Steven M. Finkelstein

I’ve been collecting comics since the mid 80’s, and even though these days I can’t afford new ones very often, they’re still an obsession of mine, not to mention inspiration, since I’ve been working on my own comic book series for the past few months. Great comics, of course, come about as the result of the melding of exceptional story and art, so this time around, I thought I would list my top five favorite comic artists of all time.

First up, Jim Lee. I got on Lee’s bandwagon during his run on Uncanny X-Men with writer Chris Claremont for Marvel right around 1990, which was also around the time I started getting into comics in a really big way, and Lee’s contributions during this period definitely played a big part in that. The linear clarity of the action sequences and the perfectly sculpted physiques of what I still consider to be one of the best X-Men teams (now I’d have a tough time telling you all the members, the roster has swelled to ridiculous proportions) had me eagerly anticipating every new issue, and when Lee and Claremont were tapped to be the creative team on the new X-Men comic, it was a dream come true for me, and I wasn’t disappointed with the results. The first twelve issues of that series, X-Men, I also consider some of the best I’ve ever read, the artwork stunning, and the writing every bit as good; it was during this run that Omega Red was introduced, one of my favorite X-Men villains. Of course, then Lee branched off and founded Image Comics, a venture that met with a certain amount of success, although most of the Image number 1’s that came from that period (Savage Dragon, Pitt, Pact, Shaman’s Tears, Cyber Force, Shadowhawk, and Lee’s own Wildcats and Deathblow, are now virtually worthless). More recently, Lee hopped over to D.C. comics, to do a one year run on Batman, the very fine Hush storyline which I think is one of the better Batman stories of recent years, though, to be fair, I’m not a huge Batman or D.C. fan in general, so I haven’t kept up with many recent exploits of the Caped Crusader. Jim Lee is one of those artists, though, that I’m a fan of to the point that I’ll buy any comic he’s drawn, or even drawn the cover of. To me, he’s the epitome of what comic art should be, at least superhero comic art. And it it’s wrong to get aroused from a Jim Lee drawing of Psylocke, then I don’t want to be right.

Next up is Barry Windsor-Smith, who I first became aware of during his serialized run of the Weapon-X storyline in Marvel Comics Presents in 1991. I was obsessed with the Wolverine character, and this glimpse into his past was of interest to me, particularly when told with an artistic style that was unlike any I had seen in comics before. If the cleanliness of Jim Lee’s style appealed to me, it was the abundance of detail in Windsor-Smith’s work that made me a fan. Each panel was so packed with it that I remember spending hours going back over each issue, poring over every page. Windsor-Smith contributed to several Valiant comics, including X-O Manowar, Archer and Armstrong, and Ninjak, but I never tracked most of those down; I was never much into Valiant. I did, however, unearth several of Windsor-Smith’s Conan the Barbarian comics that he drew for Marvel in the early 70’s, and those are also very fine. With an atypical style for the comic book medium that features a gritty, stylized violence, along with the abundance of detail I already mentioned, Barry Windsor-Smith has secured a spot among my top favorites.

Next is Steve Dillon, who I became a fan of in the 90’s when I first started collecting Preacher, the comic he co-created along with writer Garth Ennis. This was not the first pairing of the two, only the first one that I’d encountered; they also worked together on the series John Constantine: Hellblazer, which was later made into the decidedly sub-par movie Constantine. I collected the entire Preacher series, and consider it to be, along with Sandman, one of the best comics to come out in the 90’s. Dillon’s characters look less like superheroes and more like normal people, which is to say, they are more realistically proportioned, and he has a talent for facial expression that I would consider pretty much unparalleled among comics I’ve read. His art leaves a lasting impression, particularly his single panel splash shots. Recently, he’s done work for Marvel, drawing some issues of the relaunched Punisher series, the success of which led to a new Punisher movie staring Thomas Jaine a few years ago, though, like Constantine, it sucked. Of course, that wasn’t Steve Dillon’s fault. He’s also done work in the past couple of years for Wolverine: Origins, and, much like Jim Lee, his artwork put him on the short list of artists whose comics I will seek out and buy regardless of what they’re about and who’s writing them…a rare distinction. I was a little apprehensive about Dillon doing mainstream superhero mags, since his style, as I said, seemed to lend itself more to “ordinary” people, and Dillon being a comic book artist, I’m using that term extremely loosely, but he’s handled himself admirably.

