10) I'm still smiling, no question about it.  I had my Obama shirt on until yesterday.

9) I'm a terrible dancer, but as an observer I'd say rhythm.  Maybe I'm biased because I'm a musician.  Also, I think this is one area where too much confidence, especially in absence of rhythm, can you into trouble.

8) Birthdays are funny like that.  When you turned 35 you were a year older than when you turned 34, but only a day older than the last time you felt 34.  I think the increase in the integer leads us to put that whole year into an instant.  You end up looking back with a feeling that the time just got away, but did it?  I guess it's all about perspective.  Besides, unless you're compelled to for legal reasons, you can always just check 34 anyway!

7) Yes.

6) I have no idea.

5) All of the above, but mostly the advisers who chose her in the first place.  It was clearly a choice that was made on the basis of the remote possibility that it might get them to the White House regardless of the implications.  That's pretty awful.

4) I completely disagree with this characterization and think that the voices from the gay communities here in California which are raising this specter are making a terrible mistake.  First of all, the black community isn't particularly large, especially when compared to the hispanic community (which is predominantly Catholic).  Blaming the passage of Prop. 8 on Obama, the turnout he encouraged or any ethnic minority, black or otherwise, is insipid and foolish.

Prop. 8 passed narrowly and did so with overwhelming support, both financial and logistic, from a variety of churches, not the least of which is the LDS.  The "No on 8" campaign was pitifully organized to practically non-existent.  Melissa Etheridge says she won't pay her taxes now?  That's fine.  I'm all for civil disobedience, but perhaps she might have thought to take that money and buy some television time with it when it mattered.  Where were all of the well-moneyed gay Californian voices on this issue?  I can tell you that we didn't hear from them.  Southern California, with the exception of Santa Barbara county, voted for Prop. 8.  By the way, Contra Costa  and Alameda counties, where much of California's black population is located, voted against it.

This is most certainly a civil rights issue, but it is not the same as the black civil rights struggle.  Gay people are certainly persecuted.  Despicable incidents like what happened to Matthew Shepard are a stark reminder of this.  However, it's neither accurate nor useful to make a direct comparison here.  Gay people didn't come from slavery in this nation.  Though some people wear their sexuality on their sleeves (heterosexuals as well), you can't necessarily tell who's gay just by looking.  You can't make them use a separate bathroom or drinking fountain.  You can't deny them the right to vote (this one deserves extra thought in the current context).

Worse than making an inapt comparison is scapegoating an entire ethnic community.

Prop. 8 passed because of the tremendous funding and organizational efforts of California's religious community.  They organized the effort to get the signatures necessary to put it on the ballot.  They were everywhere campaigning for it.  They were practically unopposed.  In a year when the book on the low-level organization of campaigning was being re-written right before our eyes, the opposition to Prop. 8 was taking a nap.

I really hope that those within the gay community who've been vocally pushing this abhorrent assertion think twice about such divisiveness as they pursue their own civil rights.  Better still would be that these voices grew the spine to call out the hatred and bigotry inherent in organized religion.

3) I think that everyone should ask themselves this question as often as possible.  If you can answer that you'd change nothing, then you know you're living the right way.

2) I really only have vague memories of this.  I recall already having had a vague suspicion that my parents were behind it.

1) All of the above.  Racism in the south is different than one might think without actually spending some time there.  It's pervasive and cultural, but lacks viciousness.  If this doesn't quite make sense, then perhaps I just don't know how to explain it properly.  Though I was raised in California, my family is from Texas and Alabama.  There's just a completely different culture there.

10. Post-election depression punctuated by tearfully joyous recounts of my campaign/election experiences. Mostly sad that I can't seem to recapture that feeling of elated shock from Tuesday night. 4 days later, when I turn on the tv and see him, hear him, it all seems inevitable and like it was always meant to be like this. I am mostly in post campaign withdrawal, trying to find any excuse to talk about it.  Sitting on my couch reading dagblog instead of unpacking from my move which happened 8 days ago.

