Alone on Election Night

In 2004 I was a senior in college, and so I voted for John Kerry via absentee ballot. I was excited about the teeeeeeny tiny pencil that came in the mail with my ballot. On election night, some sorority sisters and I sat in our living room watching the election returns come in. Eventually they all left to go do homework, watch in their own rooms, or do one of the many other things that college students do on a Tuesday night. I sat alone, glued to the TV.

In 2008 I was a first year grad student, and so I voted via absentee ballot yet again. A letter with my ballot told me that budget constraints meant that there were no more itty bitty pencils being shipped with the voting materials. On election night, my roommate was at her boyfriend's house, as she always was. So I sat alone in my living room, watching election coverage on our laughably small TV. For some reason I had decided to join Twitter that day, and so as I watched TV and constantly refreshed Facebook, I also tried to figure out what the fuck Twitter was.

This year, I was excited to a) finally vote for the President in person (because I love pressing buttons and getting stickers!) and b) watch the returns come in with a group of people. I had a plan for going to New Jersey to vote, and a party at a friend's apartment to head to afterward.

Hurricane Sandy fucked with the first part of that plan. There's still no NJ Transit service to my hometown, and so I decided to trek to Newark to vote early this past Sunday. I left my apartment at 6:48am, and by 9:40am I had cast my vote. I didn't get to press buttons because they had us fill out mail-in ballots, but at least I got a tiny pencil! I also didn't get a sticker, but I made one when I got home.

And as far as the second part of my plan, I ended up having to book a last minute trip to Florida, so I can't even attend the party I was invited to, which is a double bummer because unlike most of my other social plans, it was actually in my neighborhood. My flight is at 8pm tonight, and since Spirit SUCKSSOHARD Airlines doesn't have TV or wifi, I will be completely incommunicado during a pretty crucial 3 hours. So yet again, I will be completely alone on election night, despite being surrounded by people.

I'm overwhelmed just thinking about having 3 hours worth of social media craziness to catch up on when my flight lands at 11pm, but I'm mostly nervous about what I'm going to see when I can finally turn my phone on.

In 4 years when I reflect back on this election, where will I be able to say I was at the moment when I found out that (fingers crossed) Barack Obama was re-elected? Will I be on a plane, taxiing toward the gate? In a cab on the way to my grandma's house? Or maybe in my grandma's guest bedroom?

I hope that in 4 years I have somewhere more exciting to go on election night, where I can be surrounded by friends instead of having to just check in with them on Facebook.

But more importantly, I hope that in 4 years I'm voting for a continuation of the progress our country is making under Obama's presidency, and not for a reversal of 4 years of war on all things equality.

AMERICA! Let's do this.

Reflections on Turning 29

My 29th birthday was 2 weeks ago. And as a lot of you know, I love my birthday. A lot.

In fact, I wrote a post about this 2 years ago.

Usually I just reflect on my birthday by looking at inebriated birthday party photos. But this year is different.

It's not exactly a secret that it's been a rough year for me. My self-esteem has taken more than few beatings, because, as someone (who shall remain nameless) put it, "Arielle, there are only 2 things in life. There's love, and there's work. And right now, you have neither."

So in the midst of all this, I really feel like my social life is all I have going for me. To the point where, if there's a night where I want to go out and I can't find anyone to hang out with (which thankfully doesn't happen too often), I get really, irrationally upset about it. Because when your social life is all you have, and at that moment your social life fails you...well, it blows. And I get cranky.

Which brings me to my birthday. Technology has made it extremely easy for people to wish you a happy birthday, which of course doesn't even account for people actually wishing you a happy birthday in person. Even though I know that someone taking 3 seconds to write on my Facebook wall doesn't exactly mean they want to become my best friend, it still makes me feel loved. As do the text messages, the phone calls, the 18 people who came out for happy hour on my actual birthday, and everyone who came out for my 7th annual joint birthday party (Halloween style!) with my friend Julie.

I made my birthday wish this year on a pile of jello shots. Yup.

Carmen Sandiego and Waldo. Best birthday/Halloween couples costume EVER.

When I was younger, I loved my birthday because it meant presents. I don't get too many presents anymore - most people like to give the gift of free drinks, which I more than appreciate. But I don't even really need that either. I just love the warm and fuzzies that come with people caring enough to do something from write on my Facebook wall to joining me at a bar while I consume too much vodka.

So, going along with last week's theme of gratitude, even though I don't have a job or a boyfriend (or even a guy who will get off his couch to come make out with me when I drunk text him from my birthday party but whatever I'm an awesome maker outer so HIS LOSS), I'm still super thankful. Because my birthday this year was 1000 times better than this birthday was. And because I have friends who bought me jello shots and friends who send text messages and friends who dressed up in Halloween costumes and danced to a Sublime cover band on a boat with me. In the absence of all that other stuff that I'm lacking, these people are pretty fucking great.

Gratitude, yo. I'm full of it.

**This is my new series called Stratejoy Monday. To learn more about all this goodness, see the first 5 months of my Stratejoy journey here.  

Adventures in Boredom

I don't really need words to tell you what I've been up to the past few days. Just see for yourselves!