Next is Todd McFarlane, another Marvel mainstay with an immediately recognizable style that I find very visually appealing. McFarlane came to prominence in the late 80’s during his run on Amazing Spiderman, that he took over as of issue 298. The next twenty-eight issues are some of the best Spiderman comics I’ve ever seen, both in terms of story and art, and they catapulted McFarlane to the forefront of the comic book universe. During this run he helped create Venom, one of Spiderman’s best loved and most enduring villains. Eventually, McFarlane became restless, wanting to write and illustrate his own stories, and Marvel allowed him to be the artist on the new series titled simply Spiderman; like Jim Lee with X-Men, the first few issues were a huge commercial success. However, a little more than a year later, McFarlane left Marvel, to form Image comics along with Jim Lee and others. There, he launched Spawn, arguably the most successful and enduring of all the Image comics. A movie has been made from that as well, in addition to a very popular series of toys. McFarlane is yet another artist whose work I’ll buy regardless of what he’s drawing, but unfortunately, he doesn’t illustrate much these days; he doesn’t have to. Spawn and all the toys and merchandise has made him boatloads of money, and he’s gotten bigger than the comic book industry. I don’t blame him for getting out. I probably would have too.

Last but not least is Jeff Smith, an artist who I only got into recently, but have quickly become a big fan of. Smith is best known for his finite series Bone, which ran from ‘91 through ‘04, and won several Eisner Awards. Bone is a brilliant and funny series, a blend of Tolkien style adventure with Walt Kelly’s Pogo, sprinkled with dashes of mysticism and spiritual and religious implication. The Bone cousins that serve as the focal point of the stories’ action look a bit like Casper the Friendly Ghost with legs, but the backdrop against which they are thrust seems more like Feudal England in the fourteenth century. It’s an interesting contrast, and Bone is a fun read. Smith beats out some other longstanding mainstays of mine, and is one of my pleasurable discoveries of recent years.

Among those who should receive honorable mention are Eric Larson, who had a memorable run on Amazing Spiderman before jumping ship to form Image and launch his ongoing series The Savage Dragon, Adam and Andy Kubert, who have done a variety of projects, mostly for Marvel, including X-Men, Wolverine, and Marvel 1602, and Rob Liefield, who I first got into during his run on New Mutants and X-Force for Marvel; he too split and helped found Image, where his solo project was Youngblood, a series with great art but little story to speak of. There are a good many more who I’ve followed over the years, but these are the ones that come most readily to mind.  In the near future I plan on pitching the comic I’ve been writing along with my artist friend Jesse Renfrew to Image comics, so stay tuned on that. When Image responds, I will likely put up a post about it. Till then I’ll keep my fingers crossed, and in the meantime, I highly recommend seeking out any of the comics I mentioned in this blog. More soon.

There are some people who view television as a complete and total waste of time. They’d rather be reading a book, having meaningful conversation with their loved ones, or getting some exercise. Losers. Television is the greatest invention of the modern era, greater than dildos and freeze pops put together (and incidentally, if you’ve ever tried to put the two together, then I salute you. The Polar Bear Club has nothing on you). Television is escapism at its finest, and let me tell you, I’ve got plenty in my life to escape from. Books, meaningful conversation, and exercise are all great, but television is stimulation that comes to you with no assembly required. It’s all right there, streaming into your eye sockets and touching off your brain’s happy places, or sad places if there’s sentimental music to accompany it. Television tells you what to think, what to feel, and if you don’t want to think and feel those things, you can change the channel. As far as real life goes, I try and avoid it more and more these days. Half of what I hear about and see when I leave the house pisses me off, and the other half terrifies me. I don’t know how long I’m going to live, but hearing about the effects of global warming, having experts argue about whether the planet is or isn’t doomed, coupled with the economy in the toilet, is enough to make me want to put every cent I have into building a bunker, stocking it with beef jerky, and living out my days in relative peace and quiet. Just so long as I have cable. Failing that, I keep stumbling through the daily routine, but at least I’m guaranteed of one thing- having my best friend waiting for me at home, non-judgmental, patient, understanding, and unfailingly punctual. Here’s what I’m watching on T.V. these days.

