quincy jones asks obama to create a secretary of the arts

there's an online petition asking obama to create a secretary of the arts. a cabinet member.

quincy jones was interviewed on wnyc's "soundcheck," and he says his next goal in life is to have the position created. why not? all the other industrialized countries have one. the united states could certainly use someone at the top rooting for all of the creatives. finally, a position in the cabinet that i would totally go for.

info quelled from the chronicle of philanthropy blog

several updates

1. i got a job. several jobs.

i started at air america as a part time call-screener, and i'll be doing that for the rest of this week. those people will hold for almost 3 hours. that's an entire show. i'm well-impressed with that.

i also have some gigs lined up at wnyc. thank you to everyone that has helped out with that!

i was working, as well, at a documentary studio as an intern. i got a little bit familiar with final cut pro, but i definitely think it was time to dip before they got too used to how hard i work! hah!

2. snoop dogg appeared on martha stewart?!



indeed my friends. indeed.

3. the number of hate crimes across america have gone up exponentially since barack was elected president. i don't understand. what the hell are people afraid of? i don't understand continued shows of racism. that thing people do when db2 shows up where they snap their head back a little like, "oh. i thought you were a white guy!" it was so subtle for so long, but i guess barack being elected has given people a reason to let that shit fly. well. that's what it is. shit.

4. thanksgiving is almost upon us, and it snowed today in nyc! i can't wait to go home to nc, shop at jc penny's, do some laundry for FREE at my mom's, and squeeze the hell out of some of my homies. it's the little things.

disbelief

last night we felt disbelief. we felt honor. we felt so many different things.

but i am mostly taken by my feelings of surprise. i expected barack to win, but it feels so good knowing we didn't screw this one up. after electing bush, unbelievably, twice, i didn't know if america had it in her. i still can't believe the number of friends and family i have that voted for mccain/palin. not to be sour, but palin can take the bridge back to alaska.

i think voting for mccain/palin was a foolish choice, but they probably believe the same of my choice to vote for obama. the race in nc is still too close to call whether obama or mccain won. that is incredible to me. it looks like obama has done it, but at the time of this writing it's still unclear.

what IS clear, is that dole is going home. and hagan is going to dc. i'm very pleased about that. pleased that we have a democrat governor, even though i don't particularly care for her, she's a better choice than mccrory. democrats in nc are different from democrats in other states. they're much more conservative and old boy's club - even the women.

that being said, i can't wait to see if there are celebrations today. i've got an interview at 2 in chelsea, so i will get to see the atmosphere and feeling in manhattan.

police shut down speakers outside storefront for art and architecture

Police Shut Down Speakers Outside Storefront for Art and Architecture
Originally uploaded by wnyc

similar scenes in williamsburg last night, apparently. i got messages that there were fireworks at some point. much celebration going on in the street. i txted and called everyone i could think of - we are so proud. tears and champagne.

later last night i got txts that there was rioting in williamsburg. i read on gothamist that it was just a celebration, maybe a few bottles being thrown, until nypd showed up in full riot gear. that apparently made everyone angry.

i'll be waiting to read what went down in my neighboring hood. we went outside when the race was called and there was no one on the streets of greenpoint. at least not on kingsland. got up early this morning to go get some papers before they sell out.

what a night. we've done it!

voting

the day is almost upon us. i feel like ... no, i know, we're living some serious history the next couple of days. here we go.

obama 08

hallelujah

150 days until bush leaves office

it's like seeing a light at the end of a tunnel that has felt never-ending.

let's just hope it's not extinguished.

in sort of related news, i discovered today that my senior year (high school) english teacher, mr. lake, is still freakin cool. he's in a band. and they recorded a song and posted it on youtube. he's the one singing.

i give you ... "new born south"