Earlier today, and eleven years ago, I was in Frankfurt, Germany while passing time on my layover while coming home from South Africa. It was a completely normal day in Frankfurt, but I had this silly urge to burst out and tell everyone how important the day was - especially to me, in that year. I had just spent 5 months in a country that most of my friends didn't even have on their radar, and as much as I loved South Africa, I really wanted to be home for the Fourth.

Of course, I didn't do anything silly in Frankfurt. I was actually nervous to even speak, for fear that my lack of knowledge of the German language would offend anyone. I would pass by stores if I didn't see a display at their cash register that would show me the amount due, and would just make some mumbly sound in lieu of saying "Danka" in a possibly American accent.

Then I flew back to Newark, and left the airport for a shuttle bus to my hostel near Times Square. I remember leaving the airport and stepping into the hot, humid New Jersey July day with a strong desire to turn around and run back to the impending Cape Town winter. Still, I was home, in New York City, on July 4, 2002.

It's Saturday, in America! Let's dance!



I wish that Vulcan Mind Melds were real, because I wish I could inject the joy I feel into each one of you. I'm getting ready to bundle up and head to the Flea Market and drop a ton of cash on Obama victory shirts, mudcloth purses, and every other beautiful thing I see. No cynicism here - let's not lament the white people that voted against their self-interest, or listen to the delusional few who claim that "Obama is just like Romney" because they both recognize the importance of the economic sector. Let's, instead, for now, have a good time.

Let's DANCE!

Hello! ::waves::

I just came out of a little self-imposed cave, and decided that I was no longer afraid of blogging.

I also want to let you know that I got a cool new job in January this year, and I'm still with the same gigantic corporation. When my new boss went on leave to have her second baby in March, I also got to take over part of her role (IT Manager for this particular department) for over 5 months. Then I went on my vacation, and came back to my old, cool new job, which is even better because now I realize how nice it is to not be responsible for all IT-related things.

The best things about my cool new job are that I am doing almost exactly what I went to grad school to do, and I am doing it for the real movers and shakers in the corporation - the people who negotiate the big deals, manage the divestiture projects, and make the decisions about mergers. I can't blog about any details, or any other interesting nuggets, though I will say that I knew about the my company's activities in Kurdistan well before any of it was announced.

It is an incredible job, and I get an amazing view of how the gears of the economy run. Since I wanted to make this a brief post, I'll end here, with a quote from a recent Morrissey song that I think sums up my own experience too (just the part quoted here, the whole song is more appropriate for Morrissey's life than mine).

I was a small fat child in a welfare house
There was only one thing I ever dreamed about
And fate has just handed it to me - whoopee!

-From All You Need is Me

I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine, via her posts on Queereka. She can be pretty abrasive, so take that as a warning...

Two Salesmen is on the Queerka front page right now.

Music to my ears:


"Because Wisconsin sets one of the highest standards in the nation for forcing a recall election, the number of signatures gathered will represent a higher percentage of the state's population than has ever petitioned for the recall of a governor — higher than North Dakota, which successfully recalled a governor in 1921. Higher than California, which recalled Gov. Gray Davis in 2003.  There is still a race to be run. But this recall drive is the greatest popular democracy movement in Wisconsin history, and one of the greatest challenges to political power in American history. The signals could not be stronger. The Wisconsin democracy movement is real. And Scott Walker should be afraid, very afraid, of the opposition he has unleashed in a state that is prepared to defend its rights and its future."  

--John Nichols, Assoc. Editor of the Capital Times, contributor to The Nation, and correspondent for MSNBC's The Ed Schultz Show