Wrestling. Oh God, how I love professional wrestling. If you want to talk escapism, it really doesn’t get any better than watching a seven foot four inch Punjabi Nightmare face off against a midget dressed as a leprechaun. There are people who tell me things like wrestling is “fake.” These people have missed the point entirely. I could argue till I’m blue in the face about how the outcome of matches are predetermined, but the physicality is real, and I have in the past. I don’t do it anymore. Much like the religion discussion, when it gets right down to it, it’s a matter of faith. In movies, there’s suspension of disbelief. Wrestling requires that too. My knowledge of professional wrestling, past and present, is encyclopedic. If you doubt me, know this: I waited outside the Staples Center in L.A. for 12 hours in ‘05 to get tickets to Wrestlemania 21, and I paid $200 for my ticket. I went hungry for two weeks after that. I didn’t care. Completely worth it. Right now, I’m getting RAW, Monday nights from 9:00 to 11:05, on the USA network. RAW is the WWE’s flagship program. It’s been on the air for 15 years. I also get ECW on the Sci-Fi network from 9:00 to 10:00 on Tuesdays, and TNA Impact on Spike TV from 9:00 to 11:00 on Thursdays. I watch them religiously.

Football. My Bengals started the season by losing eight straight games, which sucks and pisses me off in ways I can’t even begin to describe. Nothing like deflating your enthusiasm for the whole season by taking yourself completely out of contention by week 6 or so, and being inept in every aspect of the game. Of course, Carson Palmer has been injured for the past several weeks, so we’ve had the backup, Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has proven himself unprepared for a leadership role in the N.F.L, but in any case, I’m enough of a fan to tune in each and every Sunday to watch the season progress, even if my team is officially done for the year. Much like baseball, if football is on, I’ll watch it regardless of who’s playing. Of course, there’s Monday Night Football on ESPN also, but since it’s in direct competition against Monday Night RAW, I usually opt for wrestling, unless it’s an especially good game.

The Daily Show and the Colbert Report. These are available Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central, at 11:00 and 11:30 respectively. Since I don’t watch “real” news, I rely on these two to fill me in on what’s going on in the world. News stories delivered with a humorous slant are about the only way I can stomach current events. John Stewart and the Daily Show team can be a little kitchy, but Stewart is still a bright guy, and it’s usually pretty funny stuff. Their coverage during election season has been priceless. Stephen Colbert is a genius. His sense of comedic timing, his edginess, and his ability to force serious guests into discussing ridiculous premises is second to none. I’m very much looking forward to his Christmas special, airing this Sunday at 10:00 on Comedy Central.

The Simpsons and Family Guy. New episodes come on at 8:00 and 9:00, respectively, on Fox. The Simpsons is the best show that has ever been on television, period, end of story. I’ve grown up watching it, and there have been more classic episodes than I can count. That being said, it’s time to put it to bed. For several years they’ve been slipping, and I kept on saying, when it’s no longer watchable, end it. They’re very close to that point now, they’re recycling recycled ideas, and even though it pains me to say it, the time has come. Still, as long as new episodes keep coming out, I’m going to keep watching, even if I find myself wincing several times per episode these days. Family Guy is very hit and miss. I don’t get all of the obscure cultural references sometimes. Every so often there will be a great episode, but you’re far more likely to get five minutes of good stuff and fifteen minutes of filler. I was excited when they brought it back after the first cancellation, but I’m not what you’d call a die hard fan.

