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Down to the Wire

A lot of people, myself included, have been sweating bullets at the thought that Bush would pull a Reagan-style October surprise the week before the election. I was just starting to relax when I heard about the Bin Laden tape on BBC. I had expected the October surprise to involve Bin Laden, but I did not consider that the surprise would come from Bin Laden himself.

Now Bush gets some oxygen into his flagging campaign, gets to talk about threats and fear again, and have the press ignore the parlous effects of his policies.

Tense, very tense. I'm going to be too busy two write over the next couple of days, but I'll see you all on the other side of the election. I've taken the morning off on Wednesday, because I know I'll be having a few drinks Tuesday night, one way or the other.

Static and Fever

Despite losing three debates in a row, Bush is still fourteen votes over the top in the projected electoral vote count. There are still plenty of states up for grabs, but the important ones are going to be New Jersey, Ohio (which is looking worse and worse lately), Pennsylvania, and most important of all, Florida.

It's killing me that the fate of the country, and to some extent the world, is once again held hostage by that benighted place. And once again, that malignant weasel Jeb and his cronies are conspiring to corrupt democracy and steal the election. There have been articles all over, but notably in Salon magazine about how they've tried to deny black people the right to vote and make it impossible to do a recount on the electronic voting machines they've installed (why don't they want a recount? What do they expect might happen on November 2, upon which they would not want public scrutiny?).

Right now the Democratic party is in the process of allocating funds for the last two weeks of operations before the election. They're deciding in which states they have the cash to make a push, and which states they're going to have to make sacrifices. Now would be a really good time to make a donation.

Or if you live in Florida (hint hint to the Tampa crowd) you can try reaching WMNF 88.5FM in Tampa and asking the news org at the station how you can get involved. There must be some kind of get-out-the-vote effort in the Bay Area, and I'm sure WMNF is doing some good work there.

The election will very likely be won or lost in Florida, and Bush was only two points ahead in the latest poll. There has seldom been a better opportunity for a few dedicated people to literally change the world for the better.

Missing the Election

I'm preparing for a trip to Detroit and Chicago next week. Mostly for work, which will not be so much fun (I'm not really enthused about my mission this time).

But I'll have the weekend to hang out with Hannah, who lives in Chicago, and Jeremy, who's flying up from San Diego. It's going to be a little replay of the San Diego trip last year, except under less tragic circumstances (and without Diana, which is a pity). I still miss Loraine a lot, but I'm less of a mess than I was last time in SD. Anyway, Chicago is going to be great.

I'm bummed though because I'd planned on taking a long weekend there and flying back on the 27th. But I just got a big project dumped on me and have to fly out on Sunday night instead.

I really wish I could have stayed until November 3. It's killing me to have to miss the election and the after party (or self-destructive drinking binge, depending on which way the vote goes). I want to be there to get wrapped up in the madness of it. I didn't take the last election seriously because Jesus Christ, just look at Bush... (I underestimated the power of the Dark Side). But this time around the whole thing is just nervewracking. It's going to be a close, vicious knife fight till the end, and I think the tactics are going to get even dirtier before it's over.

Just where I belong.

Temporary solution

I think I have a temporary solution- I can keep the comments open on each new entry, and then close it after a couple of days. Let's see if that will keep the spam at bay...

Shaken, not stirred

I had Saturday off, so Cec and I took the bus out to IKEA and went a little nuts. I really love that place... though some people here think their furniture is a little "popular." (When I first hit Denmark and got all gooey over IKEA, people were like, "dumb American- he doesn't know any better").

Anyway, I got another set of shelving and a drinks cabinet, and here it is (click to expand)... I'm thinking about bleaching the outside of the whole set, so it matches the floor, and then staining the wood on the inside. If it's not too kitschy, I might glue a picture on the white board in the back of the cabinet- I was thinking of a Hokusai woodblock print to match the iMac. I'll probably have time to get around to doing all this when my schedule clears up around 2012 or so...

I had to take the commenting system down for the time being. The site was getting buried in spam and I didn't have time to defend myself from it. I understand Movable Type 3.0 has much more comprehensive anti-spam tools, but I don't have time to install that either. Help is on the way, though, I promise (I sound like Kerry now). Till then, just drop me an email if something moves you to comment.

I'm off to the US again in two weeks, and I'll get a chance to hang out with Hannah and (hopefully) Jeremy in Chicago after the conferences. Marissa might fly out too. I still haven't posted the pics I took with her and Marcella in San Francisco, which is a pity. I have hope (against all reason) that November will be much mellower and I'll get a chance to catch up. I just wish I could have been in the US during the election- I'd love to be there on the ground when the place goes completely gonzo.

More soon, I hope.

No time

I haven't had time to write lately, which is a pity because I've had a lot to write about. The trip to Dublin was awesome, seeing Miss Kittin there was really great, and life is the same bizarre, wonderful, gorgeous evil bastard it's always been.

Coming up on a year of constistently insane schedules with my job. I've gotten used to it... have actually become addicted to the stress in a sick way. But it's a drag when I think of all the other things that are getting crowded out. I'm not having conversations about the variety of topics that I used to. Not having as many dinner parties as before. No time to write. I had drinks tonight with a Ukrainian friend and we talked about politics. Frustrating because I'm not going to be able to make it for the election there as I'd hoped. Even the amount of email I'm getting is starting to drop off. Haven't had time to respond to anyone, so that was inevitable I guess. At least I'm still regularly having detailed, multilayered, crazy dreams.

Miss you all. I'm looking forward to being social again.