Wednesday, October 29, 2008

yes, no, maybe so

i love being surrounded by analytical and introspective people, especially those who turn analysis into action. when you think about it, all of life can sort of be boiled down to thinking and doing, where thinking involves any kind of reflection or planning and where doing involves any act of creating or contributing. if every day you're actively thinking and actively doing, then there's a good chance that you and the world are both better off because of it. and if that's the case, you can safely say that you're LIVING. otherwise, i think, you're sort of just passively existing.

i'd been thinking about this topic, and then the other day my analytical friend michelle happened to forward me an article on teddy roosevelt (that sounds really random). at the bottom were some quotes of his, two of which i'm listing below. they were so timely.

"the only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything."

"far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

so i guess my point is that we should all aim for a level of thinking and doing that goes beyond our comfort level. stretching a little bit always leads to good things. and being surrounded by fellow stretchers is always good inspiration.

and speaking of analytical people, SPO (minus fargo branch) met over tacos to discuss the propositions on the ballot. oh yes we did. we couldn't come to an agreement on most of them, settling on many 2-1 votes, but we all did agree on the high-speed rail from LA to SF (we don't really need it), on the parental notification law (some parents aren't worth telling) and of course, on prop 8. and we all considered the seriously tight california budget but the three of us each sort of had a soft spot for a different block of people covered by the various props: seriously ill children, crime victims, and... drug offenders.

happy day!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

that's what switzerland said

i promise that not every post here will be about politics but until november 4th i'm sort of in the proverbial zone. so this one is about the process of casting and counting votes and why the same country that put men on the moon and eradicated smallpox can't seem to figure out how to do it.

i saw a quick teaser on the news saying that some states are having problems with early voting. i also know that every time i go to my official "polling place," i feel like i'm in a crack house. i also know that the obama campaign has had to create a dedicated voter protection team simply to try to ensure that votes are actually counted. i also remember the year 2000.

i hate paper. i hate having to print things, i hate junk mail, i hate getting the newspaper delivered to my hotel room when i didn't ask for it, i hate files, i even hate file cabinets. so naturally, i hate having to make sure the manual hole puncher thingie punched all the way through my paper ballot. and i hate putting my ballot in a shoebox and trusting that it'll be safe at the crack house long enough for some official to get there and take it.

at best, the whole process feels very 1972. and at worst, suspiciously so. even the iraqis, who are brand new to this whole voting thing, make an attempt at election fairness via the interesting practice of finger staining. i did some quick research as to why it is that e-voting can't be implemented. i don't know about y'all, but if the internet's safe enough for my money, it's safe enough for my vote. i didn't really find a good answer, but i did find that it HAS been done successfully overseas. switzerland seems to really like it, and i like the swiss. even estonia has done it. so i'm sold. as a related tidbit, i also found out that 25% of identity theft happens online... leaving PAPER to blame for the other 75%. ironically, i'm gonna go watch the office now.

xoxo.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

encore

welcome to my inaugural blog! well actually, i did have a blog back in the day but i let it die just like all the plants and goldfish i've ever owned. as my own shrink and psychoanalyst, i'd guess their deaths are manifestations of my fickle, impatient, and fearful-of-all-things-permanent nature. but at least for the time being, i'm pulling a jay-z and coming out of retirement because there's SO much to rap about these days.

thanks for visiting. :)

13 days left. yes we can!