South Park. The latest season just concluded, on Comedy Central. I watched it and was fairly unimpressed. South Park, much like Family Guy, is hit and miss, and I found most of the episodes this season to be misses. It’s as raunchy and crude as ever, but the humor has gotten a little tedious. I don’t know that I can expect much better, though. It’s been on the air for ten years, and seriously, I never would have predicted that. The finale, the vampires vs goth kids episode, was the best one of the season.

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Airs on FX, Thursdays at 10:00. This show has been on for about four years, but I’ve only recently gotten into it. It’s hilarious, it’s made on a shoestring budget, and it’s shockingly tasteless and offensive. Also, anything where you’ve got Danny Devito just kind of wandering around looking disheveled and spitting out profanity has my vote. Unfortunately, the latest season just ended, so it’ll be reruns for a while. I have to try and locate the first couple of seasons on dvd, sometime when I have money.

House. New episodes on Fox, Tuesdays at 8:00. This show has been on several years, and I’ve drifted in and out, but I’m a fan. I think Hugh Laurie’s portrayal of the title character is stellar. I’m usually not one for medical dramas (I never got into Grey’s Anatomy, or E.R, or whatever else), but an excellent supporting cast, including Omar Epps and Lisa Edelstein, a genuine sense of urgency to the cases, and really sharp dialogue make this one a winner. The questions of morality that this show raises and the interplay between the side characters are a big part of what elevates it, and the shots where we go inside the body are very gross and cool. I just can’t watch it while eating, particularly pasta. I almost puked the other night.

Reruns: Married With Children on Spike. I never know when it’s going to be on, but whenever it is, I try to catch it. It was one of the better sitcoms of the 80’s/90’s, and it gives me a nostalgic feel. Al Bundy was the character Ed O’Neil was born to play. House reruns on USA. I guess they got the rights to the reruns of the past few seasons and they show them all the time now. I’ll watch them whenever there’s nothing else on, and I’ve seen several episodes that way that I missed the first time around. Always Sunny in Philadelphia reruns…and of course, movies, usually on AMC, but sometimes on USA, TBS, or FX. AMC has been showing the Dirty Harry movies a lot, so I’ve been checking those out.

Which brings me to what I’m not watching. These are shows that have gotten good reviews, and some people have told me are worthwhile, but I’m stubbornly not watching them. Several things on Comedy Central, but first and foremost, the Sara Silverman program. I’m sorry, Sara Silverman is not funny. She’s a hack. I would enjoy killing her. Chocolate News, also on Comedy Central. David Allen Grier, you are not Dave Chappelle, and you will never be, no matter how hard you try. He actually used the line “welcome black” when they were coming back from commercial. Really? Cancel it. The Shield, starring Michael Chiklis, on FX. Some have told me it’s good. Never got into it. Luckily, this is the last season, so hopefully they’ll get some new programing for that time slot soon. Anything on ABC, CBS, or NBC. The only thing I watch on those networks is football; it’s the only thing worth watching. I don’t watch Heroes, or Survivor, or the Amazing Race, or any of that other crap. I don’t know how those shows stay on the air. I guess desperate people who don’t have cable.

And finally, here’s a couple that seem like they might be okay, but I haven’t gotten around to seeing yet. Burn Notice looks like it might be worth a try, if only because it features Bruce Campbell, one of my favorite B movie actors of all time, and it’s great to see him get steady work, even if he does look a lot older and paunchier these days. And Sons of Anarchy, because it has Ron Perlman, who I liked very much in Blade 2 and the Hellboy movies. I’m also not watching WWE Friday Night Smackdown, because for some reason I don’t get MyNetwork TV in Myrtle Beach. This is somewhat ironic, because it’s the only wrestling show that is on broadcast, non-cable television, so it’s the one that I should be guarenteed to get, and yet I don’t, but I get all the other ones instead. It’s infuriating. Oh well, can’t win ‘em all. I’ve got priority TV, at the moment, from Sunday through Thursday. Friday and Saturday there isn’t anything much of interest at this time of year, in this market, and one might think those would be good days (and nights) to get out, socialize with my peers, and things of that nature. Small chance of that. We’ve already gone over my feelings for the outside world. And with that being said, I’ll be going now, because I think it’s about time for me to see what my best friend is doing. We’re going to have a great night together.

