Hope in my Hands

Image by Shepard Fairey.

It seems to me that today contains multitudes (to misquote the great American poet, Walt Whitman).

Today marks History in different ways.

To some, it is about George W. Bush leaving office after what I would politely describe as a shambolic, histrionic and incompetent presidency.

To some, it is about the first African-American man becoming president.

To some, it is about the advent of the Anti-Christ, and if you think I am joking, try googling "obama + antichrist" (I'm not going to honour any of the nutjobs with a link). It is a mixture of bittersweet emotions, joy and bemusement.

To me, personally, today is all about Hope. I once said that the worst feeling in the world is hopelessness. I don't know what the future will bring but today I am holding hope in my hands. It feels damn good.

When I Think All Hope Has Gone -- R.I.P. Adrian Mitchell

Adrian Mitchell has died. His The Oxford Hysteria of English Poetry is seriously funny:

Then suddenly --- WOOMF --- It was the Ro-man-tic Re-viv-al And it didn't matter how you wrote, All the public wanted was a hairy great image. Before they'd even print you You had to smoke opium, die of consumption, Fall in love with your sister Or drown in the Mediterranean (not at Brighton).

And in the mid-1990s, Mr Mitchell suddenly found himself credited as co-writer of a big UK hit - The Bluetones and their lovely "Bluetonic" single - as they quoted a snippet of his poetry..

Rest in peace, Adrian Mitchell. I've always really, really liked you.

Two - No, Three - Links

One website is really eating into my online time: Geni. It's a site which will let you generate your own family tree for free. I have an unwieldy and complicated family tree (think Jeremy Kyle or vintage Jerry Springer) which makes it super-fun to figure out how people are actually related to one another. As Geni also lets you add photos of the different family members, you can also trace where that family chin originated.. Another website which has captivated me today: the 'Coraline' website. The website seeks to promote the film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" book - and in all honesty, I am not a big Gaiman fan. However,  try typing in the code: sweaterxxs and you will see why I'm enchanted. Clues: Starmore and miniature.

Addendum: Darn, I forgot to add this amazing video of a meteorite falling in Canada and burning up as it hits the Earth’s atmosphere. The footage is from a police car in Alberta. (via)

From Me To You

Today is the 21st of November 2008. I am one gift away from having completed my Christmas shopping. I know it's completely and utterly disgusting and I apologise profusely. If you do not know what to get people, here's a little list of helpful tips:

1. Animatronic dinosaurs will please most boys, no matter what age. Some girls might also appreciate the thought but make sure you check with said girl's friends and family first. It would be epic fail if said girl had really wanted bling and you got her a Triceratops instead.
2. Etsy rocks, full stop. It is particularly useful if you had promised Auntie Petunia a nice handknitted scarf and you didn't get 'round to it. Although if you find a scarf which will set you back $112, you might want to get out your own knitting needles, you lazy sod.
3. Awesome handpainted shoes would go down very well with some girls (read: me). Of course I do own one handpainted sneaker and am eagerly awaiting the other (spring 2010?). And then I'd like me some totally amazing handpainted shoes I cannot wear because I have wonky feet.
4. I would avoid Lush if I were you, but I think I'm the only human being alive who's not susceptible to being covered in glitter and smelling like blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Wtf?! Wtf, I ask you. But if you are not buying for me, the company does giftboxes which most panicky boyfriends/sons/brothers will purchase in late December. Also, what's with the Lush staff? They are scarily friendly. Time to pick up that cult assessment questionnaire again.
5. Amazon wishlists are really helpful. Unless you haven't updated them since early 2003 when you thought adding that album by The Darkness was really appropriate and hadn't considered how this would make you a bit of laughing stock a few years later. Or that desperate and distant relatives would uncover your wishlist and think you'd actually really, really, really like that album.. in 2008. Not that I know anyone who'd be that careless.
6. Finally, both Wists and Kaboodle are great tools if you are the sort who go "ooh, wouldn't mind that.." and then promptly forget what thing you wanted. They are also very useful if you happen to have a parental unit who starts asking for your Christmas wishlist in August. I think one of my goals of 2009 shall be to actually use these tools so I don't end up stuttering that I'd like some tea towels (which I once did).

