Party Tomorrow

We've got the food ready. Tomorrow we'll do the Big Cleanup and then our guests should start arriving around 4 PM. I'm still a little hung up about my costume but I guess I will get it figured out. Jason wants to be Cousin Itt from the Addams Family. I bought him a long wig and figure he can turn it around or else just drape the hair over his face and wear it that way. It will probably tickle and he'll probably get tired of it before too long, but we shall see!

The food is just about ready. We're having:

Vegetarian Chili (in honor of Day of the Dead) & rice
Deviled Eggs (obvious, I hope)
Pepperoni, cheese and crackers
Chips, pretzels and dips
Putrified Pie (mostly sugar-free pudding pie, with a layer of chocolate covered by green butterscotch pudding)
Graveyard cake over Castrated Brownies
Halloween candy (candy corn and gummy worms)
Vampire Blood punch with frozen body parts
Soda
Coffe & Tea

We may also receive some Turkey Balls. The brownies will be happy to hear about that.

I've put up a miniature Day of the Dead altar with photos of our deceased loved ones: my parents, Bruce's parents, Richard, Janet, Beth, Rosanne, Nancy, and our late cat George. I also put up some skull decorations with various slogans like "Please DO feed the ancestors," "Dead Head" (on the bathroom door), "Abandon Soap, All Ye Who Enter Here," on one of Jason's bedroom doors, and a fire-breathing dragon saying, "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste great with ketchup!" on the other. Tomorrow afternoon I will put the last one, "You are entering the Dead Zone," on the door to our apartment.

There are skeletons in the hall closets, one saying, "Shhh, I'm trying to hide!" and the other saying, "Shh, don't tell on me!" Another decoration is shaped like a tombstone and reads, "Graveyard Vote." Okay, so it is four days before Election Day and a little political humor is not inappropriate!

For goody bags, I've made up "Anti-Vampire Kits." They contain a head of garlic, several toothpicks (wooden stakes to drive through a vampire's heart) and a Blood Donor card to prove you've already given!

Tomorrow I will post photos!

Democracy is Dead in NYC

The City Council just caved in to Mayor Bloomberg and voted that he can run for a third term. They disregarded the voice of the people in not one, but two referendums where we voted for a two-term limit.

Honestly, I don't care if he gets to run again if it is done right: another referendum by the people. But this little power play completely circumvented the voters. We should now punish those who think democracy is not for us "little people." I want the list of all those who voted in favor of Bloomberg's ploy, and I'll make sure to put it up on this blog and encourage everyone reading it to vote AGAINST every one of these pathetic sycophants. And of course, let's make sure Bloomberg is soundly defeated.

I hear there was intimidation from Bloomberg's camp. Well, people who have principles know how to stand up to and refuse to be intimidated. Sorry, no excuses. Was a continuing seat on the Council more important than our basic democratic principles? People have given their lives for democracy, but giving up a council seat is too great a sacrifice? For shame!

As for those brave enough to say NO to this highjacking of the popular will, we should reward them by making sure they are voted in again, providing their term limits aren't up.

The Giver

I've just finished reading The Giver by Lois Lowry. I have to admit it was beautifully written and sucked me in from the very first page. I finished the entire book in one evening, all 179 pages.

So kudos to Ms. Lowry for her excellent, suspenseful writing. But the story line..well, the words "trite" and "overdone" came to mind. It seems to me that ever since I was a child I've been reading books about communities that instill mindless conformity and manipulate reality in order to keep the population under control. This is just another of those stories, even if the writing is outstanding.

I could name several books this one reminded me of. It's not as brutally coercive as 1984, but there's recommended physical punishment of young children and the elderly. There are endless rules that even restrict one's use of language. Jonas is scolded for his use of a vague, meaningless term like "love." One of the rules is to use language "precisely." Thus, exaggeration for effect, such as saying one is starving when really just hungry, is cause for reprimand. This reminded me very much of the manipulation of language through Newspeak in 1984.

Those who don't conform, die. That's a pervasive theme throughout many of these dystopian novels. Certainly it is central in 1984 and also in Logan's Run (where it is a capital offense to turn 30 years old without presenting oneself for immediate termination). "Release" is the euphemism for state-sanctioned murder here. But it is treated as something positive (similar to Brave New World, where children visited the hospices and were given ice cream on the day someone died), and the polite fiction that the "released" persons are sent "Elsewhere" is maintained.

