I was third in line, the first to return the mammoth five-sheet ballot in the machine, which I had spent hours researching last night and this morning.
I have to commend the volunteers at the Page Street Library. Last year, I experienced problems. But it seems that there has been serious reform. The woman who hectored me about voting a particular way last year had disappeared. In fact, the Department of Elections has become much stricter about the dissemination of political information near polling places. Outside the library, one gentleman was asked to remove his button because he was well within 100 feet of the polling place. In light of the endless machine-oriented calls (Ah-nuld apparently called me last night at 10:02 PM) and the despicable robocalls reported, it’s good to know that some areas of the nations still care about ethical elections.
Now comes the midterm elections, which I am now prepared to accept whichever way they turn out. It’s really anybody’s game at this point. The polls are close, yet the stakes are high.
In discussing the matter with friends, there have been comparisons to the so-called 1994 “Republican revolution,” should the Democrats manage to take back both houses. I think it’s naive to assume that any big sweep is going to mean dancing in the streets. If we do this, this is the first battle in a long war to undo the damage that these bozos have inflicted upon the country.
Can the Democrats be counted upon to show some spine? Let’s not kid ourselves. But I think any liberal can agree that a tug of war is better than getting sodomized.
Magic Hours by Tom Bissell: This marvelous collection of essays chronicles everything from film shoots to novelists rescued from oblivion. (The essay on the Underground Literary Alliance, with its portrait of raucous factions, unexpectedly reveals how soft today's literary world has become.) But if you peer between the cracks of these smart pieces, you may very well see how cultural lives are formed from the most unexpected life choices. And as we follow Bissell's development as a writer over the years, that goes for Bissell as well. (
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway: Harkaway's latest novel greatly improves on his previous book, The Gone-Away World, which I'm already on record as praising. Angelmaker adopts genre elements without ever feeling like a genre book, and it leads me to believe that Harkaway is well on his way to a narrative grace close to China Miéville's. Yet inexplicably this very fun book, which includes an eightysomething badass named Edie Banister, a mysterious mechanical object that may destroy the world, farcical scenarios involving lawyers and the police, and some unexpectedly moving moments about fatherhood, doesn't appear to be getting much attention in American newspapers. Nothing from the snobs at The New York Times Book Review, nothing from The Washington Post. And since I can't get Harkaway on Bat Segundo, I hope this Jump Up and Down mention gets you hopping as well.
The Age of Insight by Eric Kandel: Unless you're really pressed for time, forget Jonah Lehrer. If you want to understand creativity and its relationship to neuroscience, then the bowtie-wearing Nobel laureate is your man. In addition to being a physically beautiful book (you will drool over many of the paintings), there are helpful overviews on optical illusions, science, biographical backgrounds, and many vital figures from the Vienna Secession. Kandel's enthusiasm (and his call for greater unity between the humanities and science) is contagious.