Boobies and Speeches

Whenever I post anything about politics I usually get about two dozen or so hate/angry e-mails within the first 24-hours. In addition, I also get at least twenty or so condescending, "Let me explain to you why you're wrong, little girl" e-mails, too. It's enough to keep me from making blog posts on this topic most of the time. Besides, this isn't a political blog, it's an erotica blog. But occasionally there are exceptions.

Tonight was one of them.

At around 8:30pm I was at work, hating my life for not being able to get out of work on this, the night of our president's first address to a joint-session of Congress. I knew that the first thing I would do when I got home was watch it, but still, not watching it live would suck. So an idea struck me: why not ask the shift-manager if we could turn down the annoying music for once and turn the TV's (that usually only show sports games or ESPN on mute) to one of the major networks?

For a variety of reasons, I have some pull with him. But he was skeptical. I finally convinced him by pointing out that our clientele are mostly blue-collar men who are depressed as hell about the state of the economy. I promised him that Obama would cheer them up. He decided (almost at the last minute) to do it.

The result was the most surreal sight I've ever seen. The smoke-filled dark club I work at became a totally different place at 9pm (EST) when the DJ announced we'd be watching "our president's State of the Union speech" (it wasn't an official SOTU, but whatever). For the next hour or so there was no music, no dancing. Everyone in the bar, probably about three dozen people including the girls, gave their undivided attention to our 44th president and his address.

It was something else. Not only the speech, which was amazing, but the customers' reaction to it. Also, the dancers' (including me) reaction to it. There were tears, there were bursts of applause, and immediately following the speech's end the room erupted in a chant of "OBAMA! OBAMA!". 

I live in a place that has been devastated by this recession. President Obama's optimistic, bold, and empathic speech resonated well, here. Hell, I spent the speech on the lap of a man who told me at its start that he had voted for McCain. At the end he was shaking his head and saying, "Goddamn, this guy can do it. He can do it." He sounded in awe. Imagine a dark room full of half-naked women and blue-collar men watching the speech like it was the Superbowl of Superbowls and you'll get sort of close to understanding how weird the sight was... sigh!

Anyway, as soon as the speech was over the music began again and our DJ for the night (btw? He's the only DJ there who I *hate* with a passion!!!) called me to the stage and everything became normal at work again. But for that one hour or so my little club was this like... argh, I don't have the words! It's like, it became this place where suddenly tits and ass weren't the end all, be all, you know? People cared more about President Obama's words than my tits! That's a good thing.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I still made out pretty well, money-wise. After the speech was over, people were happy. Happy people tip more. After the speech was over, people felt more confident. Confident people spend more. :)

I do have a lingering concern that the shift manager might get into trouble for putting that speech on the monitors, though... I know for a *fact* that his boss would not have approved. Hopefully no alcohol revenues were lost during that. Eh. Business has been so bad lately that I doubt he'd notice, though, unless he looked at the hourly receipts... shrugs.

Even if some of us get in trouble for that, though, I think it was a wonderful experience, and well worth any "punishment" (short of being fired) down the road.

How cool is it that we have a president who can garner more attention that naked tits?! Pretty darn cool, if you ask me. :P

-shannon-

O

Barack H. Obama is now President Barack H. Obama.

There really are no words to describe how that makes me feel. I've watched live coverage of the inauguration all day at a party that was just amazing to attend (a friend of mine threw an open "Inauguration Party" at his house and I met a ton of cool people there). I have seen pundit after pundit, historian after historian, and politico after politico try to sum up this moment, this feeling, this energy. 

But I haven't seen, heard, or read anything that's gotten close to describing what this is like. My meager ability at prose doesn't stand a chance when some of the giants of American political discourse fail to succinctly capture the moment, so I won't even try. Let me just say, though, that it was because of moments like these that I fell in love with American History when I was a sad and abused and scared little girl. It was because of moments like these that I proudly identify myself as a Civics dork. It's because of moments like these that I can say with a straight face that America is the greatest nation on Earth, if not for what it is but for what it wants to be, an aspiring and ambitious young nation that always recognizes when it has fucked up and promptly corrects its course afterwards.

