"Undermining my electoral viability since 2001."

All My Lovers Were There With Me / All My Past And Future

As a followup to my Californication post below, I'd like to try and shed a more positive light on things. Clearly that kind of writing elicits a reaction -- hey, sex still sells, and it's some of the more honest blogging I've done of late -- but I think I may have given some people the wrong idea. Not that I don't appreciate all the ego-boosting, but I can't help but feel a little bit guilty, like when as a kid you'd fake or exaggerate an injury for attention.

So yes. Let's get down to brass tacks. In our last installment, I concluded that there was some serious Fear going on, and this was why my sex life was more or less dead. And yeah, the more I sit with that the more accurate it feels.

That's not particularly great in and of itself, but the first step to happy living is figuring out what you want. Then you have to get it, and that's another mountain to climb, but just getting some direction is a vital and necessary first start. I honestly feel better already.

When I survey the past couple years -- relatively sexless and workaholic -- they seem a cocoon. On the one hand maybe I've been gestating, and am preparing to emerge chrysalis-like in new glory. On the other hand, maybe I've been in hiding, retreating into the woods to bury my shame under a thousand layers of self-made silk. Or something.

Maybe it's both. More than anything else, I get the feeling I've been keeping myself under wraps, off the scene. It's not a new revelation, but every time it comes up it's with ring of truth. I think I've got a stronger way to say it, one that comes to mind with an anecdote:

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Cash Rules Everything Around Me

I finally caved in and made a political donation, my first in the general election. Obama hasn't really needed my money -- and I volunteered about $2,500 worth of my market-rate time making this vote-call widget to help him out -- and the only other candidate I was tempted to contribute to was Jeff Merkley, who's on track to unseat the odious Gordon Smith back in Mighty Oregon.

But those hepcats at OpenLeft sent an email and I felt weak, so I threw some coin to Darcy Burner, because she's someone I've seen in action on the conference circuit and she seems honestly to be "one of us." And she's in a tight frickin' race.

So yeah, if you feel like donating to try and push the momentum to fever pitch, find a Congressperson or Senator (or a city council member) who's looking to knock off a bad guy and give down-ballot.

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The Oval Office is for Closers (Redux)

This is what you call the closing argument. I expect the big 30-minute show on Wednesday to be a more intricate version of the same. By all indications, Barry is pulling away, which is just great to see. Hopefully w/all the early voting, the big GOTV push can take it to the next level and we'll get a serious mandate to do all these things.

The reality is that it's going to take several years to turn around the Bush momentum. Four years is enough to start to see a shift and hopefully earn another term to bring it on home. The big gamble is whether or not Obama will be able to govern, and whether or not the House and Senate will start to act w/purpose, and just how far out into the wilderness the ultra-political end of the GOP rump will end up. Hopefully the infighting there will hamper their ability to foul up an Obama administration (for reference see Clinton, Bill, years 1992 - 1994), and hopefully also the signs that Obama is a much more capable leader than the old Clenis will bear out.

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An Example Of What's Wrong With The World

Try and find video of Usain Bolt's 100m astonishing world-record run this summer from Beijing. I remember happening to catch it in the kitchen in Westhaven. It was spectacular.

But you can't find it online.

NBC owns it, and their stuff is only avaiable via their own (shitty) website and using a (shitty) proprietary Microsoft plugin-requiring format.

I was going to make a post using that video an analogizing w/the presidential race -- as the McCain tailspin tightens and the backstabbing begins -- but I can't. Because the Olympics are the intellectual property of NBC Sports, and they're a massive gang of wankers.

And speaking of a massive gang of wankers:

The little blond girl making monkey gestures at the beginning really gives me a twisty feeling in my stomach. Drawing out the toxins, this election is.

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