So, you’ve been reading fiction all your life, and you’ve said, hey, this seems pretty easy. Any idiot could do this! Well, guess what, you’re right. For this blog entry, I’ll be sharing with you, aspiring writers, everything of value that I took from four years of creative writing classes, boiled down into a few simple paragraphs. Why spend the money on a B.A. when I’ve got you covered? I’ll give you the most straightforward advise you’re likely to get, if you’ve got the writing bug and want to get started without delay.

First rule, every story has a beginning, middle, and end. This sounds incredibly simplistic, but when you’re starting out, if your story doesn’t feel quite “right,” or if something seems to be missing, the first question you should probably ask yourself is whether any of these three essential elements are lacking. There can be such a thing as starting a story in the middle, where the reader is going to feel that they’ve missed out on some crucial exposition, character development, or other story elements that are necessary for them to become successfully engrossed in the action. Alternatively, the middle can be missing. The story can go from a definitive beginning to the final action without an appropriate amount of buildup and tension. When that happens, usually the ending doesn’t seem justified. Endings need to be earned. If the ending doesn’t feel earned, you need to go back, retool, and reexamine. Finally, there needs to be an end. If you’ve got your beginning down, and you’ve worked toward the climax, that climax, much like in sex, needs to come. Otherwise, what was the point? The worst of the three parts to leave out is the ending. Humans need to have things end. They need that satisfaction, particularly when it comes to fiction.

That brings us to the structure of story. Stories of any length, that take any form- short story, novel, novella, screenplay, comic book, whatever- need to have rising action, climax, and falling action. Another way I’ve heard this referred to is the inverted check mark. Think of a check mark, upside down. The rising action is what occurs as you are coming up the hill of the check mark, toward the peak. The lowest point of the check mark is the beginning of the story. You get to the middle of the story, and things intensify, or build, as you continue to climb. The top, or peak, of the check mark, is the climax of the story, almost at the end, but not quite. You still need to drop down from that peak, to complete the check mark; this is falling action, what occurs when the protagonist has dealt with whatever was fueling the conflict of the story, and is reconciling themselves (or not) to whatever has happened. I’ve heard it described another way that I liked too; as one of my professors told us, you get your guy up the tree, you throw rocks at him, you get your guy out of the tree. In other words, you introduce the conflict, you pit the protagonist against whatever is challenging them, you resolve the conflict, thus concluding the story. 

The next rule is as follows: only trouble is interesting. Let me say that again, just as my professor did: only trouble is interesting. That’s another way of saying that no one wants to read a story where there are no challenges, where everything is a walk in the park, and nothing of consequence goes wrong. The essence of fiction is conflict. There must be problems, there must be calamity, there must be catastrophe. Without it, there’s no point in writing. A boring day is just that, boring. Readers want to read about trouble, they want to squirm delightedly because they’re experiencing the trouble vicariously. They’re not the ones getting the flat tires, they’re not being fired from work, they’re not being caught masturbating by their moms, their worlds aren’t being threatened by aliens. But they want to read about these things, because they want to experience all of it, indirectly, from one degree away, the shame, the fear, the excitement, the titillation, the hope, the exhilaration, the desperation, the confusion, the madness, the sorrow. These are the calling cards of good fiction. These are the reasons your audience has come to the show. An addendum to the rule, before we move on. You can write about things that seem boring to you. You’re allowed. Doing so won’t necessarily make you lose the reader. The only thing you have to do is find the mystery in the mundane. You have to convey the boredom, the tedium, the monotony, in a way that makes it seems interesting. It’s challenging. But good writing always is.