President Obama (just typing that makes me teary eyed!) will end up becoming one of the greatest presidents in United States history. I make that declaration with a somber (if not quite sober) mind that also recognizes the great challenges he will face. That we all will face. In fact, it's because of these challenges we face that I know he will end up being remembered as one of the greatest presidents our country has ever seen. 

I believe he will either join the ranks of Washington, Lincoln, F. Roosevelt and Kennedy, or he will end up being remembered as something far more jarring and far less acceptable to my sense of human history: as the last President of the United States.

That's how bad it is here. Either he rights the ship or it goes down. There is no middle ground. Few people have been given that burden before. W wasn't given that burden. Clinton wasn't either, though times were tough. H.W. inherited the world's first sole superpower. His predecessor, Reagan, received a ship in choppy waters. Carter took the reigns of an enfeebled workhorse.

But only three presidents, now four, have ever taken the helm in truly dire times. Washington, our nation's father, had to set the tone and ultimately it was his example that made the peaceful transfer of power a tradition burned into our national conscience. Lincoln took office when state after southern state was saying it could leave our Union, trying to divide us for all time. F. D. Roosevelt, a disabled man whom Adolf Hitler would laughed off as a "cripple", came to power during an economic crisis that was so deep, so horrible, that Communism became a mainstream desire in this nation. FDR said shortly after being elected, "My job is to save Capitalism from the capitalists." And he did.

Now we have President Obama. In an age of terrorism and petty tyrants who are "on the wrong side of history", he doesn't call them evil. He doesn't rattle the saber of America's might. Instead he offers an "extended hand if they are willing to unclench their fists." (paraphrasing from memory). His words today on the steps of the Capitol building remind me so much of some of the words that first made me care about such things... JFK, saying, "We will not negotiate out of fear, but we will never fear to negotiate." and "We all live on the same small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all value our children's futures. And we are all mortal."

President Barack Obama has to succeed, otherwise America will fall. As a student of history I truly don't think the latter is possible. Logic dictates that he therefore shall succeed in leading the greatest experient in human history toward a new triumph. He will help perfect our union. Our government of the people, and by the people, and for the people, cannot perish from this earth.

To all you naysayers who will undoubtably disagree with me, let me say this: Today is not a day to be cynical. I'm turning off comments for this post, the first time I've ever done this, because I'm tired of naysayers. Today is not a day for angry right-left fights. Today is a day to realize that the promise of our nation, the United States of America, is forever perfecting itself. 

God bless (and this comes from an atheist but I just can't help myself!!) President Barack Obama!

Love and best wishes for all time,

-shannon-

~oh, and here's the pic I promised... yes, I'm in there. Pic will be up for three days~

My Favorite Moments of 2008

Please forgive me for another non-"Daddy's Firm", non-sexual update to this blog, but I just can't help myself. The holidays always depress me and looking back on my favorite moments of the past year brightens my spirits. Without further ado, here's the list (with video) of my Top Five Favorite Memories of 2008.

5.) Obama's Iowa Victory Speech.

It all started on a chilly winter night. January 3, 2008 will very likely go down in history as one of the most important in American politics. I watched the caucus returns with Beth (cry) and a bunch of her friends and I remember being the only person in the room wearing an Obama t-shirt (which Beth had just bought for me a couple days before; a simple white t-shirt with the now-famous "Obama Rising" logo). I was probably the only person in the room who nearly orgasmed when he was officially named the winner of the contest, but after his speech I was approached by lots of Hillary, Edwards, and even Kucinich supporters who wanted to know more about the Junior Senator from Illinois. It was a wonderful night and that speech still makes me smile. :)

4.) "Yes We Can" Obama Music Video

When I watched this video the first time it brought tears to my eyes! I knew right away it was going to be an important way for Obama supporters to sum up our candidate's message, so in February 2008 I sent it out to literally hundreds of my friends and acquaintances. Ten months later the original YouTube post is nearing 15 million hits. Decision 2008, meet Web 2.0!

