Cautiously Optimistic

The last four days have been more or less completely devoted to celebrating the half-century of Jennifer Leigh Dixon, and that’s been a good thing, with dozens of old and new friends showing up for dinners, a kick-ass party Saturday night, bloody marys Sunday morning, and pretty much non-stop commemoration of the most beautiful, funniest, creative, and amazing woman born in the second to last year of the 1950s—and since, for that matter—all of which enabled me to help make for a grand time for all, and atone for my abject failure to do much of anything for her last birthday; but now, attention turns back to other pressing matters at hand, especially, of course, the Steelers victory over the Washington Redskins last night, but also, today’s long-anticipated Presidential election.

And as it turns out, those two events are related, not only because—as I remain cautiously optimistic today—good has and will triumph over not-so-good, but also because, according to football lore, as reported on The Stranger’s blog, when the Washington Redskins win on Monday night football before an election, the incumbent party holds on to the White House.

Thanks, therefore, to a staunch defense and an adequate offense led by backup quarterback Byron Leftwich, the Steelers have ensured that Democrats will take the Presidency, and come January 20th, 2009 (when, hopefully, the Steelers will still be in the Superbowl hunt), Barack Obama will be sworn in, ending our eight-year long national nightmare.

Not surprisingly, the game turned right at about the point I stopped listening to it on my new—and much to my surprise, effective—cheap little transistor radio, which inclines me to believe that if I only could learn to not pay attention to their games, the Steelers would do much better. Unfortunately, not only would that take all the fun out things, it’s also inconceivable.

I just hope that my inability not to not listen to today’s election results doesn’t negatively impact its outcome.