Viva New London

Last night marked an ending and a beginning. It was, for me, the end of a great journey - The Great Campaign Trail of '11. I've met so many great people and made so many new friends, including two of those up there, MAYOR Daryl Finizio on the left, and his husband Todd in the middle, who I'm lovingly calling the First Gentleman of New London. I can't say often enough how much I already miss getting honked at on streetcorners, how much I miss meeting friends on cool early mornings to stand around with signs and then get breakfast at Monica's before work. I'm going to miss that. I'm going to miss wearing my Finizio green button every day (though I'm keeping one on my purse at all times). I'm going to miss the excitement of working for change, the uncertainty that comes in any competition, and of course, the butterflies and literal tears of joy that come with every win. 

“To those who have waited, waited for so long for the moment to come when New London might finally turn that corner, the moment when the great power of the people in this city might be at last unleashed, I say to all of you that this is that moment, this is our chance. This is our time. Tonight, New London’s renaissance begins.”

~ Mayor Daryl Finizio, from his inaugural speech last night.

So for New London, this is a new beginning. For Daryl and Todd, this is a new beginning. This might be, too, for me, a new beginning if I want to make it so. 

People have dreams and sometimes they turn them into realities. Those are the greatest moments in life, I think. I love being a part of these journeys and sharing with people in their great moments like I got to, again, last night. I just still wish I had more of my own moments. 

** Hopefully this link will stand the test of time: A link to video of Daryl's inauguration speech. He's an amazing public speaker, methinks.

Meh.

It's been my intention since I started this blog that I should be honest with myself and whoever may be reading. Unfortunately, there are still some things in my life that I don't feel comfortable talking about, and one of those things, lately in the past few weeks, has really been bringing me down.

There's nothing like self-doubt that can make a person feel so sick inside when things on the outside might be looking pretty okay. There are also few things other than self-doubt that you have to try to conquer all on your own, if you are too afraid to be honest and ask for help.

It's always at the end of the year when I question my sanity and my life and the things I choose to do, and when I start analyzing how I can change things and make myself and my life better. It's a stressful, dreadful time of year, if you ask me. I should be looking forward to January 1, to the blank slate of a new year ahead of me. I should be making a list of resolutions that I will undoubtedly fail at, but the sentiment always counts. At least, I think to myself, it shows that I am trying to change the things that I want to change instead of wallowing in whatever it is that is holding me back from my best life. 

Things need to end and things need to begin, and it's all just so hard when you know exactly where to start but just don't have the will to do it.

Eh, I hate being so sad on the blog. But, there is one good thing ahead today.

Today is inauguration day. After a thrilling campaign, an over-the-top win of an election, and a quiet interim, tonight we get to party again for Daryl. He'll be sworn in at 7pm as New London's first strong mayor in 90 years, and then it's off to the ball. That's right. I'm going to a ball. 

But where's my prince charming to take me there?

Mr. Mayor

I wrote at length last month about how I got involved with Daryl's campaign for Mayor of New London, Connecticut, and this past Tuesday all of the hard work involved by me and hundreds of other campaigners came to an end. I already spoiled the ending to this story - he won, but there is so much more to it than that - so much, unfortunately, that I feel like the ship has already sailed when it comes to recapping it all and giving myself a definitive record for what this has meaned to me and others. (I am trying SO hard to be better at this.)

Last Thursday, I wrote Daryl a letter and addressed it to his house, hoping he would get it and have a chance to read it before election day. Daryl's husband, Todd, assured me that he DID get my letter on Monday and was very touched and didn't really know what to say to me in thanks. It was a serious letter.

I wrote to him that, in a nutshell, joining his campaign as a volunteer has completely changed my life. And it has, that is true. It really has. 

I've been "political" for quite some time, as you might notice once in a while on m Tumblr, and by the lineup of classes I took when I was in college. Had I continued with school, I would certainly have wanted to transfer to get a degree in either American Studies or Poly Sci, because that is just what I am interested the most in, besides writing, of course. But I dropped out, and that's another story.