3.) Fox News Calls Ohio for Obama on Election Night
I couldn't find an embed-able video of this, but clicking the link above will bring you to a Huffington Post article that includes a video of Karl Rove declaring: "If [McCain] loses Ohio, he goes from 286 [electoral votes], which the Republicans carried in 2004, down to 266, and that puts him below the 270 threshold needed to win the White House. So he'd not only need to sweep the rest of these states which were won by the Republicans in 2004, he'd also need to pick up something as well."

"Guess what Karl,"a somber sounding Brit Hume broke in, "I've just received word that the state of Ohio has gone for Barack Obama."

I was watching Fox News at an election party during this announcement (we flipped between MSNBC and Fox News every fifteen minutes). I saw it live. Unlike everyone else in the room, I didn't cheer, though. I started crying and never really stopped for at least a week. Why the tears? Because his victory in Ohio meant that Obama would be our next president. I don't think I ever felt such relief, and joy, and hope, in my entire life before that moment. It was amazing, one of the most emotional moments of my life,  and it still makes me smile from ear to ear to remember it...! :)

2.) Obama's Philadelphia Speech On Race: "A More Perfect Union"

I saw this one live, too.

I remember I was under the weather that day. I was also depressed about the current state of the election. For a couple of weeks Obama had been pummeled in the press for his connection to his pastor, Jeremiah Wright. I saw his campaign crumbling. I watched with a broken heart as race reared its ugly head in the election. The doubts my Democrat friends had voiced to me about Obama's electability, doubts I had dismissed, seemed reasonable all of a sudden. The country was too white to elect a black man. His affiliation with a hate-speech black minister proved it. All was lost.

Obama had an ace in the hole, though. His campaign announced he was going to make a major speech to address the issue of Wright, a speech that would do even more: it would tackle racial politics, too. 

Such a speech, I knew, had to be more than just good. It had to be amazing. It had to be historic. In the end, he needed a home run. Instead, he delivered a grand slam.

Jon Stewart said it best on the Daily Show: "And so, at 11 'o clock on a Tuesday, a prominent politician spoke to Americans about race as though they were adults."

I've lived my whole life wishing I had been alive to see Dr. King's speech on the Mall. Or that I had been alive to see Lincoln's speech at Gettysburg. Or that I'd been in Parliament when Churchill declared, "We will fight on the beaches, and in the streets, we shall never surrender...".

After this speech, though, I was just glad I was alive in March this past year. This speech ranks with the "better angels of our nature" and the "never give in" speeches of previous centuries. 

Click here to see the Daily Show clip about the speech... it's worth it! 

1.) Obama's Victory Speech

I was already crying (see number 3, above) when he gave this speech. My tears only increased. I felt such relief, such joy. It was simply amazing to behold: he did it. He actually did it. Not only that, though, but we did it. We got him elected. We won! For the first time in my entire life I felt pride and hope and optimism in my country meld together in a way that has not changed since. Oprah said it best: "He is The One."

At this defining moment, change has come to America. God bless you, Mr. President. And God bless America for shocking the world by doing the right thing. America? Fuck yeah.

Love,

-shannon-

P.S. I had many good non-Obama moments this year, btw, some of which include experiences with this site. But nothing can compared to his historic election! I mean... we changed the world! As awesome as it is, how can posting a neat short story that I'm still so proud of, or receiving amazing gifts from fans, compare with that?

Barack Obama

Doubt this man at your own peril!

On February 7th of this year I did just that when I promised everyone that if Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States, I would post a picture of myself to this blog. I also promised that if he became the Democratic Party's nominee, I'd post rough drafts of TTT Ch.12 (honestly, I forgot about that latter promise! And since no one seems to care that I broke it, I'll spare you the terrible mess that is the current draft of said chapter! :P ). 

I honestly didn't think he would win. Otherwise I would never have made such a promise! I totally underestimated him. I'm glad I was wrong but, well, long time fans of this site know how much I value my privacy, and some of you know all about the troubles I've gone through the few times I've let my guard down before. 