Next, as another professor of mine once told me, in selecting what you want to write about, keep this in mind. You’re going to be able to write most effectively, and most realistically, about the things you know best. If you’re from Little Rock, Arkansas, and you’ve never been anywhere else in your life, you’re probably going to be able to write most realistically about Little Rock, Arkansas (and incidentally, if that is the case, then I feel profoundly sorry for you). This is not to say that you can’t write a story that takes place in Helsinki, Finland, or Paris, France, or on the surface of the moon, if you want to. Will it be as effective as the story taking place in Little Rock? Will the characters be as convincing, or the dialogue? Maybe, but probably not. This is not to say, however, that you should only write about what you know. On the contrary, you should write about things you know nothing about, because only then will you improve as a writer. But we’re only talking about getting started, so in the beginning, my advice would be, stick with what you know.

We’re getting close to being ready to begin now. To review: we know that we’re looking for a beginning, middle, and end, we know that we need rising action, climax, and falling action, we know that only trouble is interesting, and we know to stick with what we’re familiar with, as least in the beginning. Now, here’s three things you’re going to need to get right, because if you blow even one of these, you’re going to be severely hurting your finished product. You need to get the beginning right, the ending, and the title. Now, we already knew we needed a beginning. But that’s not good enough: you need a good beginning. You need an opening that’s going to suck the reader in, right from the start, an opening that’s going to compel the reader onward. A good exercise from my creative writing class days that I would recommend is writing several first sentences that are immediately gripping. You want to start strong. A powerful narrative demands it. Next, the ending. If you’ve gotten the beginning right, and the middle, the rising action, then, by God, you need an ending deserving of all the work you put into the rest of the story. Without a good ending, all you’ve worked for has been for naught. You’ll know, if the ending is weak. It won’t feel right, and believe me, the reader will notice it too. Nothing is more unsatisfying than a weak ending, or an ending that feels wrong, or unearned, or unjustified. Finally, the title. If your story is perfect, down to the tiniest detail, give it a title deserving of it. The best titles fit the tone and theme of your story perfectly, and it’s even better if they work on multiple levels. A bad title kills the story dead before it’s even started. A couple of examples: Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Fransisco. 2 Fast, 2 Furious. Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. See what I mean? They never had a chance. In my personal creative process, it’s not uncommon for me to come up with a title, or a beginning, or an ending, and then craft the rest of the story around it. I have titles of things, for instance, that I came up with fifteen years ago, that I still haven’t written the stories for. I know the stories exist. The titles are strong enough that they almost have to.

That should be enough to  go on for now. There are a multitude of other story elements that are needed for a convincing narrative, and we could spend all day dissecting and discussing them, irony, silence, symbolism, character development, convincing dialogue, mood, tone, theme, choice of tense, and selection of first, second, or third person, to name a few. I’ll write about some of these more later. But the final thing you need to know about writing, and perhaps the most important, is that sooner or later, at some point, you just need to do it. Anyone can. Whether you can do it well remains to be seen, but just remember, practice makes better (there is no perfection in writing), and you can’t get better at something until you eventually start doing it. Remember, if you were destined to be a writer, then you’re going to be compelled not only to do it, but to continue doing it. Eventually, you’re not going to have any choice in the matter. I’ll just leave you with this last tidbit of thought: there are worse things than writers, especially fiction writers. The desire to write fiction is evidence of creativity, and if you’ve ever even thought about doing it, then there might be hope for you. Just don’t do it better than me, cus that would really piss me off. Good luck, and good writing…

Ah. It’s a good day. Even though the poles had Obama securely ahead of McCain this past week, I was nervous. The voting public has screwed up before. The past two times, actually. But monitoring the election coverage, and watching the Daily Show/Colbert Report simulcast, when they announced at the end of the show that Obama had enough electoral votes to net him the highest office in the land, I breathed a sigh of relief. The air tasted better. A crucial battle has been won, and I’m proud of this country. It’s been a long time since I’ve said that.

