Ringgggg Ringgggg Ringgggg

I may end up regretting this or being disappointed, but I am an intern at the Victory Center for the Republican Party of New Mexico.Yep, it is a call center and I hope I get to do more than sit there making phone calls.

I keep hearing that this will be the most important election of my life. Will it? Maybe. I think the current election is always the most important.

The most important election of my life was around 16-years ago when I ran for city council in Sand City.  I decided to run too late to have my name on my ballot--so, I was a write-in candidate. This meant that I would have to work twice as hard to make sure people were aware I was running. I got a list of the registered voters in Sand City and I knocked on every single residential door in the city. This wasn't impossible, because Sand City is the second smallest city in California with about 125 registered voters. I found several people who where registered to vote in Sand City, but had moved (like the mayor and one of the City Council members adult children, who had moved away. Both came home to vote, though, and I doubt they voted for me.) I, also, met people who had moved into Sand City since the last election, and I was able to help them get registered. I, also, had pens imprinted with: VOTE for Tina Gardner" and I created a flier explaining what it meant to be a write in candidate and how to vote for me. Thinking about it, it is pretty cool that the entire cost for my campaign was less than $100.

I waited to go vote until shortly before the polls closed. As I went into the Sand City City Hall building, there were two elderly women manning the place and they were talking to a man. They told him that Sand City had had the best voter turnout the city had ever had. They were over 75%  voter turnout and usually the city did well if they had 40% of the residents vote. They were telling  him that there was a write in candidate and that many of the voters that day had said they were voting because I had personally contacted them. This was before absentee ballots and early voting and they said that, oddly, Tina Gardner had not come in to vote yet. When it was my turn, one of the women asked for my ID, not my name. She looked at my driver's license, found me on the list, gave me the ballot, and I went into the booth to vote. I heard her say to the other woman, "It's her!" Like I was truly someone important and I smiled.

Because I wasn't on the ballot, the night of the election, during the news coverage, my votes were not counted and it appeared that the  two incumbents had won. One of them got 59 votes and the other got 54. I already knew that is how it would appear, yet, it was still sad to not see my name listed. I had to wait nearly two weeks for the nearly 100 ballots from Sand City to be hand counted. Unofficially, I receive 57 votes. Officially, because not everyone who voted for me did it correctly (You have to write the candidates name IN exactly and you had to remember to punch a hole in the ballot next to my name....) I got 53 votes and did not win. It was the closest city council race in the history of the small town.

Don't Tread On Me

 Really, I should have said, "NO Tread on Me." 
My Little Azul Carito (as El Jay calls it) isn't going any where until I can afford to replace the two back tires. I am counting my blessings that the car got us home safely. 

Another blessing? My class this afternoon was canceled. 

Me? I'm feeling pretty blue.
(but my nickname is Indigo, right?)

Now to turn this into a political commentary and not just a whine session:

Don't tread On Me was the slogan used  on a flag created by American general and statesman Christopher Gadsden.

The origin of the rattlesnake used as political satire can be traced to 

a comment made by Benjamin Franklin in 1751 when he referred to the convicts that England was sending to the Americas as rattlesnakes. 

In 1754 Franklin made this famous wood cutting depicting the thirteen colonies as a rattlesnake cut into thirteen pieces and under it is written, "Join, or Die." This was the first political cartoon published in an American newspaper. 

As the Colonies began to establish their own sense of individualism, symbols such as the rattlesnake and the bald eagle became icons for the United States of America and the ideals of the people.

By the Dawn's Early Light

I had an early morning photo shoot. One of my goals--not necessarily part of the Internship--is to get images of real people who are involved in the election. From ALL parties. Pictures of people doing something they believe in.

A week or so ago, I was driving West on I-40 around 6pm. The sun was getting low in the sky. As I drove under the pedestrian walkway between the River and Coors Ave, I looked up and I saw a man with a huge sign and a flag and I thought, "I'd really like to meet this person and take their picture and talk to them." Saturday night I was making phone calls at work and during one of my conversations I discovered I was talking to THAT person. I met him yesterday at the Victory Center and arranged to take pictures of him this morning. I'll come back to who he is and why he does this, later, but for now I want to share a different perspective on this experience.

