Long Time Gone

Darned if I can figure out Blogspot's new settings! It may be awhile before this blog looks polished. I'm also wondering how to recover my "Jubilantly Jordan" blog, whose name appears in my profile but that shows no posts. I'm not loving any of the newer blog formats that Blogger offers but features on this version are no longer supported. I should probably check out other options like Squarespace. I want the focus to be on my writing, not photos or graphics. I get that we're in an Instagram era but that doesn't mean it's the best way to get my words out. Fads are fads until they aren't.

It's 2013 and my dad passed away at 9:20pm last night.

I haven't blogged regularly in so long, I hardly know what to do. I have all these political opinions buzzing through my mind as I watch MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and others. I do think the GOP needs to re-brand itself, but on the inside, not as a superficial veneer. They need real values and principles that resonate with the real world, rather than the empty rhetoric that has become increasingly obsolete and skeletal. Interestingly, and perhaps ironically, given her father's recent political performance, Megan McCain has an interesting voice from the GOP side.

As my friend Jenny would say. I attended her beautiful wedding picnic today to celebrate her union with Khalid. It filled me with peace and happiness for her, and encouragement for my summer at the Qasid Institute in Amman. Khalid knows of the school and has wonderful things to say about the owners. It was nostalgic to be back in the East Bay, driving through my old haunts and thinking how odd it is that college seems so far away, yet I hardly experienced it, it seems. I was in such a fog of re-entry that much of it feels like a halfway space between worlds. I'm studying Arabic to prepare for the summer, which I know will be intensive and really hard. The more I can get under my belt now, the better off I'll be in June. I took a four-week crash course at Pacific Arabic Resources in SF, which I couldn't recommend more highly.

I think it's kind of obnoxious to have more than one personal electronic device at once, but since my campaign phone is still working, it makes sense to use it, even though my personal cell still works.

So I'm at the Good Karma Cafe, detoxing mentally and physically from my Ohio campaign experience with some good, clean, healthy food and a pleasant atmosphere. I like Philly, and have found a place to live on a month-to-month basis next door to an old friend, which makes the transition that much easier. I have a job lead in mind, which I will pursue tomorrow, and I'm also applying for jobs in DC. That's the plan for now; if I run out of money before I find a job, I suppose I'll head back to California to at least drop my car off and come up with a Plan B. The East Coast is definitely where the jobs are, though, so I'm leaning in this direction, def. Other than that, I'm getting my head screwed on again, gaining my bearings, and looking for a good yoga class, as usual. Hugs and love to everyone--

Where we lay our scene. It has been more than three months since I've blogged, owing to a prohibitively busy schedule and the campaign's "no blogging" policy. I'm sitting at a "Caribou Coffee" in Avon, Ohio, enjoying the rather abrupt holiday atmosphere. The last time I luxuriated at a coffee place was mid-summer, without a reindeer or tinsel in sight. I appreciate the fact that it's not a Starbuck's, but at the same time bemoan the telltale signs of a coffee franchise. Emerging from the campaign feels like being deposited by a time machine into new circumstances and surroundings, like the steam escaping a pressure-cooker and a vise grip being relaxed. I feel like I've hit culture shock in a new county, and am slowly re-gaining my bearings. I can hardly identify with three-dimensional space, after having spent interminable days and weeks perched at my desk, in front of a computer screen, looking up only to greet visitors or field questi...

Dear Editor, I support the day workers who congregate along El Camino Real daily, looking for odd jobs from passersby. And I support undocumented workers who risk their lives, take on the possibility of never seeing their families again, and risk exploitation for the possibility of a better life here in California. They are not here to feed off our system--they work their fingers to the bone with two or three jobs and send most of the money back home. It's not that we need to stem the flow of immigrants, necessarily; we need to find a way to legitimize their presence here. Yes, the cost of their healthcare is an issue, but we need fundamental reform of that system anyway. Unemployment is low, so they're not taking our jobs. Racism has always been a factor toward new immigrant populations. I'm glad to hear the day worker center is expanding its programs. Let's take this opportunity to welcome new Americans into our fold, as was done for all of our families when the...

Madonna's face is looking increasingly the same over the years; rumor has it she has oxygen facials daily and has had other "work done." As these procedures become more affordable, will our faces eventually become frozen in time?

With all the descriptions that meterologists use to talk about climate, one would think they'd have a term for "yellow-colored air due to nearby forest fires." At least that's what I thought of today when I looked outside and the first word that came to mind about the day was "yellow," and the fact that there are about 800 forest fires state-wide.