Yesterday, at my job, a coworker told me, candidly, that she hadn’t voted for Obama because she didn’t want a black man to be president. I suppose I could have pointed out to her that Obama is biracial, but for a person who’s even willing to entertain for a moment the possibility of voting on race, such a detail is hardly going to register. Of course, a couple of minutes later, when there were others in the conversation, (including an African American coworker), she went on to elaborate. The reason she hadn’t voted for Obama, she said, was because she was worried that if he was elected, he would be assassinated. At that point, I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer. There were all kinds of things that I could have said, but what I did in fact say was that if Obama was willing to run, then he was aware of such a risk, and he hadn’t let it dissuade him. It was ludicrous, I said, to not vote for someone out of such a fear, if he himself hadn’t let that fear stop him. I neglected to point out that she had edited herself when an African American coworker was in hearing range. I did, however, tell her that even though it was her right as an American to vote based on whatever parameters she chose, if she wasn’t going to vote based on the candidates’ positions on matters that were important to her, I’d rather she didn’t vote at all. But then, I’m in South Carolina, a state that went to McCain, so I’m sure there are some people that share her thinly veiled racism.

It’s been a tough race for the Republican party. I’ve been getting my updates mainly from the ”fake” news shows, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, which, ironically, I consider more “real,” and certainly more unbiased, than any other shows with political flavor on television. I’ve watched the whole race come down to the wire, the Republican smear campaign, Reverend Wright, trying to paint Obama a socialist, a Muslim, inexperienced, a scary black man out to eat your babies and rape your wholesome God-fearin’ white women. It’s worked in the past.  The poles were fairly tight…then there was the economic crisis and the stock market collapse of a few weeks ago, and Obama pulled safely into the lead, breezing into the Presidency. Am I glad it happened this way? Frankly, I don’t care how it happened. I’ve already spoken on this blog about being as poor at this point as I’m likely to get, so the economic concerns don’t have me losing any sleep. If it got Obama in, and consequently kept McCain out, I’m glad it happened.

Of course, the president-elect inherits a mighty shit-storm that he’ll be spending the next few months and years trying to navigate. Two wars, the economy, his admitted lack of foreign policy experience, energy concerns and the offshore drilling controversy specifically…all that, and, if my coworker was actually right, maybe some KKK nut-job wanting to take a shot at him. It’s not outside the realm of possibility. I’d dearly, truly, like to think that this country has advanced beyond that, but then again, I live in the South, and the ignorance I’m surrounded by leaves me baffled sometimes, so I wouldn’t exactly be shocked if it happened. I hope Obama is up to the challenge. I think he is. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have voted for him.

Granted, I don’t know too much about the man, other than where his viewpoints coincide with mine on the policies that are important to me. But I don’t care about his religious beliefs, and I don’t care about his alleged socialist tendencies. I’m all for socialism. What I care about are the intangibles. When I watch the man speak, here’s what I see. Someone who takes himself seriously, but not too seriously. A man who has a loving and loyal family behind him. A man who is willing to tell the truth, even when it’s not necessarily the truth that we want to hear…and that’s a huge one. A quick-thinking, young, articulate man, with pride for his country. I predict great things for Obama. Here is a man, I think, with the potential to restore some measure of dignity to the Oval Office, something that has been missing from it for eight years. A man who will breath fresh life into this democracy…in short, a leader. A genuine leader, with fresh ideas, a fresh perspective. New blood. What this country has been waiting for.

I don’t remember too much about the ’80’s, at least not from a political standpoint. I remember the 90’s, and what they brought…no war, an economic surplus, in short, good, prosperous times for America. And I remember the past eight years, and how Bush, Cheney, and their lackeys have discredited this country in every conceivable way on the world stage. Notice anything there? Because I sure have. The good times, there was a Democratic president in the White House, and the bad times, the war times, there have been Republican presidents. Coincidence? Obviously not. Is this an oversimplification of things? Yes, probably. But it’s also the truth.

I don’t know everything that it means to be a Republican, or a Democrat. I don’t consider myself to be either. I’m just an American citizen, trying to get by. I vote based on the issues that are important to me. If that means that I consistently vote Democratic, fine, so be it. But I didn’t vote for a party, this last election, I voted for a man, one who I thought could make a change. I still do. Maybe he’ll prove me wrong. I don’t know. But for right now, just today, it feels pretty good. The days of W are coming to an end, and it feels like it’s been a lot longer than eight years. It feels like an eternity. It’s a new day in America. Praise Allah.