Why I Suddenly Can't Sleep...and why John McCain is now my personal hero.

I confess this to you, my friends. I definitely have an opinion of my own during this election season. It's quite impossible, as several journalism heavyweights pointed out, to be undecided at this point. To do so would just demonstrate apathy or indesicivness...neither can be considered admirable for one's reputation.

But how is it McCain has occupied the role of hero in my young blog, which will undoubtedly gain a healthier serving of liberals, given to the general makeup of my available store designs? No, I have not been swayed by his countless recountings of POW camp, of which I do admire but have grown weary of its irritating repetitivness, like the washing machine that just keeps tilting its load. And on issues, my politics generally stand far left of McCain as well, although I still classify myself as independent on my voter registration card as a nod to my love of the underdog.

No, John McCain is my hero because he inspired me onto cafepress to spread my voice. Before this tantalizing opportunity had readied itself for me, my days were often spent of working on single projects. I had come to the sense of mind to freelance, but could never distance myself far from my worktable. Yet as the news and political conversation became the white noise at which my productivity swelled, so to did my resivoir of personal opinions. Rhetoric lead to attacks, and shrewd political angles became backroom schemes. My intense repsect for the type of person Barack Obama exuded became akin to that of a protective parent, a difficult claim as a.) I don't have children, and b.) I rarely made a point of engaing in personal politics with either friends or potential enemies. As I saw it, politics and religion could be those annoying telemarketers on the phone or door-to-door salesmen...smile and nod politely, but never let them get their foot in the door.

Yet something clicked during the Second Presidental debate. Normally a rabid devourer of the debate second by second, I grew weary of the grand promises and irrelevant accustations being levied back and forth. But when McCain uttered his now famous conjunctive-pronoun "That One" at the Senator, my flame was finally lit. Incensed that one could use such phrases so blatently, and have audiences and analysts chalk it up to "slip of the tounge" or "misinterrpreted choice of words", I vehemently disagreed. Maybe the slight was not preplanned, but there was no denying the wellspring of ill will from which it bubbled forth. That night, I launched an all-night tirade on top newspaper blogs around the country, venting my frustration to the invisible audience that was both collectively dismissive and dreamily obsessed with my opinions. In my imagination, of course.

And then came my cafepress revelation. Having completed a T-shirt design for a restaurant client a few months back, I used the custom filter from that project on a new icon image for a blog I was beginning. A few random web searches later, I was navigating cafepress shops in search of inspiring art. And, of course, uber-Republican gear radiated across my screen, with semi-annoying phrases feeding the already-stoked coals of motivation that occupied my heart. This was the battle I was born to fight, my eyes declared! My years of training as a writer, illustrator and graphic designer had given me a prowess in marketing and hitting my target audience with campaigns. My freelance nature, however, exacerbated the difficulty of working for a single company, full-time, for an extended period of time. And the giant ego and need to voice an opinion that all artists must share put the final nail in the coffin that was my ill-fated corporate career.

So, now here I am. An artist with a voice, the tools, the purpose and the motivation to use an emerging medium to reach the widest array of target audiences: American voters, animal rescues, political aficionados, hip emo kids, start-up small businesses, anyone. I've made a career authoring product descriptions, SEO web content, press releases and copywriting campaigns. I also made a simultaneous career doing design work from logos and brochures to web banners and illustrations. And my most recent foray into self-promotion: the ability to discern html to the point where I can redo an entire website without using a specialized programmer. Not only does that combo of skills make me feel like the digital marketer's equivalent to Batman, but the thrill of tangibly selling artwork to people I cold never shop to otherwise is, quite frankly, vindicating and empowering.

So, to end this blog, John McCain introduced me to Cafepress, Cafepress introduces my to a second income source, so to be first source. And this income stream, in turn, has helped me both enjoy work more and also feel the ability to turn off and relax should the occasion call for it. My ideas stream have been unleashed, and I can only hope I gain your readership in the future...not so much for networking purposes, but to be able to help out all the small start-ups that I know could desperately use my services, and which I can't wait to provide. John McCain, you truly are my hero.