ANYWAY, I had never worked on a campaign before. I never knew how exciting and thrilling it could really be. I guess I just never believed that hard work could be rewarded in such a way as to prove that this world is a magical place filled with like minds and love that are hidden in plain sight, and are hidden in abundance. Yeah, the letter I wrote was wishy-washy and maybe a little bit weird, and selfish, too. Really, it was me telling Daryl what his campaign meant to me, and likewise what he meant to so many young people in New London. 

I told him that whether or not he won the election, he'd already won in my eyes, and the eyes of his supporters. He'd already brought change to New London by making so many people open their eyes and wake up to the issues and for the first time actually DO SOMETHING about them. That's a victory that anyone would be proud of, in my opinion. 

Here are Alisha and I on primary night, which was September 13th. Alisha is being lifted up off the ground by a little old dude named Jake, and I'm about to be enveloped by Laura - both of whom we met in just the first few days of campaigning. Now I call Jake and Laura friends, because they are, because they are our people - like so many others - the first gift that Daryl gave me. 

That's what I'm not about to get over. Here we were, Alisha and I, exhausted after being out holding signs, waving at cars, hoping that people were going to the polls to vote for the man we thought would be the best in charge. We didn't have to do it, we didn't get paid for it, but we did it anyway, with so many other smart, thoughtful, compassionate beautiful people that are now friends, literally, for life. There's something about standing on streetcorners with people that gives you a bond like no other - I can't really explain it, but finding a common bond between strangers, striving for a common goal just DOES SOMETHING to people. It pulls them together, and as crunchy as this sounds, I feel like it pulls our energy together, too, like we are one person, one big Finiziatic. Here's the funny thing about this picture - we were waiting at a bar downtown for Daryl to come in and announce whether he won the primary or not. We were just happy to be there together. And then? Then there was this moment:

And the rest became my history. I went to all the forums for city council and Board of Ed. I went to a Democratic Town Commitee meeting, I went to the mayor forums, I went to the debates, I went to nearly every event that Daryl participated in in the following months. I got to know his platform like the back of my hand so that when I wore my button in public and people asked me about him, I could give an intelligent and thoughtful answer - and then give them the button right off my shirt.

I stood on streetcorners in the dark with other like-minded "crazies" getting high off the honks and thumbs up that we got, even as my toes started to freeze and my nose started to drip.

I posted constantly in our volunteer group on Facebook, reminding people about events and getting more people to volunteer. 

I went down to the Democratic Town Commitee Headquarters and made phone calls to voters, reminding them about the elections and offering rides to the polls, then setting up transportation for a bunch of elderly people who otherwise would not have made it.

On Monday night, I played my first game of Dungeons & Dragons, and then dragged Brian out with me to conduct a super secret stealthy mission of hanging Finzio door hangers on the doors of strangers, hoping they will come out and vote for Daryl in the morning.

And then the day came. I had already told my boss I wouldn't be coming to work, and I got up Tuesday morning, dressed in two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks, three layers and stepped out the door, only to find that the day had dawned bright and beautiful, and unseasonably HOT for November, and had to go change all of my clothes again. I dropped off a tuna noodle salad at Daryl's house, and got my butt down to Harbor School where I stood with my sign, waving at cars for four hours straight until I finally broke for some food and a sit down, but was back at it again right after, and aside for an hour when I went to go pick up my friend Brad so that I could bring him out to the polls to vote, I was on corners all day, surrounded by strangers who had become friends, surrounded by other campaigners who were rooting for the other guy (and giving us serious anxiety due to the sheer number of them) but I was out there all day. And it was one of the most exciting, rewarding, and best days of my life. 