The ugly secret is that not just the elderly are put to death (which is bad enough), but anyone who doesn't fit in, even the smaller of a set of twins or a baby who is fretful at night, can be "released" if the community decides this is necessary. Jonas discovers to his horror that his "father" (no child is raised by his or her biological parents) who appears to adore children, is capable of casually murdering newborn infants, all the while talking to them in the same cheerful patter as if he were nurturing them. Irony of ironies, his profession is called Nurturer!

Meanwhile, Jonas is being trained to become the next Receiver of Memory. This is an important position because the community has chosen to forget many things: love, family, strong emotions of any kind, any kind of suffering, and even colors and music, in order to remain safe and comfortable. They have given up way too much, it is abundantly clear. But Jonas, under his training by the former Receiver, now the Giver, is rediscovering the memories of ecstatic pleasure and unspeakable pain, and he comes to the realization that his community has given up too much. If he leaves, the memories he has received will be released and his community will have to experience and deal with them. They will therefore be forced out of their conformist complacency and made to face the realities of life again.

What happens at the end? It's not clear whether Jonas, escaping with little Gabriel, a baby scheduled for release because he cries too much at night (colicky babies beware!) finds a community living the way we do, with love, with family, with all the attendant pleasures and pains of existence, or whether he and the baby perish in the first real snow he has ever seen.

I also felt this book has its roots in the propaganda movies of the fifties. I saw similarities to movies like "It Came From Outer Space," and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." The people in Jonas's community have given up so much and are living in such color-blind and tone-deaf conformity to the "Rules," which govern them to the point where no one makes an independent choice of mate or profession, that they appear as soulless as the Pod People. Is Lowry striking out at "Godless Communism?" Probably not but her use of a Christmas tree in the loving family scene Jonas "remembers" suggests that part of her objection to the conformity of the community includes their jettisoning of Christianity in favor of rules that restrict their every action, every word and every thought.

I am sure we will have a great discussion because even though the subject matter is in fact overplayed and has been done many times before, the details of the story will give us plenty to talk about. This book is only 15 years old and I can't help thinking that Lowry borrowed her ideas from the dystopian classics. However, she certainly did do an excellent job of it.

Setting the Record Straight

I did not author yesterday's list of 5 reasons to keep working for the Obama campaign. They were sent to me in an email, which I have now discarded. The sender encouraged everyone receiving it to please post it on our blogs. They were clearly less interested in a byline than in getting the message out.

Top 5 Reasons to Keep Working for Obama

I'm making no secret of the fact that my family supports Obama for President. Bruce and I have done two phone-calling parties, and we are doing another on November 3rd. But I feel as if I should do more.

Especially right now that Sen. Obama has had to suspend his campaign to visit his gravely ill grandmother in Hawaii, this is not the time to rest on laurels.

TOP 5 REASONS OBAMA SUPPORTERS SHOULDN'T REST EASY
1. The polls may be wrong. This is an unprecedented election. No one knows how racism may affect what voters tell pollsters—or what they do in the voting booth. And the polls are narrowing anyway. In the last few days, John McCain has gained ground in most national polls, as his campaign has gone even more negative.
2. Dirty tricks. Republicans are already illegally purging voters from the rolls in some states. They're whipping up hysteria over ACORN to justify more challenges to new voters. Misleading flyers about the voting process have started appearing in black neighborhoods. And of course, many counties still use unsecure voting machines.
3. October surprise. In politics, 15 days is a long time. The next McCain smear could dominate the news for a week. There could be a crisis with Iran, or Bin Laden could release another tape, or worse.
4. Those who forget history... In 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote after trailing by seven points in the final days of the race. In 1980, Reagan was eight points down in the polls in late October and came back to win. Races can shift—fast!
5. Landslide. Even with Barack Obama in the White House, passing universal health care and a new clean-energy policy is going to be hard. Insurance, drug and oil companies will fight us every step of the way. We need the kind of landslide that will give Barack a huge mandate.

Exciting Times

There's an old curse that goes, "May you live in interesting times." Of course it doesn't make much sense because the person uttering that curse would presumably live through those same interesting times.

