DISPOSSESSED

You may have heard the news this week about the Supreme Court upholding Indiana's voter ID laws. You may have also heard that I've been busy this year trying to hold down a job and keep my mom from dying. So I haven't made it over to the license branch yet. I sent them a copy of my bank statement with my local address! I have a faculty ID! That is not enough. I went to vote early and I was turned away from the polls. ROBBED OF MY RIGHT TO VOTE! So now I have to get my new license today, even thought I have 2436847 finals to grade, and can't get my plates because I'm not sure exactly where my title is (something I was going to take care of next week when I have no responsibilities).

What if I had moved right before election day? Technically I would no longer be a resident of my old area, but might not have the necessary ID for voting here. So I would absentee vote at my old address. Isn't that technically fraudulent? I really don't know. But it's the kind of thing this law allegedly is supposed to prevent.

UPDATE: I have been to the BMV, passed the test (without studying!), paid $19, obtained a local license, and voted. Good luck to those who are less moneyed/mobile.

Thanks, NYT.

FIRST CHAPTER, Y'ALL!

Twenty minutes until I can leave my office and procure additional chapters at the bookstore.

A Fortnight of Bliss

There are really few things I look forward to as much as new Mariah Carey albums and new Louise Erdrich novels. So imagine my joy when I learned that next Tuesday, just two weeks after the MC album release, there will be a new Louise book. And even though that's finals week and not really a good time for reading, I will buy it and look at it longingly and use it for motivation to grade and get this godforsaken year over with.

There is always a secret part of me that worries that I will finally outgrow Mariah, but guess what? It hasn't happened.

A Minimally Captioned, Variably Lit Barack Obama Photo Essay

This is Barack shaking a kid's hand as he walks to the stage. The door behind the stage goes to the gym where I work out. That's right, Barack Obama was in the gym where I work out before and after his speech. I might breathe in some of the CO2 he exhaled.

Beginning to talk.

Continuing to talk. This photo is an acheivement because he rarely stood still.

The dark version.

Waving goodbye.

Leaving for real :(


Here's something I didn't know before: If we increase fuel efficiency on our cars to 40mpg we will eliminate all dependency on foreign oil. Why has this argument not gotten through to the people who drive big trucks in order to feel good about themselves? Surely their resistance to environmentalism could be outweighed by their resistance to making Middle Eastern nations rich.

More Politics!

Watch the campaign coverage this weekend because I'm going to an Obama town hall meeting on campus tomorrow. Maybe you will see me in the crowd!

Big Countdown

Here is a funny web site. In my case it would be "Postcards from Yo Gramma" because my Mom doesn't know how to turn on the computer, let alone send an e-mail.

Something big happens a week from today, so I'm digging this out of the vault as a warm-up:


And this too. Because what is better than driving to school on a sunny day with your new pink shirt with the bow and your new shoes with the cute bows (that's right, I've got three bows on today) with the windows down and the remix album on? That's right, nothing.

Hand-Crafted Artisanry

So, you may have wondered why I never wrote about ceramics class. Because I didn't have pictures. Why did I not have pictures? Because it takes FOREVER to get stuff back. These are the three items that I lovingly handcrafted during the first two classes in JANUARY. Granted, I hadn't been to class in the last three weeks and they may have been waiting for me there the whole time. The teacher waits until he gets a full kiln to fire, then you have to glaze it and wait until he gets another full kiln to fire. I don't mean to say that he should use all that electricity just so I can get my crappy bowls faster, but it is sort of anticlimactic after two months.

I did glaze some things last night that are much better-constructed than these works of art, and I will post pictures of them in November when they're out of the kiln.

I made a vase for my mom on the wheel on the night she had surgery and carved "To: Mom Love, Rachel 2008 [heart]" on the inside. It was supposed to be a Mother's Day or birthday gift. Well, guess what? My teacher turned one of the coils in the kiln to the wrong temperature and blew the bottom off of it. But I glazed it anyway. I could put fake flowers in it, or I could make a little plate base for it next week.

All of this is basically meant to say, "ceramics...meh."

Writing and photography 4 eva!