Yes, we know. We're chocoholics and proud of it. And when you mix chocolate and alcohol, well, you are just about our favorite person on the planet.

And a steady (in fact, near-constant) competitor for the Our Favorite Person On The Planet award is Dean from Dean's Sweets. He and his wife Kristin are celebrating the one-year anniversary of their store (82 Middle Street, right between Rabelais and Pepperclub/Good Egg) by giving away truffles made with champagne fillings.

Portland resident Phillip Hoose won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature last night, for Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (Farrar, Straus & Giroux). The book tells the story of Colvin, a near-forgotten civil-rights heroine; Colvin was in the audience with Hoose at the awards ceremony in NY, and was "shaken with emotion as she joined Hoose on the stage," according to an AP report.

Medical-marijuana advocates hope that the state's first marijuana dispensaries -- made legal by the passage of Question 5 on November 3 -- will open by May 2010.

Yesterday, the Maine Marijuana Policy Iniative released answers to logistical FAQs about the new law (parts of which will take effect in February; rules about the dispensaries will take longer to hammer out).

The latest ad opposing healthcare reform mimicks the Mac ads - "I'm healthcare reform...And I'm Jenny."

"Jenny" asks about Obama's plan "taxing" her $1000. No, the guy playing "reform" says, it's not a tax, but a fine.

And then we get to the heart of the argument: "12 percent of my income?!" exclaims Jenny.

But her figures - which she has volunteered - mean she makes only $8000 a year.

US House Democrats made a huge concession on women's health the other day, in order to move forward the massive healthcare bill that passed 220-215 on Saturday night. Under pressure from (shocker!) the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as conservative Dems who said they'd hold up passage of the whole shebang if certain abortion restrictions weren't in place (and despite the fact that there is already an existing ban on using federal funds to pay for abortion -- it's called the Hyde Amendment), Nancy Pelosi and other pragmatic politicians allowed the Stupak Amendment (so named for its legislative sponsor, Bart Stupak, a Democrat from Michigan) into the bill.

John Aravosis at gay.americablog.com has an interesting account of the interplay between the DNC, the Obama administration, the New Jersey governor's race, and the No On 1 campaign here in Maine.

One very interesting point he makes is that the 2008 presidential race had far more people cast ballots than the 2009 No On 1 race.

Deirdre's morning-after-the-election blog post had a line early on that really struck me: she mentions the "sheer disbelief that so many people have a worldview that is so radically different from my own."

I don't think Deirdre is ignorant, or stupid, or insular - quite the opposite of any of that. But her perspective is enlightening.

Well, it's over. I feel today -- and I heard several people echo this sentiment last night and this morning -- similar to how I felt on November 3, 2004, when John Kerry lost the presidential election. In addition to a sense of sadness and frustration, there's also sheer disbelief that so many people have a worldview that is so radically different from my own.

According to the Bangor Daily News numbers as of 9:25 am, here is the breakdown by county, and a handy map (made with the help of Microsoft MapPoint) showing exactly how little of Maine voted for marriage equality (remember, Yes is to repeal equality and No is to protect it):

I'm very sorry. Personally, professionally, everything. This is terrible. But it has to be said. Jesse Connolly just gave what can only be described as a concession speech at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Sure, he said they'd keep fighting, and make sure every vote was counted. But nobody talks that way if they're winning.