Like many others, I underestimated Obama's chances. I mean, I've always loved him! But I never thought that a black man could win this nation's highest office. Even though he inspired me so much, even though I loved his pragmatic vision for this country, even though I thought he was the best person to lead us... I never truly believed he had a chance to win.

And then, on Tuesday, November 4th, at a victory party near where I live, it was announced that Obama had won Ohio. Game over. I don't think I stopped crying until several days later. Hell, I'm starting to tear up again right now, just from the memory! Sigh... what a new world!

Anyway...! I made two promises. I already broke one (which I will remedy if enough people ask for that rough draft... but be careful what you ask for!). I don't want to break the second. On the other hand, I don't want to post my real picture to this blog. What's a girl to do?

Beth, actually, ended up giving me the answer. We're not on really good terms anymore (she moved away and we rarely talk) but we chat online, still, from time to time. Last night she pointed out that I never promised to post a recent photo of me. She suggested that I find a baby picture of myself and post that. But I thought that was cheesy (and knowing some ppl on this site, probaly icky!). Her suggestion did give me a good idea for what picture I will post, though...!

That leads me to the promise, which was: "if the 44th president of the United States ends up being Barack Obama, I will post a picture of myself to this blog." Guess what? He's not the 44th president. He's not! He's the President elect! He won't become the 44th until he's sworn in on January 20th, 2009. :P

Technically I have some time. So maybe I'll go have pictures of me taken in costume in the meanwhile. More likely, I'll just post older pictures of me that some of you probably already have. That was my original idea. Beth's more nuanced approach about the exact wording of my promise made me realize I could really be lame about this, but I don't want to be lame. If and when I post a pic, it will be a fairly recent one. No costume. No covered in a blanket. But it will be a pic that lets me feel... safe, still. 

Well, that's all. Stick around with this blog and I promise there will be a (real) picture of me posted of me here after Obama is sworn in as the 44th President. Remember, though, I never said I'd leave the picture up forever. I hate to be all lawyer like but, hey, if you want a pic of me bad enough to call me out in my own comments section of these posts, you'll make the time to be ready to capture it once it's posted.

January 20th, 2009. After he's sworn in as the 44th president of the USA, I promise to leave whichever pic I choose up for at least three days. 

Oh, and the TTT draft? If you flood me with comments for it, I'll post them. But like I said, be careful what you wish for...!

-shannon-

~in peril~

//UPDATE! I am sick and tired of the nasty, mean-spirited comments that keep getting made to this blog. Not all of you do it; in fact, I see only about 10-20% of the total comments over the last month have been mean and/or rude. Still, they hurt. I mean, this site is my home! Imagine someone coming into your home and saying mean things about it and/or you. 

The good news is that I've noticed the vast majority of the nasty comments come from anonymous posters, so I don't have to turn off comments completely. There's a setting in Blogger that can turn off anonymous posts. So I just did that. From now on you'll have to be registered to comment.

To those of you who posted anonymously but were nice or at least civil: I'm sorry! A few bad apples spoiled the bunch. :( On the Internet as a whole this is not uncommon but here, at my home, it's pretty sad since in the long history of this site the forum members/commenters have always been nice. Even the vast majority of the e-mail I get is either nice or constructive, not mean spirited and ugly. 

Just another reminder why I have to be careful of keeping my identity secret, though. I mean, for every posting mean/nasty anonymous person out there, how many mean/nasty lurkers are there, waiting for me to slip up and reveal my location? I don't want to be stalked again, people, and some of these rude/cruel anons scare me...

Even so, for the record, I do plan on keeping my promise on both counts, as laid out in the original post. But it will be on my terms, not yours. This is my site at the end of the day and I have to do what I feel is best! So SHUT THE FUCK UP AND STOP COMING HERE if you don't like that! For that matter, if you don't like Obama, STFU and remember the first sentence of this post! :P

Stay tuned...!

