Reflections on a Busy Life

I was listening to Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father again today, and I started to realize how all of his values have been shaped.
The messages of his campaign are quite similar to the life lessons he wrote about throughout that memoir; his beliefs as contrasted with those of Malcolm X and the ideas imparted to him by father, grandfather, mother, half-sister and workmates. And that makes me think... what will we see in retrospect?
I really want to write my dad's memoir. I don't know how, but that is what I want to do. Even if it's crappy, terrible writing and the book is short and there is nothing of real interest in it, I believe that his life needs to be put down - if not by himself, then by me.
I want to do that, in fact, with my own life as well. And my life as related to Heathy's. And whatever happens to me in the future. I am a habitual note taker, list maker and plan shaker [ah, rhyme] and I actually do want to know all the gorey details once I've passed the threshold of "youth" and moved into "adulthood."
But for right now I don't know what that means.
I am being shaped, am not yet shapen. I am as a form in wax [though Hermia may deny] with leave to be figured and disfigured as suits the whims of others. I will be disappointed, I will feel loneliness - and they will shape me. Obviously, the reverse is also true.
So for right now I will live my life, make some note on the fact that A Midsummer Night's Dream is opening tonight and I'm still throat sick but muscling through. I will recount my experiences in a character's body [Hermia] and will write down all the trials and tribulations which feel so necessary at the moment. I will find myself in the cracks between pages so that, when you put it all together, I will become whole. Like a mosaic or a house of cards, because youth is both fragile and beautiful and I want to grasp every minute of it.

No matter what, I am going to take the time out of my busy hours on Earth to record this story.

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Cake

Today, I got sick.
Really sick - I still can't talk without sounding like a golem or some other fantastical creature that eludes my recollection at the moment. I'm doing better now, but I really hope that this throat thing goes away by this Friday [a.k.a. when we're opening the play].
Although, a good consolation prize was the fact that I got to stay home and do absolutely nothing for today. I listened to Barack Obama reading Dreams from My Father [an audiobook version which I downloaded two days ago] and watched The Daily Show online. I got to sit around and sleep and marvel at the fact that snow delayed school for one hour - and that it was truly unexpected.
And this time off made me re-realize one other thing. I... am a hopeless romantic.
I have half a piece of red velvet cake left and I haven't eaten it, so instead I decided to photograph it. And those are the photographs that you see today - that piece of uneaten cake that makes me think of everything lovey dovey about Valentine's Day coming up and the strong red tint of it in the bright daylight against the white of the frosting which is creamy and delicious and... only a completely hopeless person would find such entertainment from half a slice of cake.
On another note, I lost another 1.8 pounds, which means that I'm at 138 and well on my way to 130. I am hoping that these changes will keep me going until I get to my ultimate goal (120 lbs) but for right now I'm going to be a little lax because of my illness. There will be time to exercise and keep on plan, but for right now I think I might just bite into all the sweets I can without reservation - comfort food.
Seriously, though, I bet that slice won't even taste as good now.

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Remarkable

Yes, we can. And we did.
That is the mantra that is going through my head every moment after the presidential results were announced last night. We fought and won. It's so amazing. I just... I had so much emotion last night at the election party. It was just so great to see that amazing number pop up on the screen and realize that: it's all over. We've won. Victory feels like the greatest circumstance right now, life is just about to jump out of my skin.
I think there are a lot of people feeling the same way; there are also a lot of people who are disappointed. As Barack Obama put it so eloquently in his victory speech last night, there are always going to be more struggles to come. This is only the beginning on a long road. But, we have gotten past the first step.
I think that it opens up my heart not only because I worked with the campaign and not only because I got to watch a man of color become our president, I think that the win for Obama just symbolizes what hope lets us do. The power of hope has propelled us through the slander, the mud and the muck, and there is no greater picture in my mind then that. Idealism is not dead, and dreams are still possible.
I think, far from the political sphere and the hem-hawing of fans and foes, this election really meant a lot because it excited people. It got them off their seats and curious. And, even for pessimists like myself, it allowed us to embrace our livelihood in a new way. I have never been so proud of America as in this moment.
I think it will be amazing to see someone again as president who I can believe in. As a child of the 90s, I have pined for the happiness of the Clinton years [albeit, I didn't appreciate them due to age and point of reference] and finally I can turn on the television and see a face which, to me, represents the greatness of our country.
As we filter back into our daily lives, knowing that the battles are raging on, I believe there is no better time than now to start something. The world has changed - or at least I feel it so. Let this period of hope carry us through the tough times and may God be with us all.