The Kat Cave

I cant really say much about this image. Without crying myself. Taken as Obama speaks of his deceased Grandmother. Fuck the race issue. The world is just proud you elected someone who can string a sentence together.

There’s been online buzz comparing Obama to Spock or Tuvok, emotionless vulcans, as he displayed an almost eery calm in the face of some of the most shocking attacks. But. he really is only human. Whether this will be to his benefit or his detriment in office, only time will tell.

(Shame on you, California.)

Back in 1997, courtesy of my British passport, I got to vote in a British General Election.

Years of failing, crippling government was overturned, and a new Prime Minister was elected. There was a sense of euphoria across the country, the something new and exciting was happening. That as a people, the UK had voted for change and hope.

Please, I hope to god that Obama does not replicate that. The world, and especially America, does not need another Tony Blair.

(And for those Americans reading - I love you, I love your country, with caveats and exceptions. That being - Texas.)

Hurrah. There’s a new President waiting in the wings, and for the first time ever, the First Family is black. An historic victory. Bigotry beaten?

Not quite yet.

Americans were not only voting on their President, Senate and House of Reps, but were also voting on various pieces of not inconsequential State legislation.

One of the most public campaigns has been about Proposition 8 in California, which - if the voters pass it - will change the State constitution to rule that marriage is between a man and a woman. A Yes vote is a vote against marriage for gay people. And one of the most despicable thing about it is the supporters targeting families, claiming that a No vote will mean their kids will be educated about same sex relationships, and will be “turned gay”.

Since when is education a bad thing? Since when is it good or right to say who should spend their life with whom?

President Elect Obama may be picking out the furniture for his posh new house right now.

In the mean time, more votes to pass Prop 8 have been counted than votes to ban it. Only 32 % of the vote has been counted, and I’m trying to remain hopeful.

I’m a Quebecoise. How does this affect me? What does it matter to me if it passes or not?

It matters. Because I have rights that will be denied to other people. And that is unfair and unjust. And I can’t explain to my children why this is so - because it makes no freakin’ sense to me.

Mr McCain is getting very animated as he says the US “never gives up”. His speech ends with the classic maverick’s anthem, Here I Go Again (On My Own) by Whitesnake.

…because hopefully everyone else is with Obama…

From the BBC

Pic taken by Kezzy

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Joanna Newsom has to be one of my favourite artists. Rather like vege- and marmite, she’s not to everyone’s taste… But I adore her!

And do so wisely.

Newspaper covers rarely stick in my mind. And I rarely concern myself with the tabloids.

But back in 2004, in my last month in the UK, following the elections, one British tabloid asked the question many people were thinking:

Please, let there be no sequel….

Is this tshirt Pro or Anti McCain?

Sarah Palin Pranked by Sarkozy Impersonator - The Sleuth: “It gets kinda boring in the North. So, we like to torture dumb Americans.”

Les Justiciers Masqués are radio hosts from Montréal. Sarah Palin is just such an easy target. Kinda like shooting fish in a barrel. From a helicopter. With napalm.

(Via The Washington Post.)

You can listen to the call on Les Justiciers Masqués website.

I was 40 weeks and 4 days pregnant, and I was having a fight with Tom.

It was just after breakfast on 30 October 1999, we were in our first home, and I was fat and tired and grumpy and desperate for a fight. Tom obliged, even though he pointed out that in my condition, I was always bound to win.

“There you go! You’ve always got some trump card!” he shouted. I was stood in the kitchen, and my water had just broken.

It was our first pregnancy, and because of Tom’s illness, we’d gone through a gruelling process of IVF to get here.

And so, off to hospital we went.

I got there, and after being examined, I was 2 cm dilated. It was gonna be a long day.

It was 7 p.m. before labour became more active, and more stressful.Tom was standing around, keeping well back. I had spent the evening walking around, and actually had my head around the whole thing, just wishing it would hurry up. And really didn’t need anyone talking to me.

By midnight, contractions are coming thick and fast, and I was still refusing pain relief. I was checked on regularly, and from midnight to 2 a.m., the contractions were coming every 5 minutes, each getting more and more intense. I got hooked on watching the clock in the delivery suite, just trying to get through it an hour at a time.

At 1 a.m, we went into transition. The baby was taking his time descending. A very painful hour ensued…. An hour of pain and vomiting.

At 2 a.m., something awful happened. An orderly came in, and put the clock back an hour. Daylight savings had ended, and we were moved from British Summer Time to Greenwich Mean Time.

By the SECOND 2 a.m., things were really moving. At 3:10 a.m., Tom stood behind the midwife, and tears began streaming, as Jack Peter Mackenzie Cavadino made his first appearance. Our Halloween baby was perfect. Weighing in at 8 pounds and 4 ounces, born with no pain relief, he was our hope, our faith in the future personified.

We had no idea how long we would have together as a family. And in the moment we first saw him, we knew we’d make every second together count.

Jack turned 9 today. He’s 1.43 meters - around 4 ft 8. Which puts him only 5 inches shorter than me.

He’s read nearly every book in his school, and is all the Smart. He has an insatiable thirst for knowledge, which sometimes scares me - he asks questions I just can’t answer. And he gets frustrated when he can’t find the answers. But he’s only 9. He has a long way and a lot of learning to do.

He remembers his father vaguely, and we talk about him a lot. We moved home to Montreal when Jack was 5, Tom had died a year earlier. He’s seen a lot of upheaval and changes in his little life, and even now, can look like a little boy with the world on his shoulders.

For his birthday? We gave him the world. A globe. What he chooses to do with it? Only time will tell.

He’s my first born, my little guy. He changed my world. And for him, I would do anything.

…and there was Pie.

Maple and pecan pumpkin pie.

And it was good.