the day barack obama got elected president will be one of those days that you’ll always remember where you were when it happened. unfortunately for most people my age, that puts it in the company of 9/11 (senior year, orchestra) and the first O.J. simpson verdict (6th grade math).

as for obama’s night of infamy, the party started at stoney’s. the scene: pleasant but too many women. every projection elicited cheers and clinked glasses or angry boos and loud proclamations of FAIL. (BOOOO. mississippi FAIL! … BOOOOOO. oklahoma FAIL.) plus, an obama countdown actually did happen (just like new year’s, except at 11pm, when CNN called the race). we then tried to start a “socialism” cheer, but that pretty much died on the spot.

then off to 14th and U for wholesome hipster/ghetto ruckus, and when it came time to dry off, stetsons and local 16.

anyway, a crappy slideshow. there are some redundant photos, so deal with it, and warning: maura is in a lot of these photos b/c she’s my vigilant partner in crime.

plus, the likely future obama chief of staff looks a lot like alexander siddig, aka dr. bashir from star trek: deep space nine.

siddig will def play emanuel in the obama movie of the future.

UPDATED: 11/5/2008 at 5:50 p.m.: sean has pointed out that emanuel also looks like robert downey jr. a normal person would have probably made this comparison first (downey is objectively WAY MORE FAMOUS than saddig). but i’m a freak. whatever.

don’t have to move to canada now.

in other news, 93 percent of DC went to obama. sure glad i voted.

i just spent 1 hour and 50 minutes voting in a predominantly democratic neighborhood with half the spots uncontested. but besides the FAIL that is my willingness to spend hours voting for seats where my input has minimal importance, i would like to point out another FAIL by the DC election board that is well illustrated by the photo above.

for whatever reason, the election board assigned a disproportionate number of people with last names that begin with A-H to the ward 2, precinct 17 voting location of 1518 M street, NW (metropolitan AME church). i would estimate that 80 percent of the people voting at this location had last names beginning in the first 8 letters of the alphabet. OK. fine.

UNFORTUNATELY FOR ME, they split up the registration books and the people working those books evenly amongst the letters. that means 80 percent of the voters here are slammed into the first three lines to get their cards, while the other 20 percent shuffle through the other FIVE lines like they’re in the express checkout lane. this also means you have five election people sitting on their ass doing absolutely nothing while dozens upon dozens of alphabet beginners wait in lines 30 people deep. those people on the left? they only represent about 1/10 of the unfortunate fools waiting in line. i couldn’t step further back b/c there was a clusterfuck of people behind me, too. bah.

this, as smart people would say, is fucking stupid.

honestly, if my voting troubles were only created by sheer number of people, i’d really be OK right now. yay for civic duty. but the fact that some asshole with the last name TUCKER voted in 30 minutes while i blasted through 6 different podcasts INFURIATES me.

lastly here are some pics from 9am when i first arrived to vote. and at 11 am when i left? looked about the same. first pic is a map showing how people (pink) were lined up to get into the church. i’d estimate the line was around .15 miles long. i also drew a stick figure that represents where i appx stood when taking the last 2 pics, which are the front and back of the line, respectively.

all that, and all i got was a lousy sticker, free starbucks coffee, and a free krispy kreme donut? we are all fools.

i’m not really into new year’s, so the headline must be true, especially in dc. i’m also not sure how things are in other parts, but dc is in a tizzy deciding where to watch election returns today. i’ve researched at least five different web sites trying to find the perfect bar. i’ve been looking for somewhere that’s mostly democrat with lots of hot boys who are in impeccable shape thanks to all that canvassing in virginia (my line: “oooooh, you’re so strong. you must be able to carry, like, 100 clipboards.”)

ideally, the scene will be very new year’s-like. if/when they call it for obama, it’ll be like when the ball drops. 3….2….1….OBAMA!
::MAKEOUT MAKEOUT MAKEOUT::

time to make the dream a reality.

tomorrow i basically only have one thing to look forward to: voting for a couple at-large DC councilmember spots. i’m predicting lines will be long anyway, which makes me wish they had those signs at cedar point or six flags or whatever that told you how long of a wait you could expect. you must be at least 4′2″ to vote!

the other plan is to gather 10 of my closest friends and play an hour’s worth of the movie game, eat dippin dots, and try not to throw up everywhere. hats off, please keep your hands in the car, and don’t get hit in the face with a bird while voting.

instead of doing anything ridiculous for halloween, i’m laying low this year, which is unfortunate b/c i had the bestest costume idea ever. hearts will be broken that i’m not going out, but if you were wondering, here’s an approximation of what i might have looked like, just 8 inches taller and 60 lbs heavier.