I hate you! (except you)

With everything going on in my life right now (more on that at the end of this post!) it's hard for me to find the time to work on any of my stories. I'm not a prolific writer anyway, so when the muse does hit I try to make the time to focus on the stories I care about. Like Suburban Girl, or Trailer Trash Teen (yes, I swear, I haven't given up on that one!). You know, the stories I started, got you all excited about, and then never finished? Yeah, those! :P

But anyway, this damned election keeps distracting me from my writing! Now that I have Internet access again (yes, I was briefly without it... it was horrifying) whenever I try to write about Tina or Becky I end up going over to my favorite news sites and blogs, you know, just to check out the headlines. And then I end up just having to read one, maybe two articles. Then three. Soon, I'm up to four and thirty and I'm lost in it and it's just... argh!!! 

I'm a junkie when it comes to politics. Especially this year, with the stakes so high and the election so close, you know? Longtime fans of this site will know this. But this year... I mean, I never thought Obama would win the primaries. And he did! I'm still stunned by that. The fact that it's very, very possible he'll win the general election too, well... I can't help but focus on each and every poll or event in the election. It really is like a drug for me. It's sort of sick...! Grr.

So anyway. I'm a nervous wreck about this election and I know that I will be until it's over. November 4th... my god, it's so close! And things are looking so good for Obama right now. The polls are trending in his direction, McCain is looking like the angry old fool that he is, the Republican VP candidate is dropping like a rock as people get to know her, Obama solidly won the first Prez debate, etc. Yet I'm still really nervous. Why? One word: racism (and this guy, btw, makes a pretty good case about it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QIGJTHdH50).

I don't think a lot of people understand just how big an issue that is. Racism, I mean. Obama should be dominating in the polls by a huge margin given the current state of our nation. Yet he isn't! Why? Fucking racist assholes, that's why! Oh, and ignorant fucking Fox News watching morons (most of whom are also racist assholes).

What really pisses me off is that so many of you (fans of this site) have made it clear to me that you're racist, too. After my last blog post (and especially after this one) I was shocked to learn how many of my readers are racist. It became clear via some emails, comments to this blog, and chat messages. I would like to think that most of you aren't, but dammit!!! If the majority of my readers aren't idiotic racist assholes then you're a silent majority... I mean, for every five racist or pro-Republican e-mails I get, I also recieve maybe, maybe one tolerant, Democratic one. Argh. Why is it that my fanbase is so unlike *me*?!?

Oh, and I want to make a quick point about my last post. In the comments and emails I received about that fucking retarded, lie of an ad that so pissed me off, many of you claimed that McCain was telling the truth. That Obama really did want to teach Kindergartners what sex was because of that vote he made as an Illinois state senator. Hell, even McCain still claims the ad was true so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. But I have two points on that:

First: THINK FUCKING LOGICALLY!!!! Do you really think that someone in this country could rise to national prominence politically if he truly supported the teaching of the use of cocks and pussies to 6-year-old kids?!? I mean, if you're a Republican and really hate Democrats and think they're crazy, I get that. I can step into your shoes on some issues and understand your point of view. But do you really believe that any presidential hopeful, Dem or Repub, could make it far by advocating such a clusterfuck-crazy-point-of-view like sex-ed for Kindergartners?!? Does that make any sense?! Put aside for a second the fact that you disagree with Obama on a lot of things. Do you really think that he, a father of two little girls, wants to teach sex-ed to them?! Even worse, have the government teach it to them? Do you really believe that? If so, WHY? WHY would he want that? WHAT COULD HIS MOTIVATION POSSIBLY BE?!? Did he wake up one morning and say to himself, "Gee, you know who doesn't know enough about sex? My daughters. I'm going to introduce a bill in the state legislator to fix that." Do you really, really think that's the case here?!? If so you are FUCKING STUPID BEYOND BELIEF!!!! Arghhh!!!!!

