The Grand Finale

So... If you read the last post, I was trying to envision Prop 8 failing. This did not happen. It passed and that is of huge disappointment to many of us. For those who don't know Proposition 8 in California amended the State Constitution to eliminate the right for same sex couples to marry. (I am going to talk about this for a second before I get to Arizona).

Now first of all I am not queer, so I am not opposing this because I am one of the many getting effed over by this proposition (although I am indirectly because I won't get the opportunity to celebrate my loved ones marry their loved one). But what is VERY clear to me is that this is RIDICULOUS. It is ridiculous that we are even discussing this at the level we are.

"It violates the sanctity of marriage"-

Ummm drunken straight kids getting married at Burning Man doesn't violate the sanctity of marriage?

Or celebrities getting married a dozen times over doesn't violate the sacred institution of marriage?

HOWEVER two women who have been together and committed themselves- for better or worse- since the 1940's... that somehow is wrong?

The reality is the "sanctity of marriage" is either respected or disrespected by the individuals that choose to wed on a case by case basis. And this has nothing to do with whatever combination of junk is below the belt.

That also being said, the anti-Prop 8 parades in San Francisco are a great, however somewhat unnecessary. Talk about preaching to the choir. I am not telling you to go out to Modesto at 8 pm on a Friday and try to get yourself killed, however there are many places in California that consider themselves open-minded, yet the majority of the county still voted against it. Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange County, Shasta County, San Diego- these are places where Prop 8 passed by a small margin. Don't go to counties where the passing was 72%, go to the counties that were close. Where the action of you talking with someone, in a non-confrontational way, might make a difference. Go HERE to find out county percentages.

Remember this is about love. It is really only about love.



Okay... now onto Arizona.



So I decided the Sunday before the election- while retouching photos and flipping between CNN and FOX that I had to go to another state. I had about $110 left over from my last trip and watching FOX say that McCain could take the race if he got Pennsylvania flipped me out and made me worried about another scam of an election. So I texted Jesse from Obama Ft. Lauderdale asking him if I should go to Nevada or Arizona. He said there was a chance that we could take Arizona and that I should go there. People had been expressing their fear about me running around to these states as the election date neared. (Posssssibly because the crazed bumper sticker incident).

I really wanted to leave Sunday night so I could have all Monday and Tuesday to talk to people, but the irony was that I had yet to vote, so there was no possible way I could leave town before I did my civic duty. I reserved a rental car for pick up Monday am.

I told my Auntie Jerilyn that I was going to Arizona and she told me that my biological Grandpa's 3rd and last wife Katie Lee lives out there, and that she is a famous folk singer and writer. One day I will write a book of my life story for you all to read, but for the sake of continuing on with the current story of Arizona, I will just fill you in briefly on this- I was adopted at 10 years old and my birth family is brilliant and scattered, and my adopted family is stable and patient. There are many many holes in my life and any time I can find a missing link to my heritage I am deeply effected.

So Monday morning we picked up the rental car, headed to the Civic Center to vote, then hit the open road. The very open, very long road. I was still deciding where in Arizona to go. I could go to Tuscon where there was an older community, or we could head to Pheonix or Flagstaff. What came up with during the 12 hour drive is that it would probably be best to go somewhere that is not super angsty McCain ridden as we were going to be there only the day of the election and didn't want to get shot. I decided to make my rental car a shuttle to drive folks who did want to vote to the polls. So I decided Flagstaff. (In retrospect I think I was just eager to get to work but maybe should've chose somewhere else since Flagstaff is pretty damn liberal... but this is where I landed).















We stayed at a hotel downtown and in the morning ate an early breakfast and headed over to the Obama headquarters 3 blocks away. There was again an amazing group of people there. Amanda was the woman who ended up helping us. She gave us a map of Flagstaff and highlighted area's that were more poor and may need us to remind them to vote and offer rides. She asked if we spoke spanish. Si, un poco, pero no muy bueno. So we left there with literature and map in hand. First stop- Arts and Crafts store. I purchased the paint markers to write on the windows- "Obama Vote-o-Rama" I worked on the side windows. Then we headed to the East side.