This was obviously taken from my car as it zoomed by this solitary man standing in the median between traffic. You can see the American flag and the huge sign, but you cannot read his message. I like this image because of how it speaks of the American Way. I like it because it doesn't say what his cause is, but leaves it up to the viewer to decide on their own message.

Again.... this could be any man, on any street in America. Again, his sign is obscured, but the American flag is very present in the morning light. What is his message? Obviously, it will be a political message.

If it was my message on my sign, it would simply say, "VOTE!" I don't care what party you belong to. I just want everyone to get out and vote.

Now.... you can see his face as he waves at cars honking as they go past him. And again.... I chose not to show his sign. (Don't worry, I will write a blog and tell you more about this man and what he believes in.)

I had a very limited time to shoot this man ;-) I had to get home to give Jeddy the car, so he could get to school. No more than three minutes after I drove away the sun came out in all his glory. The sun would have been fabulous in these shots... oh well... maybe next time. I took this picture of the sun rise as soon as I came to a stop at a light.

As the sun comes up there is always hope for a better day.

Old Glory

The American Flag

Long May It Wave

I attended a political meet and greet Sunday evening. I'll share more about that soon. I got a lot of pictures of the candidates, both speaking from the podium and standing around before and after the event. Yet, I feel what I got is of mediocre quality.

As I walked out of the building the flag caught my attention. It was furled in the wind with the sun low in the sky behind it. I quickly shot ten or so images. This is the last one and is my favorite image from this photo shoot. I am almost embarrassed to admit that, at first, I was disappointed that THIS was my best photo, and not those I took of the candidates at the meeting. Yet, I quickly realized that THIS one picture said more about the current elections than any picture I will take in the next few weeks.

The American flag is perhaps the most recognized icon representing the United States of America. This icon Represents freedom. It is about having the choice to vote for which ever candidate we want. It is about freedom of speech. It is about pride.

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Are You Ready?

 

Jeddy will turn 18 the end of October. He will be old enough to vote on Election Day and he has already registered. Way to go, Jeddy!

Are you registered to vote? It gets easier all the time. Here is a link you can follow, if you aren't registered already. REGISTER HERE.

The Men In My Life?

I am serving an Internship this semester. It involves the upcoming election. I plan to post my random thoughts on politics here. Not for a grade this time, but just as a way of keeping track. I plan to post pictures of the people I meet between now and the November Election.

I also thought it would be fun to share the people, politics and presidents I have met and in a few instances, been friends with.

This is me at the Prom at Weber State the Fall of 1982. You may recognize my date.

Tina & Ronny

Fall 1982

I have to say this guy was so annoying. He nominated me for Fraternity Sweetheart of Sigma Gamma Chi. I stood him up.... oops.... and every guy in his frat blacklisted me. Oh well.... such was life. See if he got my vote. ;-)

Thanks For Asking.....

I originally created this blog and my personal webpage for a web-design class... after I completed the assignment and turned it in, I neglected to come back for the next four plus months.... yep.... but I am back now.

I know my myriad of readers have been waiting in suspense to find out my final grade, right? Well, I got an A-

WOOT! WOOT! However, I did not deserve such a great grade. And I really should thank Mr. Winge for his kindness.  I have decided that in the future, I will leave web-design to the professionals. HTML is a lot harder than it looks.

To see my webpage go to: TinaMarieGardner.com

Now.... I should insert a picture here, but I'm not sure I have anything that would fit this topic. Instead, how about something from the UNM Campus? This is Baby Pacman and Big Pacman Floating in a Fountain. I played with it in PSE to make it more abstract. I guess that Pacman and technology go hand in hand.... maybe... and sort of fit with the topic of grades and HTML....?