazing job of organizing to defeat this amendment.  I've already written my check and hope to find other ways to support their work. 

 

Journalism 2.0?

L.A Times gets cloudy with State of the Union speeches. (via Poynter)

Follow-up on Medicare D Debacle

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak with a staff member of our community's YWCA Senior Services program.  I'd put in a call to them because they were listed as a resource to help folks with Medicare D applications.  The short story I got from her was that we should discourage seniors who want to do their applications on line at the library.  Why?  Two reasons:  1) It takes one of their staff members at least 30 minutes to enter in the information for the average applicant.  Her highly competent staff, with good keyboarding and computer skills, have had a year of training on how to fill out these applications.  2) Most of the people who come to the library will not have had a year of training and likely will not have the skill level of her staff. And, our computers only give one hour per day.   

She was also concerned that those who would use us as an application site would likely assume that we can help them.  She stressed to me that it's entirely too easy to fill out the form incorrectly and therefore, render an applicant ineligible or cause them to get reduced benefits.   She was hoping that we could help by providing tech lab space where several folks could get help at the same time.  No library staff would be needed, but the space would be welcomed.  While we would love to do this, we are embarking on an expansion project, and starting tomorrow, parking will be a major issue.  Accessibility is crucial to many of the folks applying for Medicare D, and we won't be able to provide maximum access to groups of applicants.   Two of the organizations listed as service points in the local paper for getting help are maxed out with clients, I learned.  She encouraged us to not publicize them, because to do so would be a big disservice to the agencies and to clients. 

I was so glad to have touched base with her so that we can give the best information possible, as dizzyingly bad as the news was.  By talking to her I learned that folks who use a state-based prescription benefit (Circuit Breaker) SHOULD NOT apply for Medicare D.  The state program is superior in most cases, and applying for Medicare D would automatically disqualify participants from the state program.   

So far, we've not seen a noticeable influx of applicants, but it could pick up as one of two deadlines comes around.  I'd love to hear what other libraries have learned or experienced.