Victorious

This story is going to need a background.

My mother and I have very different opinions about the vailidy choices of my upbringing. it was tough and many of the times i didnt get what i wanted or needed as a creative soul but i was always fed intellectually and learned to understand ALOT about life and the way it works in society. The pressure was on from every angle to be a PhD like the two people I grew up under but i always stuck to my poems, drawings, and designs. no matter how i feel about growing up in that house, my mother ALWAYS showed me that there are options to doing whatever it is you want to do. and ive believed that all of the days of my life, pushing and prodding and fighting against everything to do what it is i want to do because ive always believed that you can do WHATEVER you want to do in this world provided that you are willing to work your ass of in pursuit of it


with that said, i purposely turned off my phone and slept from 9:30-12:30 last night. I didnt watch a lick of news during the ballots because i'm the kind of person just wants to know the end results, not the play by play effect of whats happening. ive spent everyday in the past 2 weeks talking about politics and the angles, isms, and consequences of the Obama versus McCain election and quite frankly I'm tired of talking about it. So I took Chris and his date out to Icon Restaurant, listened to Eric Essix play some awesome jazz while i consumed my beef tenderloin and shrimp.


everyone in the world wanted to talk to me about it, even though i specifically asked them not to. Tatum tried to bring it up twice after i told her not to, Ramina bombarded everyone's phone with random text messages about moving Bush out of the white house, and Nicole called me JUST as I was drifting off into sleepyland to ask me about what i didnt want to know about...a busy day indeed. the entire world was buzzing with the energy of Obamaness versus McCainness and I was just buzzing from lack of sleep for the past 6 weeks on the road. I just wanted to sleep. I just want to rest

I knew Obama was going to win. those of you who actually know and talk to me (and don't pay attention to my status messages that i put out there to fuck with silly minds) know that i predicted a model in which Obama blows out Mccain and Palin returns in 8 years to be president. a model which required the defeat of the republicans on BOTH fronts ad in 8 years they're going to storm the white house because that's the way the legacy of these new double presidents is going to be. Im happy for Barack Obama, and generally like the guy on the occasions that i met him. following him on the road for a while was really cool and I feel like he generally LOVES this country and wants to see it be great.

so why am i not overly emotional like everyone else?

Because I already knew it was possible. Its not a shock to me to have HOPE in something when nobody else does, to believe in the unseen future and then let everyone else fall in line as they see it become a reality. And I think for some people Barack become a faux symbol of hope because they think that he is more than just a man, for people who have never had a TRUE sense of hope because theyr faith is physical and hence a fleeting one. being a hero is dangerous ground, because as you succeed your fans succeed, but when you FAIL then your fans die. Barack is going to be a great president, possibly one of the greatest in our history...because at this very moment he HAS to be no less than that for the sake of MILLIONS of people who have now improperly placed their hopes upon him

you have to believe in yourself.

You have to believe every single day that you can DO this no matter WHO is president, no matter HOW hard the economy is, no matter WHAT the person next to you is stealing from you, and no matter WHERE you are in your life. The core of what we face as a people and a nation isnt as simple as who runs it, because WE allowed the shit after Katrina to happen, WE allowed the whoring of our country after 9-11 happened, WE allowed the housing market to go apeshit and get people in houses that had NO business owning a house (they tried to get me too), WE have allowed the gas prices to be almost 4 dollars a gallon. Internal, and looking at what is the CORE of the problem then its all about what WE have been unwilling or unable to do.

The true power of a "democracy" is the idea that the people can control and run it...and we have allowed that healthy power to be slipped from right under our very noses and replaced with corn syrup flavored fast-fed bullshit. Chewing and tasting and thinking to ourselves "man this is good" and knowing somewhere in the back of our minds that "this...tastes...off..." If Barack is a symbol of hope for you and you USE that symbol to begin the change within yourself, then thats awesome and i commend you. But IF Barack is your only hope for change and a new future...then I think you need to read this over again.

I'm glad that Barack was elected, I'm infinitely glad that WE elected him, I'm glad that people are starting to realize in trickles how much power there IS within the idea of organizing and BELIEVING within one's power. now lets hold on to that and learn to REALLY harness the power of assembly. Let us CHANGE the very ideas of what we are and what we do and how we affect the world around us for the better

"People should not be afraid of their govenments, The government should be afraid of its people"
-V for Vendetta


With Love,

Andrew Thomas Clifton

Today was

An interesting shooting day. Pictures to come soon as I get everything to wprk