The first lessons was that they are Native American, not hispanic and they speak english. That was embarrassing.

Trying to do Swing Kid stuff in Flagstaff over all was very uncomfortable for me. First off the town was pretty desolate. I don't know if it is because it was cold or cause it was a Tuesday or what, but the most people we could find in any given area was at the strip malls, even then there were not that many people. We went to the community college- (as the University campus was being covered by the Young Democrats) and we stopped the car to talk to almost every pedestrian we saw. Poor Andrew must have thought I was crazy frantically yelling "Stop the Car!- Person!" every time I saw a human. We pulled over to this one woman and I asked her if she had voted yet she said no, that she was walking to get her wallet and then was going to go vote. I told her to hop in and that we would give her a ride. Turns out she was picking up her wallet from the County Jail and that she was not even registered to vote.








Even though there were McCain signs around, 80% of the people we talked to were PrObama and had already voted early. This made me feel like we were in Marin- preaching to the choir. Of the other 20% they were either not registered or totally apathetic. I got into a conversation with an 18 year old who said "I am too young to vote" I chided him "That is funny- cause they JUST made the legal age to vote in the US 18!" He smiled "well, I just think I am too young to make a decision for my country" I sarcastically responded "I totallly see what your getting at- being sent to war to die for this country is easy, but deciding who will be president is way too much of a commitment for an 18 year old." He laughed and said he would vote in the next election. We talked longer and I told him what I was doing and that Californians sent me out to Arizona because they feel that it is just that important for young people to vote. Who knows if he did or not. bummer though.

I was getting progressively more frustrated being there partially because of the impending presidential announcement and also feeling like we were not having as much of an impact on the town as I would've liked. I wanted people to be shaken by us, motivated, injected with a passion to vote! This was not happening. (Which is part of the reason I think it has taken me a week to update the blog as well).

In the early afternoon I decided to call Katie Lee who lived in Jerome about an hour outside of Flagstaff. I asked her if at some point during our short stay if we could meet her and have tea. She said sure. By 4 O'clock- with my increasing frustration I called back and asked her if we could come now.

We drove or ObamaRama ride to Jerome through Sedona and Cottonwood- a town that had hate crimes as a result of this election. The drive was beautiful and we got to see some of the red rocks that Arizona is known for. We arrived at Katie Lee's house- an artists haven up on a steep hill painted bright blue with a wooden sign "SING" on the front porch". She is an 89 year old rebel. When Hillary was in the race Katie hung 3 bra's- a red, a white and a blue one from her fence with the words "Vote for Hillary" above them. Meeting her was meeting a part of my Grandfather and in a way a part of myself. She has recorded a dozen records and writen at least 3 books. She is the type of woman I want to be. Her website is www.Katydoodit.com We stayed there for just under an hour. I asked her about my Grandpa and she told me a few stories of Brandy the racecar driver she fell in love with who had a photographic memory and a handle bar mustache. She pulled out her photo album and showed us photos of them together romping around together in Baja and Arizona, and then pulled out her book "Sandstone Seduction: Rivers and Lovers and Canyons and Friends". There is a whole 8 page chapter on my Grandpa complete with letters and photos of him. I asked her if the book was for me- she said "You can buy it!" ahaha... a business woman. I bought that book and a cd of hers she recorded at Mickey Harts studios when he was married to my Auntie Jerilyn.























I left and drove back to Flagstaff. We rushed over to the Orpheum theater where the Democrats of Flagstaff were projecting CNN onto the big screen. It was amazing. The emotion in that room was outrageous. When a state turned red there were frowns and booing and overwhelming fear in everyones eyes. When a state turned blue the room filled with quick cheers and tears of joy. This was history. I was exhausted, but had to stay to watch at least Virginia or Florida change (SwingKidStates). When Virginia went the crowd erupted and moments later with the announcement of President Elect Obama- there were tears streaming down peoples faces, dancing in the isles and strangers hugging one another. It was an epic, amazing, historical moment.


































































Frankie