It's annoying that even after Hilary Clinton conceded the nomination (sort of), the pundits spend half their time talking about the Senator and her husband and who will mend the damage they've caused the party with their millions of dollars of debt. Someone pointed out that Bill probably wants his legacy to be as the best two-term Democratic president of modern political history, and that he probably feels threatened by Barack Obama, the young, charismatic upstart who is a bit like the similarly-talented Bill when he first ran for president. I also think that Bill blows up at the media so often because he's venting the frustration he felt at eight years of [perceived] mistreated by the media. Whether he was treated unfairly or not is a different story, but I do think he feels slighted by several events, including the Republican Congressional landslide that made it difficult to get any of his stuff passed. I think he's a very bitter, complicated, and smart man.

Ralph Nader went off the deep end today when addressing the racial dynamics of Barack's presidential bid. His racial discourse sounds about 30 years old, as he used phrases like "white guilt" and reduced Barack's value as a human to the color of his skin. My new favorite New York Times reporter, Bob Herbert, managed to skewer Nader with language that didn't sound remotely one-sided, the way pundit-ese can sound. Chris Matthews invited Herbert and Joan somebody, managing editor of Salon or Slate, which I keep confusing, to discuss Nader's gaffe. Maybe that's why they brought it up, since "gaffe" appears to be the buzzword of this news cycle, thanks to John McCain's advisor's remark about how another 9/11-like attack would help McCain's candidacy.

While we're on the subject (I've been volunteering/working with the Obama campaign since March and have heard about little else for some time), I know I've changed a lot in the months I've been away, and it's hard to find a writer's voice again. Plus a lot of this stuff is personal and still shifting around inside, so this is a bit of forced writing, for now, at the behest of friends and family who remind me that this period of my life is particularly worth recording. At the moment I'm thinking of Jiles, the African-American guy with the Irish name who said that when he's angry, he's a black man, but the rest of the time he's African-American. A native Indianan, he volunteered in our Indianapolis office.

It's been months since I've posted and I can't think of anything to say. It's a cliché, but I'm out of inspiration. There are too many experiences to digest, I think, and some perspective is needed before I can process much of what has happened. I am reading about the Dust Bowl, however, which is interesting since it's more of a man-made environmental disaster than I realized. The Great Depression sounds rather nasty, too. No wonder my dad won't eat stewed tomatoes, 70 years later! I'm curious as to the effect Dust Bowl refugees to Southern California may or may not have had on the conservative political climate there. I've just returned from South Dakota and do miss the silence. The lack of electro-magnetic energy is deafening, almost; at least noticeably absent. Felt a bit like a campground, as our housing was on the edge of town, with nothing but big sky and an even bigger landscape dominating. The weather, too, was always an event. Thund...

I used to think that succumbing to bitterness was the logical response to certain events, and that furthermore, I was justified in being bitter. As they say, though, you can be happy or you can be right. I'm not choosing between those options today, but I think it's time to let go of a bit of the "I've been wronged and therefore I'm justified being however angry or bitter I care to be." While I may be justified, being bitter makes me lose twice, and I can't afford to lose any more.

My right-hand man (well, literally more than figuratively), Cameron, seated to my right in our office at headquarters, exemplifies the amusing phenomenon of trying to spell over a telephone. People like customer service representatives are used to this and generally have specific words, i.e. "'A' as in apple," etc, to make sure they are understood. Those of us without such an occupation, however, are often left to improvise. I can identify with Cameron's imaginative way of coming up with words on the spot--many of his words sound like SAT vocabulary words or describe various objects around the office, "'I' as in intern," etc.

I've encountered a number of apologetic Jewish folks who can't join us for volunteering this weekend b/of Passover. I don't think there's a need to apologize. In fact, we have enough Jewish supporters that we put Passover on our calendar as a reminder.

"We are ONE people, and our time for change has come!" This is what I wanted to say to the hordes of angry and aggressive Hillary supporters at the rally outside the Constitution Center last night, that we are one people, and there's no need to be so bratty about it. Although I'm going to say something terribly bratty, and that is that she has certainly cornered the angry, overweight, white, middle-aged woman vote.

Philadelphians are serious about their dogs. So serious that an afternoon spent in Rittenhouse Square almost feels like an amateur dog show, because of the number and variety of breeds.

Campaign paraphernalia is becoming more visible; most Obama buttons but a couple of Hillary signs and stickers as well. I walked past a table today on Walnut Street full of Obama flyers and candy, accompanied by a smiling guy on a guitar and another volunteer. The United Postal Service Union recently endorsed Obama and Unite Here is sending out many of its members to do canvassing this week. There's also a "Bikers for Obama" contingent headed our way for some door-knocking. Wonders never cease!