At eight o'clock, we were down at Dev's on Bank, the restaurant hosting Daryl's election night party. I piled in there with friends, old, new, best, and hardly, there had to be a few hundred of us in a room meant for far fewer, and I chugged, I mean CHUGGED a beer and sat down in one of the few chairs on the side of the room. I sat there, slightly moaning, my feet screaming at me for standing on them all day, which i something I am not used to - and then my friend Natalie came up to me.

Natalie had been the one to gather the premiliminary votes from Harbor School, where we had been at most of the day. Harbor was one of three polling locations, and Daryl's numbers there were staggering. I don't remember them exactly, but he had some 800 votes at that school and the closest competitor had less than 400. And in that moment, I knew we'd won. WE WON.

You might be able to watch Daryl's victory speech here, but I will embed it once it's on YouTube. He thanked everyone, he reminded people that we ran a clean campaign that didn't owe anyone anything, and reminded us also that this was only the beginning - there is so much more work to be done. I'll have to watch the video again myself, because his words were lost in a blur of hugs and kisses and cheers - and then we went downstairs to the bar to party.

I was jammed in with friends and other campaigners, brushing up with former mayors and current State Representatives, getting beers bought for me and Dan by a guy who turns out to be the guy who just might be New London's next Superintendent of schools (shhhh) and then I stole a moment with Todd.

Aren't we just precious? Todd is Daryl's husband, and one of the things I neglected to blog about in the last month and a half is that Todd is one of the best new friends I have made in years. We met one night after some event, I can't even remember now whether it was a forum or debate, and he leaned over a table to me and said "I want to party with you," and what better way could a friendship begin? He came to Alisha's a week later and we drinked and ate the night away, and it turns out that Todd and I have more things in common than I do with most people I've met in years, including a love of books (particularly YA paranormal!) and writing, and learning, and television (particularly soap operas!) and generally having a good time. While I value all of the friendships I've made over the course of the campaign, I feel like Daryl running for mayor has next to nothing why Todd and I are really friends now, if you know what I mean. You know those people that you meet and they just feel like old friends? That's Todd. 

I just wanted to share that picture because it's adorable and leads me to the end of my story. At Dev's on election night, I gave Daryl a quick hug and congratulated him, got a nice picture taken with him that I've yet to see posted on Facebook, and we parted ways. He's a busy busy man. 

Last night, I went over to Todd & Daryl's house to exhange books with Todd and catch up on American Horror Story with him. In the course of the evening, we got a little tipsy, and then started munching on leftover election day date bread - I INSISTED that it would be better toasted with butter, so Todd dragged a little geriatric toaster that looks like it was made in the forties down from a shelf and got me going - so there I was, bleary eyed and peckish in my socks, waiting for my toast to toast, and Daryl walks in with his new exectutive assistant and transistion team leader. 

He looked at me, he laughed at me, and then he put his hands on my shoulders and leaned in to look me in the eyes. 

"Thank you," he said. "Thank you." 

But I shot those words right back at him. How could I not, for what meeting him has brought into my life? How could I ever stop thanking someone, or start repaying someone, for such irreplacable gifts?

Zzzzzzzzzzzz...

It's all I want to do. It's 2:16am, so technically I didn't post on the 9th, but guess what? To me it doesn't count, cause the day isn't over until I END IT WITH SLEEP, and that hasn't happened yet. 

The last two days and nights have been a whirlwind of hard work, excitement, surprise, hope, and love. And I can't wait to tell you all about it. Tomorrow.

Today, like yesterday, was for these guys:

Fin.

Four

What the hell day is it now? Is it only the fourth?

I feel like I have four jobs. I'm a single mom, obviously, and even though I hate referring to taking care of Elise as "work", let's be honest here, people. I have the day job (ugh), I have Daryl's campaign and all the volunteering I have been doing lately, and I have NaNoWriMo. And a blog a day on top of it?! Dang, November - you're going to drive me into therapy once and for all, but at least blogging is cheaper than therapy...