Sigh. Anyway, Second: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/off_base_on_sex_ed.html

Okay, I'm done ranting... I just... argh. I cannot believe how close this election is. Why are so many Americans so dumb? Oh, and if you're a Republican... well, shoot, I won't lie. I'm talking about you, specifically. :P

-shannon-

P.S. I almost forgot: I promised I'd tell you about what's going on in my life right now. Basically, I'm living in a new place near the old one. That means, duh, that Beth and I aren't together anymore. I fucked up the relationship and got dumped and rightly so I guess. Sigh. Oh, and now I'm dancing full time and sort of getting back into the "escort" thing, too. Maybe I'll write more about that in my next post. I promise to let you know every last dirty detail, anyway, if you promise to vote for Obama. You racist jerks! :D

A Solemn Promise

Jason made an interesting comment to my last post:

How about an alternative: if Obama becomes President, we get a picture [of you]?
Encourages us to go actually volenteer and do more than just vote? :).

I like that! I like all the comments, and always do, but Jason's suggestion has really inspired me. So, here we go: if the 44th president of the United States ends up being Barack Obama, I will post a picture of myself to this blog. And I'll tell you what else: the day he becomes the Democratic nominee (or the day it becomes clear he will become the nominee) I'll post all the drafts of Trailer Trash Teen Chapter 12 I've written so far for your reading pleasure. Trust me, it'll be a lot to read... some good, some bad, but all pretty hot, I think...! :P

Now it's in your best interest to support Obama. So... go and support him!!! Texas? Ohio? Maryland? I'm looking at you!!! :P

-shannon-

Barack and Roll! Kinda...

Okay! So I'm happy right now b/c Obama wasn't crushed tonight... it's disappointing he didn't pull off any major upsets (in, say, NY or CA or MA) but at least his head is still above water and no one can claim that Hillary is now the presumptave nominee. So... yay! :P

True to my word I'm going through the comments on my previous thread. There ended up being 40 comments, but remember that for a comment to count it had to include the state you live in and a promise to vote for Obama. If 20 of those comments meet that criteria, I will post a picture of myself on this blog. A real picture of me. Right here. For the first time ever.

So let's go through the comments and see if you guys did it! (I'm writing this list in order, as I read the comments... oh, there was also the criteria that the comment had to have been made before 8pm eastern time!). So let's see whose comments qualified:

1.) Jason
2.) Anonymous 1
3.) Jim (swearing on the holiest document of all!)
4.) Austin (forgot to swear but his state, CT, was a big upset for Obama so I'll give it to him...)
5.) Pierce
6.) Rick
7.) RJ (almost disqualified but a Google search for "jayhawk" revealed that it's the mascot for the University of Kansas... so I guess that counts! :)
8.) Bethany
9.) ET (his second post saved his first from not counting!)
10.) Todd D. (he didn't swear but... close enough!)
11.) Murph (wife's vote didn't count b/c she didn't promise or swear!)
12.) Anonymous 2
13.) Justin
14.) Robert (Ooooo! Sorry, Robert's comment came in at 8:03pm so it doesn't count! ...but, Missouri did swing back to Barack at the last minute in the race so... yeah, I'll count it!)

Even with Robert's late vote being counted, though, we still ended up six votes shy of the margin needed for me to post a pic of myself. So my anonymity remains safe! Unless someone can audit these results and prove to me that I made a mistake or something? Shrugs... I'm too lazy to audit it myself so go ahead, make your case!

-shannon-
~relieved... about Obama not being crushed, and that I don't have to fulfill my promise! :P~

p.s. Here's a consolation prize in case no one can prove my initial review of the comments wrong:

Will You Vote?

It's Super Tuesday!!!

Will you vote? And if so, will you vote for Barack Obama in the Democratic primary? You can if you live in one of the following Super Tuesday states:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado,
Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah.

And if you do, and swear to me here via a comment to this post that you did or are going to, I will make the following unprecedented promise: I will post a picture of myself. To this blog. For all to see.

But I have to receive at least 20 such comments by 8pm Tuesday night, eastern time. And for a comment to count it has to include which state you are from and a promise, on whatever Bible you believe in, that you're telling the truth.

Get up and vote!!! My life doesn't have to be the life of future generations. We can aspire to more. Vote Barack in 2008!

/rant

-shannon-