We're living through a very "interesting" time in the outside world, what with a hotly contested and historical presidential election, and with the economy falling apart around us.

But that's not what I meant. I'm talking about exciting times that are worthwhile and even fun. Today we helped out at a flea market for the Brooklyn Humanist Community. I have to admit I had misgivings at first and was afraid we would not have enough people to take care of the table. But it all worked out and we actually took in enough to increase our treasury by 26%. That moves us closer to our goal of incorporating as a nonprofit, so as the button I picked up at Fundraising Day in New York says, "501(c)(3), Baby!"

Tomorrow Bruce and I are doing another calling party for Obama. This is the first time I've ever gotten this involved in a political campaign. The stakes are very high. I don't want to see us living through another four years of the same policies that President Bush followed, which have led us into a costly, tragic and unnecessary war, and into a financial crisis that comes close to the start of the Great Depression in 1929. So for once we are contributing to Obama's campaign and taking an active role in it.

Monday I'm hoping to get the next grant proposal for the War Resisters League out in the mail, and on Tuesday I'm volunteering at The Hetrick-Martin Institute. Tuesday night is Simchas Torah and four of my cousins on Mom's side, the Greek side of the family, are going to the Greek synagogue on the Lower East Side for services. This will be my first time in a Greek synagogue for a service.

So it will be an exciting few days, and I'm looking forward to them!

Adventures in Phone Banking for Obama

Tonight Bruce and I made phone calls for Obama. At a book fair last month, I got some literature from the National Writers' Union and signed their mailing list. They contacted me asking if I'd be willing to make phone calls for Obama, and we offered to help out tonight and also on November 3rd for a last minute "get out the vote" push.

Tonight we called people who supposedly belonged to "Workers for America," to give them some information about Obama and find out which way they were inclined to vote. Undecided voters would receive a bit more of a spiel in hopes of swaying their decision.

For the most part the calls went fine. A few people hung up on me, but others were delighted, so that was no big deal. Some people professed never to have heard of "Workers for America," which made me wonder why they were listed as members. A couple of the calls were real doozies.

One woman was all excited when I told her Workers for America supports Obama for President. She squealed that she's voting for Michelle Obama because she is Barack's best asset. That was actually a great conversation. This woman isn't letting the fact that she just had a double mastectomy get her down. She's out there and participating.

Then there was the woman who became incensed when I said Barack Obama will fight for all Americans. She told me she was shocked that I could even say such a thing, and followed this up with, "You aren't even an American. I bet you're from Russia, you Communist!"

Uh, yeah, with this native Noo Yawk accent? I hardly think so. Nope, lady, the Russians are next door, but I'm not one of them. But, I can see Brighton Beach, otherwise known as Little Odessa, from my house!

The weirdest conversation I had was with a chirpy old lady named Alice. She was named well, because folks, this lady is from Wonderland all right. She told me that everything is wonderful, she and her husband have a business, they've always worked hard, and they have a lovely house..all her nieces and nephews went to college and have big houses and cell phones and what have you.

By this time I had a fair idea but I still wanted to know how this translated into a political philosophy. It sure was hard to get an answer out of this lady. On and on she babbled about how life is beautiful, and what's there to change, why is Obama talking about change?

Why would anyone want to change anything, life is just beautiful? Oh, war can be "unpleasant" (!) but you have to look at all the good things..they never thought America was bad.

Okay, so the economy is one big roller coaster scarier and more painful than Space Mountain in Disney World, and we've spent how many trillions on a war that was based on lies? But everything is great and there's no need for change.

Psst, Alice. I don't know what kind of drugs you are on, but can I have some too?

Halloween Party Coming Up

Because Halloween is my favorite holiday, I nudged Bruce to set our wedding date on Halloween back in 1987. That year it fell on a Saturday night, and I just knew it was the right time for us to marry.

After all, with all the ghouls and goblins in people's windows, and the grinning pumpkins on their lawns, it's hard to forget an anniversary card. And there's always a parade or a party to go to.

It's clear to me that I have a thing for costumes. Look at the events I enjoy the most: the Mermaid Parade, Circus Amok, Medieval faires, and Halloween. Each and every one involves people in costume.