This morning, after getting Elise onto the bus, instead of crawling back in bed like a deadbeat I headed downtown and stood on the corner of Bank and State Street with a Save Riverside Park sign. I wish I had pictures, but alas, we were too busy waving at all the honking cars that were rushing by to take one - also, I forgot. The support looked great this morning, and there were only three of us down there - my friends Zak, Shannon, and myself. There's nothing quite like the feeling of pride you get when someone gives a thumbs up or takes a moment to honk for your rallying. 

After breakfast I went to breakfast with Shannon and Zak at Monica's State Street Diner - having breakfast with friends before work is not something I can recall doing in the past, which is a damn shame, because it was a great start to the morning and definitely made for a better day. 

Work was good, Elise had a good day at school, we went out to dinner at the Lucky Inn and I had their wonderful General Tsos that they cook with more cinannamon than any other Chinese joint I can think of and it's delicious... and then I came home and started writing after Elise went to bed.

I'm up to 6,795 words, so technically I am exactly 33 words above my word goal for the forth day. It's awesome, I haven't even finished the first chapter yet, and tonight for some amazing reason the words are just falling from my hands - I love it when that happens.

So, there it is. Day Four. Going strong, fighting the good fight, keepin' it real.

It's the goddamn American Dream in action

I've been blogging so much about writing lately, I've totally neglected up until this point to talk about this other major thing I'm doing with my life right now. I've been volunteering my time to work on a local political campaign, helping to get my new friend Daryl Finizio elected Mayor of New London. 

First, a little backstory: I lived in New London for about three years, and then left New London to move to neighboring Waterford so that Elise could go to school there. New London isn't known for its great schools, and since we knew that Elise had some potential developmental problems and possibly learning disabilities (which we still don't have a definitive answer on, by the way) I knew I wanted her to have the best education possible, and New London just didn't offer it. However, I still live just minutes from downtown NL, and I still shop, bank, go to the pharmacy, dine out, drink, and generally get my groove on in New London. I don't live there now, but I still consider myself a New Londoner for all intents and purposes. We'll see how important this is in a moment...

My best friend Alisha and her husband bought a house in New London last year. They had a baby, got a dog, and put down their roots in that city. So this summer when the race for Mayor, City Council and Board of Education really started heating up, Alisha got frustrated that all the events like debates, meet and greets, and fundraisers took place while she was working at her second shift job. She reached out to someone online, someone she had never met, and asked what the best way would be for her to go about meeting candidates, and the next thing I know, she calls to tell me that she's hosting a little political garden party at her house with Daryl Finizio - a guy we'd never heard of before. 

The day came for this little luncheon - I snuck out of work to be there, put on a pretty dress and headed to Alisha's. We were surprised to find out that a writer and photographer from the local paper would be there to cover this "event" which was really just eight or so twenty-somethings in the backyard chatting up the politician. Coming in to this meeting, we knew three things about Daryl: He was young, he was gay, and he wasn't from around here. But when Daryl arrived, I knew right away (after meeting so many other politicians in my life) that he was different. He's not FOR the people, he IS THE PEOPLE of New London. He explained his background - that he grew up in Westerly, Rhode Island, which if you live around here, you'd know how easy it is to forget that the little city on the other side of a river is in another state - that he got active in politics at a very young age, that he'd done big things in college and worked with the NYC Council after 9/11, was a council member in Westerly, and was also a lawyer AND college professor. Oh, he also likes kickboxing.  Heh. Anyway, he talked to us not like a politician but like a person who wanted to get things done. He listened to all of our concerns about the city - mainly regarding education and violent crime - and gave his thoughts on how he could make a difference in changing them. 

Once the reporters were gone, he really opened up on a lot of issues that affected young people in the city, and elaborated rather frankly on what this city needs more (and less) of in government. In short, we were sold. We were sold by his demeanor and eloquence, we were sold by his vision, we were sold on his solid background, and we were ready to get to work. 