But hang on, it's not Christmas yet. US citizens get to have Thanksgiving first! Everybody's favourite Hail Mary, Sarah Palin, went to pardon a turkey and then had a little chat with journalists. Squeamish people who are adverse to a) blood, b) dead birds or c) political ineptitude might not want to watch this video. Best captions evah, I tell you. (via)

Either I'm Nobody, Or I'm A Nation

Oh, my president-elect crush burns strong: Barack Obama seen with poetry collection. Of course it's not just any old poetry collection, it is Derek Walcott's Collected Poems. A Nobel Prize laureate; a Caribbean poet straddling colonialism, post-colonialism, and the Western canon; someone who proclaims ".. either I'm nobody, or I'm a nation". Of course, as Bookninja warns, it could be a coldly calculated photo prop, but I like the idea of Obama reading Walcott. It makes sense, y'know? Maybe Obama is just returning the favour. Walcott wrote a poem on the occasion of Obama's election victory: Forty Acres: a poem for Barack Obama.

Read more: + Derek Walcott: The Schooner Flight (and I've always maintained that Walcott is re-writing Eliot's The Waste Land with that poem) + Derek Walcott: The Sea Is History + A Life in Writing: Derek Walcott + Buy Walcott's Omeros - an epic poem/novel-in-verse charting the "restoration of our shattered histories, our shards of vocabulary".

Post-Post Election Linkage

Having had very little sleep the night before, I was a bit of a mess yesterday. I was sobbing my way through post-election coverage on the TV and my sobs turned into full-blown chest-wrecking wails when I heard the Obamas were getting a pound puppy. Oh, dear internet, I was a sight to behold. My partner, David, was slightly unsettled at first and then began to bait me with news stories just to see if I'd break into tears again. Cruel man. But here we go with some of the things I unearthed: + George W. Bush in pictures. Okay, I didn't sob over this one, but I really enjoyed the captions courtesy of (UK conservative newspaper) The Daily Telegraph. It's teh funneh. + Condoleezza Rice reacting to Obama's victory was one of the most startling things I was seen in years. Her reaction makes me wonder what who the real Ms Rice may be. + Read this if nothing else: Newsweek spills the beans from inside the campaigns. Hackers, the tension between the Palins and McCain's staff ("Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast"!), McCain not wanting to use negative attacks, Barack Obama swearing etc. Oh, and that Barack Obama knows his Star Trek emerges as well. Hmm.. Trek vs. Wars fans might want to read something into that. + UK rapper Dizzee Rascal reacting to Obama's win with Jeremy Paxman wondering if Rascal might consider running for PM (possibly only available to UK viewers, let me know) + Ralph Nader being taken to task by FOX news over his saying Obama could be an 'Uncle Tom'. Yikes. The next years are going to be very interesting, aren't they? + The continuing saga of what Sarah Palin doesn't know. + From Blueyonderletters, how the past eight years shaped November 4, 2008:

"..then it occurred to me: erasing the last eight years wouldn't automatically improve things. The opposite of hell isn't necessarily paradise, in this case. If we hadn't had the pain and the embarrassment and the disaster of the last two political cycles, where would we be now?"

+ A pre-election love letter to Barack Obama's campaign. It's more of a picture-spam, actually and I laughed hard - and then I choked up at the photos of the supporters. Pictures of happy, ordinary people really got to me. There were plenty of those yesterday. + And, finally, just to dampen the excitement: there are some scary people out there and proposition 8 on banning same-sex marriage was passed in California.

I'm going to put on my winter coat now and go for a brisk walk. I have been a complete news junkie these past few days and I need to clear my head. But the past few days have been really good, haven't they?