9. Self-Confidence. .

8. Yes. It's lame. You have one of those leather chairs so you should feel good about accomplishing all is required of a man of 35.

7. Yes.

6. I have a feeling if there weren't variety of food in front of me I would be quiet content eating the same thing every day. Poor dogs don't have a choice. This conversation is making me hungry.

5. Palin is too ignorant to be blamed for anything. She's like a small child who doesn't know any better.  Please don't tell her there isn't a Santa Claus.

4. Was answered in comment above better than I could ever do. I do think there are similarities between racial issues and gay issues, but I don't think most people are ready to hear that.  Discriminating against someone for who they are is just plain wrong.  It does seem like a pretty bad idea to jump to conclusions about the cause of the passing of Prop 8, in terms of the minority groups that voted for Obama. Although it does highlight the complexity of the situation. Everyone I know in California is so upset about 8, and rightfully so, but I have been trying to calm them down - We had to elect Obama, and get things moving in the right direction. The buzz amoung the staffers/volunteers on wednesday morning in Ohio was - look what we did...we've learned so much and created something, an organization, a movement, that is just getting started...

3. No comment. Sheesh. What's all this about death? One of our greatest psychological capacities is to walk around in total denial of the impending pointlessness and obliteration of ourselves and everything we've ever known.

2. If someone's religious convictions are so flimsy that they just change their mind because some kid tells them differently...... This child isn't only being taught that Santa exists, but this child is being taught not to ask questions or consider logic.  Maybe religion isn't about logic, but if it's not, then it's about faith, and there is no reason to think I am capable for shattering that faith with a simple comment. Yeah, I think I did tell a 5 year old once, she cried, and I felt guilty.

1. All of the above. Although blaming it on racism alone is probably simplifying voting patterns that are most likely effected by multiple sources.

10) Still smiling. Basking, really.

9) Self-confidence. But rhythm AND self-confidence is a dead sexy combination.

8) I've never really been annoyed by getting older. But it is sort of perplexing that I'm almost 40 and I still don't feel like I've grown up. I wonder when that kicks in.

7) It happens to all of us, right?  (Does that conflict with my answer to #2?)

6) Humans are never happy with what they have. It's our curse. We always want something that we perceive as newer and better.

5) Sarah Palin's ignorance. John McCain and his people did a horrible thing by choosing her to be that close to the White House, but the fact that she has no concept of the vastness of things that she does not understand and feels herself qualified to be the president is truly frightening.

4) I agree with DF here. There's not really a comparison to be made. That said, oppression is oppression and where it exists, it must be eradicated. Prop 8 sucks. But you can't stop progress. It's a temporary, if painful, blip on the road to equality for gays and lesbians.

3) This is a really difficult question. I'd equate it with "do you want to die suddenly or after a long illness?" There's no answer that doesn't have significant downsides. As for me, I don't know.

2) I have total recall of this moment. I was six years old, riding in the backseat of our yellow Pinto, headed west on Lincolnway in LaPorte, Indiana. We were stopped at the light in front of the post office. Someone in my kindergarten class had suggested that there was no Santa. I asked my mom. She wasn't one to lie, ever, so she came out with the truth. My follow up, "So no Easter bunny either, huh?" What can I say? We're a family of pragmatists.

1) I think it's probably a little of everything and probably not as much as we'd like of B.

Yeah, I like Genghis' suggestion, too.  I've read all the way through the comments and have now completely forgotten the original questions.  'Cept there was something about Santa Clause. 

I have two comments about Santa.  1. I can't remember if anyone actually told me, but I figured out that my parents didn't believe in Santa.  So I decided to prove to them that he did, indeed, exist -- by stocking their stalkings myself.  Heartbreaking moment?  My mom, who recognized the materials for the hand-made necklace I'd left, saying, "Oh, Paige, honey, this is lovely!"  2. Can't say as I've made out to play with them yet, but I love knowing that hundreds of drunk santas run amok every year in most major cities.