jenepel

I voted!  I actually went and voted in a primary - and I got to do it in person.  I didn't just mail something in, I filled out a form and stuck it in a box.  How very very exciting it all is!  SQUUEEEE!  This is the first year ever they are doing this "democrats abroad" primary, and we get our own delegates people.  Not tons, okay it's only like 11, but WE GET THEM.  We don't have to vote in our separate state (whatever state you supposedly belong to) and wait for ballots in the mail and etc.  We can vote online!  We can vote in person!  We can vote!  YAY!

LOOK!    LOOK!

Seriously though, it is very cool.  basilm and I met up after work and went out to the place where they were doing it, not quite sure what to expect.  We found it as soon as we got there though, because the tube guy heard us talking and pointed us in the right direction.  There was a line around the block, although it was moving very fast.  And people were in hats, with signs!  There were news cameras and everything.  I have literally never seen anything like it.  People - voting from abroad is boring.  You send in your vote by mail and you know it doesn't matter anyway because they only count them in case of an insanely close election (okay they counted them last time! go figure).  But this was the real deal.  It was show up and people are all talking about it and there's a ~community~.  I actually didn't realise how excited I would be by it all, but listen to me now.  People, I wore a Hillary hat on the tube on the way back.  That is just...not me.  I am the queen of "don't draw attention to yourself on the tube", "don't talk, don't let people hear your accent".  It's just how I roll.  But I wore a hat out in public that proudly proclaimed "I am (kind of) American".  Um, wow.  This is about as patriotic as I get!  (Unless it's the World Cup - but then it's patriotic for my other country, so that doesn't count for this.)  So anyway, when we got inside people were all around with signs and hats and buttons and chanting.  And there were speeches.  And we registered to vote in the general election.  (Sadly it will be by mail in the regular old way.)

After the voting we didn't hang around too long because I had to hightail it up north (well, north of where we were) to go to my friend Phil's pancake party.  He and his two flatmates were having a party for pancake day (which basilm says she has never heard of - she claims it's a weird British thing).  I managed to drag her along, and we had a good time, if somewhat strange.  There were a bunch of random people there who I didn't know, so we mostly just socialized with a few.  But the pancakes (crepes really) were quite yummy - two courses savory and then sweet.  Also we played guitar hero, so that was a big win.  I've been wanting to play for ages.  Phil kicked my ass (98% to my 52%) but then he does actually play the guitar, so there you go.  Plus, after two rounds he took pity on me and said we should play as a team (band?) rather than competing.  That didn't go so well though, as my lack of skills got us booed off the stage twice!  However, I felt like 50% was decent for a first try - especially since I am in no way musical nor do I play computer games.  However, if we had been playng Wii tennis, it would have been a different story.  I kick all kinds of ass at that.

So yeah, it was a good day.  Also, even before all that I got a ton of stuff done at work.  My boss is leaving tomorrow to spend a few days in Spain, so we are trying to get everything set up for me on my own.  It was a productive Monday, and then a super fun after work day.  Let's just see how the rest of the week lives up to that...