GRABBINGSAND

Hello. This is me. And this is my soapbox.

The Electoral College is out-moded and practically unnecessary, but it is what we have. So I must vote.

We don’t have the means at present to strip the gears of this system and allow a Popular Election, so the Electoral College is what we must employ. So I must vote.

Many states are moving toward a split-elector system, which will be more fair in the long run and will put a boot-shaped dent in the current concept of locked-in states, but these moves can only be put into effect via state-level amendments to state constitutions. So I must vote.

My state of Georgia, in particular, is considered a “gimme” for the Republican party, and this may turn out to be true — after all, our national news media reminds us hourly of the so-called solidity of each state for one side or the other, but understand that this idea is a purposeful meme that seeks to draw out and feed upon your apathy. So I must vote.

If we go red, it will not be because of my vote and then I will sleep much better with the knowledge that Georgia went to the current administration by the skin of their yellow teeth than by a gloat-worthy landslide. So I must vote.

Do not tell me that my vote doesn’t matter, because my vote plus your vote plus her vote plus his vote plus their votes become a mighty force to be reckoned with. So I must vote.

As of today, just five days out, the race is a dead heat. So I must vote.

Don’t lose faith and don’t forsake hope, because there is a move afoot in our country that will out-last next Tuesday, regardless of the outcome. So I must vote.

On November 3rd, the sun will still rise and the Earth will still turn and perhaps we will be able to smile at a job well done and a change made good, but what matters is that we continue on without sighing, without crying, without giving one inch on the values and beliefs that compelled us to the polls just one day before. So I must vote.

Correction: So you must vote. So we must vote.

This photo comes courtesy of the esteemed El Gray. It is his white-sleeved arm you see in the foreground, almost blending into the white of my own white-sleeves. What were we doing? We were engaged in the bi-monthly department meeting, of course. Rapt with attention. Yes.

• The Video.
• The Story.
• The Analysis.
• The Idea.

Mark another notch in the side of my poor laptop … because it is going back to the Genii at Apple one more time. Why? Oh, the same reason as before. Garbled screen. Wierd lines. Display looking like an old television with a busted vertical hold. The usual. And the culprit is — of course — the logic board.

Cross your fingers that this will be the last time I get the board replaced … or maybe they’ll take pity and hand me a brand-new Mac.

(Yeah, right. And Steve Jobs himself will deliver it to my door, riding on a turbo-powered Segway.)

Update: So I did some remembering this morning, checking my history with this particular device. After checking my previous posts here, as well as the incomplete repair history
on Apple’s site, I know I’m right: This is the fourth time in just over a year and a half that I will be seeking repair for the same issue. What makes this more frustrating is that we’ve apparently lost a couple of the more out-spoken proponents for attracting Apple’s attention to this flaw. BlackCider.com? Replaced by some corporate-friendly email firm. SourApple.org? Now just a general search page. Sure, Apple has recognized the problem, but that doesn’t mean it should be forgotten. And for that matter, I know I can go and have them replace my logic board over and over again, but why should that be necessary? Why can’t it just be fixed and stay fixed? As it is, the logic board seems to only have about a ten-month lifespan. By this cycle, I will have to replace it again in September … but I won’t be able to do so. Why? Because even the magic and apologetic extended international warranty only stretches to three years beyond the original purchase date, which was back in August of 2002.

And what is the worst part of all? I’m still paying for this thing. Thanks to a gloriously inflated interest rate, the monthly check to MBNA just barely skims a few dollars from the original loan. Requests to reduce this rate go ignored, often with an under-the-breath chuckle from the MBNAndroid on the other end of the phone.

And so, it is entirely likely that I’ll be typing another post around this same time next year. The subject will be the inoperative paperweight that will serve no other purpose than to slowly leach money away from my bank account, month after month after month …

I’ll find a better and more permanent place for this later, but check it out and see what you think. radio.blog is a rather innovative way to present tracks without the risk of ruffling RIAA-related feather. All you need to do is click track one and listen. You’ll get about an hour or so of listening.

The tracks are from a mix I did a few weeks ago. It was an attempt to create a soundtrack for a movie that doesn’t exist, but if it did exist, I would love it. Make sense? Eh. Either way, the music is good and perhaps you’ll enjoy the way I’ve assembled it.

Every Sunday, the website of a Scottish newspaper, The Scotsman, offers a new track from a promising Scottish artist. It’s free. So what do they call this feature?

AYE TUNES!

My new review of The Music’s Welcome to the North is up and active at JIVE.

Go Sox.

(That is all.)

Originally uploaded by
grabbingsand.

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Here are some more photos from the Event. You won’t find many of the typical pictures here, as those will come later from more professional sources. These photos cover the rehearsal dinner, the afternoon before, moments just before, the reception, then the small-scale celebrating after. Titles and descriptions will be added later.

More pictures to come. Lots more. And stories too. Some involving mules. So thank you to all who attended, all who wished well, all who gave advice and all who just smiled at the thought.