It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Aside from this really crappy cold/flu thing I have at the moment, today is quite a good news day:

• Rumsfeld is out!
• Democrats won control of the House
• Democrats are close to winning control of the Senate
• People around the world are cheering the changes

Now, let's just hope that the democrats can get us out of the mess we've been led into by the republicans. I'm sure that they won't be effective on every front. After all, Bush still has his line item veto power. And things, such as prisoners in Guantanamo, prove that this administration has no respect for rule of law and civility. But, it's a start!

The Pineapple Express and Election Day

Western Washington is a ginormous mess today due to rains and the resulting floods. After reading this article, I asked myself why anyone would be crazy enough to actually go to the Seahawks and Raiders game at Qwest field. They should just dress those people into some straight jackets and bus them off to the looney bin to deal with their obsession. Or someone should kick Paul Allen and the designer of the stadium for building it without a roof - for a sport that takes place in SEATTLE in the FALL.

On the bright side, tomorrow is election day, so the crap-ola political ads will finally be over. I was listening to an audiobook, Don't Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff recently. I thought it was quite eye-opening that during the naturalization process, everyone is instructed to say that voting is the greatest right in our country, and then when Rakoff walks out the door and asks for a voter registration form, there were none. As he points out, you'd expect that they would be clipped to the other paperwork they receive or at least have some in the lobby. But according to his account, he was informed that the church group that used to hand them out no longer does so. I guess that could be a good thing if it was the crazy religious right handing them out. Who knows?

I definitely have no room to talk about the outcome of this election. I am not voting this year, although only partially due to my own doing. Due to some mix up about my name change, address change, etc. after the divorce, I didn't receive my absentee ballot this year. In the past, whenever I moved and updated my driver's license, they automatically updated my voter registration at the same time. Considering I have moved every year since starting college ten years ago, I have some experience with the process. I assumed that this time was no different. However, I didn't receive my ballot at the same time as everyone else (in mid October). Now, here's where my responsibility comes in. I downloaded a form to send to my county to have everything updated, but I forgot to print it out in time to be sent in and updated for voting in this election. So, I will be ready for the next election, but not for this one. At least it's not a presidential election, although there are some important offices at stake this year.

The odd part is, they had no problem finding me for jury duty. Blech. I get to take part in that fascinating process later this month.

NaNoWrimo Progress

Count em' - 6005 words! Only 43995 left to go...

NaNoWriMo

A friend at work told me about NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, so I decided to give it a try. I have no idea if I'll get to the 50,000 word limit, but I figure it's a good way to get that "one day, I'll write a novel" thought out of my head and onto paper (or rather my computer screen, but ya know what I mean). If anything, it will get my creativity flowing again, since I seem to get a little caught up in the logistics of writing rather than the craft itself. And the best part is that this is all about quantity over quality, and no one ever has to see what you've written!

Anyhoo, this means that I probably won't be posting on my blog or commenting on my friend's blog entries as frequently during November, but I'll try not to fall off the face of the earth entirely. Wish me luck!

Hell House

Thanks A. Your blog entry, Hell House . . . sincerity that freaks me out, got me thinking (and inevitably writing) about how crazy religion can be, and how it affects public policy.

I grew up a religious person, but I no longer consider myself so. I still believe in a higher power, but I don't think that God (or whatever you choose to call him/her) gets too caught up on the logistics. And more often than not, I find that people use religion as a veil to avoid things that they don't understand, and to foster an environment of discrimination and hatred based on their beliefs. It enables them to dismiss personal responsibility for their thoughts and actions, instead attributing everything to God.

Here's my God infomercial:
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Are you tired of having to think for yourself? Do you want a book that provides all of the answers you just don't have, but you're dying to know?

Do you need a reason to...
...discriminate against people with different beliefs?
...have another child conceived through incest, rape, or from an unhealthy relationship?
...start a war?
...blow up buildings that house businesses, such as Planned Parenthood?
...hate gay people?
...refuse to do parts of your job, such as dispense prescribed medications?

Then, the bible and religion are for you! Join this flock of sheep! Whenever you feel the need to think, just point to a sentence in the bible, and all of your fears will just fade away. You're not personally responsible for anything, anyway.

After all, God didn't write the bible himself, but instead left that important task up to a completely objective group of individuals (who I'm sure had no interest in spicing things up to further a religious cause). And, YOU (out of the other bazillion people on the planet) are most certainly right in all of your beliefs! Don't even consider that there may be another view point that you should at least respect even if you think it's a bunch of hooey. March onward, making your religious beliefs the tenets of public policy to rule over them all! Who cares if your beliefs restrict the beliefs and abilities of others - remember, you're right!
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
I wrote a blog entry a long time ago about how ridiculous it is to believe that you can read the bible literally: http://ar-kay-tee.blogspot.com/2005/07/why-reading-bible-literally-is.html. And I think that the problem is getting worse, because people don't want to spend the money on education. The end result is that their kids grow up without the ability to analyze, so instead we have this nation of idiots who will point to a couple of sentences in the bible to "prove" their point instead of looking at the whole meaning of something and using a little brain power.

I keep wondering how much worse this can get. And unfortunately, I think we still have a long distance to go. Why can't people understand that their personal beliefs are fine for them but should not dictate law for everyone else? I had an interesting conversation with a conservative friend awhile back. The one thing that we could both agree on is that laws at the federal level shouldn't dictate policy for moral issues. Such policy should be made at a local level, where like-minded people can get together, discuss the issues, and make policies that make sense for their lives. Now, if only we could get everyone on board with that.

A Photographer's Life

Last night, L. and I went to the UW to hear Annie Liebowitz read the introduction from her new book, A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005. The reading was very moving, not only because the introduction itself was moving, but because she was in a very emotional place having come back to rainy Seattle - the place where her partner, Susan Sontag, was treated at Fred Hutchinson's before her death. Annie apologized a few times as she was unable to hold back tears, but none of us in the audience could blame her. As photographs came and went on the screen, she shared some insight into her life, her family, and her work. The whole experience was very moving, and I was honored to have her sign my book.

After the reading, L. and I walked around campus a bit. It was the first time that I've been back to campus in a long time. And it was the first time that I've been back without C. As we walked through Suzzalo and the Quad, I had an interesting sense of emotions from the past and the present. The fact is, that C. was a half of my college life. I have a lot of memories of campus being with my sorority sisters and other girl and guy friends, and a few memories with guys I dated briefly. But C. was a significant part of college years, whether I like it or not. And since C. worked at the UW for most of our married life, the only times I was back on campus were for things having to do with him - his thesis presentation, graduation, etc. So, some of those places on campus hold ghosts for me, but by walking around and facing them, they start to lose power. Now I have a new memory to think about the next time I'm on campus, and it has to do with sharing a lovely evening with my boyfriend, hearing a world-renowned photographer share a piece of her life.

Jon Stewart's commentary on shenanigans before the elections

This is one of the best ones I've seen in a long time: Something's Fishy.

I especially love how he talks about the names from a tragic typewriter accident. Hilarious.

Hasn't New York had enough?

Geez - this must have been an unwelcome flashback: Yankees pitcher dies as plane hits NYC building.