A few days later, one of our friends who had been at the political garden party started a group on Facebook called Young Voters of New London, a group that has grown to more than 165 members in just two short months, which is remarkable considering how many of the people belonging to the group joined it having never registered to vote before. And yet here we are, thanks to Daryl, making change.

On September 13th I participated in New London's democratic primary day: I stood outside Harbor School for three hours holding a sign with Daryl's name on it, welcoming voters to the polls and then thanking them for their time as they left. Daryl was (and still is) in stiff competition with the other democratic candidate he ran against in the primary, a man named Mike Buscetto, who lost the primary that day and is now running as a write-in candidate. Although we knew Daryl was a great man with great things to offer, primary day was nervewracking because we also knew that Buscetto has had ties to New London for generations and Daryl is a "newcomer" who has had to grow his support organically in just a few short years. But I will tell you, every time we got a sly thumbs up from a voter, or if people honked and waved from their cars as they drove by us (this is so pansy) my heart sped up, because it feels so good to see the person you support get supported. I loved every minute of that day. I made friends that day. And later on, we celebrated, because Daryl won the primary by leaps and bounds. 

After the primary, we partied all night - really, ALL NIGHT - celebrating something we'd worked for. It was amazing. Did I mention I made new friends? It's amazing, I'll say it again and again, how campaigning for Daryl has really changed my life for the better. So, it's a selfish thing, in a way. I support him, I want him to win this election, I think he is the best for the job.. but volunteering for this campaign has opened my eyes to things that I hadn't considered before, and I am not the only one blinking, surprised in the sun. 

For one thing, Alisha has never been political. She came into this not really having a clue about how the government worked or why it works the way it does. She just got into this because she knew it was the right thing to do as a homeowner and parent in New London, and she absolutely did the right thing. It's been a pleasure to help her learn the ropes of politics and elections, and it's been even more of a pleasure to get to know and get closer with other people. It's a fucking pleasure to be able to walk into a huge room, look around for a green and white button and know these are my people! and that I will be accepted by them and welcomed by them because we share common goal and common values. 

The thing is, this is a democracy here. We are working to elect someone who will speak for us to those who will not listen otherwise. We're working to elect someone who wants what we want, not just as taxpayers or business owners, but as HUMAN BEINGS. We are working to elect someone who has a dream of making New London a better place to live and visit not just for the people who have the most money or "connections" with the city government, but for the people who spend not only the majority of their time and money there, but also their energy to make it a fun, artsy, exciting place to be.

This past Saturday, I rallied with about thirty other supporters on the sidewalk in front of Muddy Waters, waiting for Daryl to show up with our state's Governor, Dan Malloy, so Malloy could endorse Daryl and the rest of the democratic ticket for this election. To some, this is no big deal. This is my blog, so I can say what I want to say here, right? Malloy is sort of a tool, but I'm still glad I voted for him, and I'm glad I got to leave saying "I met the Governor today. I shook his hand, and looked into his eyes, and knew that we were working together today."

There are exactly two weeks left until election day, and you can bet that I will be pounding the pavement and going door to door next weekend to make sure voters know who Daryl is and why they should vote for him. I'll be wearing my button and talking him up whenever someone asks about it. And NaNoWriMo be damned, I will be standing in front of a polling center, rain, sleet or shine on election day, knowing that I've done all I can to help Daryl win the election, and to help New London pave the way to a better future. 

I am so proud of New London, for opening the doors to electing a Mayor and taking on a new form of government. I am so proud of the people I know - good friends old a new - for working so hard to help with this campaign, and more so, I am so proud of everyone who has educated themselves about elections and governement. I am so proud that (in my opinion) as a whole our group of young voters has kept it clean and classy throughout the election. And I am so, so proud of Daryl, for keeping his chin up when so many people are trying to push him down. 

This is what I have been up to lately. This is what I am fighting for, for a city and people I love. Finizio... for motherfucking Mayor!