Sunday, 11/7/04 - 09:27

From my livejournal on November 2, 2004

4:28 PM -- Coming to you live from our election party, which currently consists of me, Ted, Mom-sub-S on the phone, and my glowing green beverage. I sort of hope more people will show up eventually -- Ohio just closed! Do our prospective guests realize that we're in the western time zone? -- but either way, we still have guacamole. And flourless chocolate cake and fresh strawberries from Oxnard.

I plan to keep updating here until I find something better to do in the boring pauses...

4:45 PM -- so we have themed cocktails:

The Flip Flop: It's blue and has a little bit of everything (as Soong says). In particular, blue curacao, tequilla or cahaca (nod to Princeofcairo), rum, vodka, gin, sour mix, and 7 up.

The Drink that could be Both Strong and Wrong: Mostly cranberry vodka, with enough cranberry juice to make it red, and a hint of anise liquer. In case you hadn't guessed, the anise is the ingredient that makes it conservative. And wrong. (And also strangely compelling, but that doesn't fit with our metaphor)

The Lemondrop: vodka and fresh lemon juice and a little sugar, with a rim of unrefined sugar. This is Nader's drink. It's a sippin' beverage. Also apropos due to Nader's activism for lemon laws -- this drink is unsafe at any speed!

Suggestions for modifications welcome, since no one's here yet. I don't mind admitting that the only one I'm completely happy with is the lemon drop, and I'll be curious to hear what Mollpeartree and Princeofcairo are serving.

Also, there's cider mulling on the stove. Too bad that even the farmer's market cider here SUCKS and is inadequate for anything but mulling.

5:00 PM -- Ted's watching the gambling pools like the Iowa Electronic Market and announcing their results as if they're real results. Not that I object. Kerry's doing good there! Indeed, he's doing so good that Ted's singing the Sucks To Be Hillary song! :)

Now we're talking to my mom in Detroit!

5:20 Ted won't let me eat any of the flourless chocolate cake he made until someone else shows up!

"...Dude! It's 5:30!... Nothing happens at 5:30."

5:48 Ted and I agree, the ice rink at madison square garden and the window washers being used to demonstrate election results on NBC are keen. Mighty keen.

Our guests are going to be mighty sorry if they don't get here before we get drunk.

6:15 PM They amuse themsevles with evil plots! They come in stripes and polka dots! Beware! Beware! Be very very ware!

We just lit our jack'o'lanterns, which cleverly also serve as election decorations. This year I carved a heffalump, which is basically a very scary elephant (for those of you who aren't up on Winnie the Pooh). Pictures here, courtesy of Soong. Ted boorrowed Brian's dremel to make a very cute pumpkin that was not, however, a woosel.

6:20 PM Yay! Renaissancegame is coming over! He's always the first to show up for everything, so it's a good sign that he's on his way. I've been meaning to tell you about Halloween weekend, and this reminds me that I've been meaning to tell you how we finally got to see Bubba Hotep with Renaissancegame on Friday night. A truly delightful movie.

6;26 Also, the Conversationalist and M. are here! Maybe I'll get to eat cake soon.

7:01 No cake yet, but we've ordered pizza. Keith is here, Renaissancegame made fine and lovely blue margharitas, Curmudge_o_rama just called from the liquor department of Trader Joe's, we're watching the Daily Show, and the current status is cautiously optimistic. W00t?

8:55 Gwen Ifel sayz, 'We'd all been guessing from the big Bruce Springsteen concert that there'd be a big youth turn out.' I think we're in more trouble than I'd thaought. But Ted's German coworker is here, with German chocolate (cinammon milka!), and they're both looking at their pagers, unable to comprehend that they haven't been going off. But with regard to the election, "We're right where we thought we'd be." "Screwed."

9:38 Queen_of_wands and Soong are here! But the Conversationalist and M. had to leave to work on an exam due tomorrow. Do you want to know how many times I've pointed to Barack Obama and told everyone I voted for him for congress 6 years ago? Twice! Maybe three times.

10:00 or so: Queen_of_wands says, "Hey, we made it into the Schlafmanko report! And you mispelled Curmudge_o_rama." (the ratio of partygoers to laptops was approximately 2:1)

A quick phone call reveals Kaynorr is doing okay, and hopefully so is Daisy.

Almost time for chocolate cake.

PS Everyone else is drinking neat scotch. Mood shifting toward cautiously pessimistic.

11:10 Lehrer went to sleep quite some time ago, looks like Ted will be joining him. I'm still trying to figure out what Queen_of_wands is doing with her pile of blue book midterms. But surely it would be a mistake to ask... Cake v. good. Vernon back wi. friend Sarah. I just don't get how the vote could be this close when there's such a high turn out.

11:40 PM Dammit, all the TV peopel are talking about going to bed now. And it's not even midnight! No! -- they can't leave us until Kerry wins!

1:40 AM Really beginning to wish the pandits would stop talking. Everyone else left maybe 20 minutes ago, maybe more. I should turn the TV off and go to bed.

Coda -- 9:42 AM As I wrote in Mollpeartree's journal: You know, falling into despair would be so much easier if I weren't continually reminded by my friends list that a lot of good, sane people voted for Bush. Damn you and Muckefuck for ruining my despair!

Of course, there's stuff I could say about the relevant politics, but I won't. I've already gotten into enough dejection-ridden arguments for this week. Liberals don't need to hole up or call the red-staters stupid, we need to convert people to our point of view. Just not in this journal, not right now.

Would you like to try the cake featured in this entry? Young Sharkninja posted the recipe for the flourless chocolate cake here, though we originally got it from Best Recipes, a compilation of Cook's Illustrated recipes. We present our cake on top of black plates that have been dusted with powder sugar, which I dare say is quite striking.

Is - Was - Will Be

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