I'm proud to say I'm one of those absentee voters who voted for Gavin Newsome, and elected him the mayor of the city and county of San Francisco.

I was nervous on the way back from my writing seminar. I knew Gavin would win, but I was still remembering when I thought Al Gore had won the 2000 presidential election and the disappointment I felt afterwards. I was tempted to ask someone on my muni ride home, but I was tired and didn't want to get into a political discussion.

I even half convinced myself that I was going to go to bed as soon as I got home, and not worry about who won till the morning. But my curiousity was killing me, so I turned on the TV just in time to see Newsome give his victory speech.

I was clapping with joy alone in the dark in my living room and thinking to myself, yes Brenda, despite what people say, in San Franciso there is a God.

Here's an interview with Andres Serrano, by noted art writer Coco Fusco. This guy is a trip. He's lately been photographing members of the Klu Klux Klan.

Shooting the Klan: An Interview with Andres Serrano

We talked about the following artwork, Piss Christ by Andres Serrano, in my modern art history class last night.

This art piece has caused controversy where ever it has appeared, because of the title and the nature of the artwork. It's a photograph of a cheap crucifix submerged in a container of urine that's been lit to look red.

First off, Andres Serrano is seriously catholic and my art professor said his home in Brooklyn is filled with religious artifacts. Serrano has said that his main objective for his art is to make things beautiful. He objects that people label him an anti-christian bigot, and that he is in fact a religious artist.

I wasn't looking forward to the discussion, simply because religious discussion in a public school in San Francisco can be so tedious, but I was so surprised by what my fellow classmates said.

There were a couple of people who said it was just ugly and disgusting, but there were others whose comments were so interesting and inspiring.

One woman said that she thought it has something to do with communion, and that if you eat the body and blood of christ you have to wonder if it comes out in your waste.

Another woman said she thought that the the crucifixion was still beautiful through the piss.

One man said that he thought the piece was deeply religious because it shows Christ's power of transformation. Christ can transform something so filthy and human as piss and make it holy and beutiful. That Christ came here to cleanse the world of sin by being becoming human, and was literally submerged into "human waste".

When I heard the last comment, I was so awestruck by what I think was an amazing and deeply spiritual interpretation. I don't expect such comments outside of church, and I was very surprised to hear it in public school college class.

When I first saw it, I thought to myself "Hmmm, that's interesting. I didn't necessarily think it was anti-christian, and instead thought how the cross was glowing in the red urine." Then I heard the transformation comment and thought, how beautiful and how true.

I finally finished up reading I Heard the Owl Call my Name by Margaret Craven. What a good book, and it made me weep at the end.

Right before my grandmother died, there were owls hoohooing outside my window every night. It was so creepy, because I'd never heard them before and I haven't heard them since that time.

Owls, in indian lore, are symbols of death, so the story had a personal meaning for me. I hope I never have to hear owls hoohooing again for a long time.