This year, Halloween falls on a Friday night, which isn't so good for parties. People are tired after work. Oh, maybe not the 20-somethings, but when you get to the 50-somethings, yes. Saturday night, November 1st, is a much better bet. Besides, we can celebrate three ways: Halloween, our 21st wedding anniversary, and the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead.

I enjoy the philosophy of Day of the Dead. Obviously, it's linked to Halloween because both center around All Saints Day. But although they both feature skeletons, the Day of the Dead is a cheerful celebration of the deceased ancestors. People put up beautiful altars with all their loved ones' favorite things. They go to the cemeteries and picnic on the graves, and then leave fruit and other goodies for their ancestors to feast upon. The skeletons are portrayed as being happy, enjoying the same activities they enjoyed in this life. In other words, the afterlife is very much a continuation of this life with all the same pleasures available to the "dead."

So this year we are throwing a party on November 1st (which, coincidentally, was also Bruce's Dad's birthday), and we will especially welcome Mexican foods. I'm debating what costume I will wear, but sorry, I'm not telling yet! You'll have to wait until after the party to find out. Naturally, there will be photos.

A Strange Day

This was a strange and frustrating day. It started out with Jason having a minor procedure on his toenail. When we got him home we decided to go to a calling party to get out the vote for Obama in the swing states. I signed up at the last minute but we proceeded to the party anyway.

At the Sheepshead Bay station we ran into an unexpected delay. Suddenly we noticed a number of Transit Police on the station. A Q train pulled in halfway and slowed to a stop. There were a lot of people waiting on the platform by this time, and we all looked onto the tracks to see what was wrong.

A very pretty Siamese cat was sitting quietly near the tracks. It didn't get up and dash away, which suggested it was either sick or hurt. The Transit policeman climbed down onto the tracks to try and retrieve it.

The cat was of course hurting and terrified, and it tried to bite and scratch the policeman. It was clearly injured because it could only scuttle away on damaged hind legs, but it still managed to put out its claws and try to defend itself.

The policeman was stumped. Someone handed him a canvas bag to try and capture the cat, but instead the cat clung to it. He tried to lift it up onto the platform but the cat let go and fell back to the ground, probably hurting its injured legs even more.

I called out to the policeman and told him to get the cat by the scruff of the neck when it struck out at the canvas bag. He did, and sure enough the cat was caught and pulled off the tracks. Its legs and tail were injured. I suppose it may have been hit by a train while jumping out of the way.

We got on the train then and went to the city. The building was a beautiful old apartment house on the West Side Highway. The calling party was supposed to take place in one of the penthouses. That would have been something to see! But unfortunately we signed up at the last minute and apparently the hosts decided it wasn't worth it to hold the party with so few people attending. So they went out, and we cooled our heels a little while and then gave up.

I'd also been invited to an introductory Esperanto class so I thought we would head to the general area and see if we could spot the right building. It was taking place at a Zaro's Bakery. Unfortunately, what I remembered just was not the right address. So we ended up walking up to 34th Street and coming home.

I wrote to a local Sheepshead Bay blogger and asked if he would mention the injured cat in his blog. The cat was taked up to the animal hospital on E. 62nd Street most likely, so I hoped that if he publishes this the owner may come forward. Siamese cats aren't strays. Someone out there must miss that poor kitty.

Here's hoping tomorrow will be more satisfying and productive.

Sundays at Tiffanys

Sundays at Tiffanys surprised me. I've read many books by James Patterson, part mystery and part thriller. They are definitely page turners. So I wasn't prepared for this sweet romantic tale about a young woman who had an imaginary friend when she was young, and meets him again as an adult. Apparently imaginary friends aren't so imaginary after all. They are similar to guardian angels, assigned to take care of children, but unlike angels that stay with you your whole life, imaginary friends leave when the child turns 9.

Most children forget their imaginary friends and go on with their lives but for some reason Jane does not. And then when she finds him again, in the flesh, she recognizes him at once. More than an imaginary friend, he becomes more and more human until it is clear that he is her one true love.

It's written so simply that I wondered if I had picked up a "Young Adult" book by mistake, but no. It was James Patterson, showing a completely different side of himself. Sundays at Tiffanys was a quick read and a good one.