For about the last year and a half I’ve been watching the Sunday Comics for good FoxTrot comics to put up in my classroom. Little did I know Bill Amend has been making them since 1988! Holy cow I have a lot of catching up to do!
Apparently there are “treasury” books full of the comics, so I might have to start collecting those. I love that they’re nerdy, about math, computers, video games, and all things geek.
As I was browsing through some older ones, this one caught my eye.
I need to not put so much importance on blog posts. They don’t have to be long or earth shattering…just there. 
I’ve got a new band I’m digging called Valencia. Check them out over at purevolume.com. I highly recommend the two last songs on that list…”The Space Between” and “3000 Miles.” And no, it’s not a cover of the Proclaimers.
Looks like I finally need to update my theme. Been using the same once since around WordPress 1.5, and now something is broken over on the right side. I’m sure GeekyWeekly could fix it…but this thing needs a slight update anyways.
Luke has discovered the flashlight, and it’s COOL! You can point it all over, and it makes this circle of light appear! Oh my gosh! I should probably find something a little less dangerous than a maglite though. Yeah…we just hit the desk with it. haha. Pictures of him soon, I promise.
I have good news and bad news. The good news is that my second proof copy of Terra Nova: The Search will be here on Monday. For the last month or so Stacie and I have both read it, and I’ve made a number of fixes that should only improve the book. Once it’s here I can approve it for sale if everything looks good.
Now the bad news. You’ll have to wait about another month to read it, because I’ve entered my book into the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. Basically it’s a contest for unpublished authors to try and win a publishing contract. If you’ve been keeping up with my book posts you’ll know I don’t care much about pursuing a real publishing deal (which is why I’m self-publishing), but this contest was too easy to pass up. I’ve already put in two years of work, so why not enter and see if I get lucky?
They’re accepting submissions through tomorrow (or up to the first 10,000). After that they read the pitch I wrote, and they’ll narrow the field down. Eventually around March 16th they’ll announce the 500 quarterfinalists and post an excerpt from their book (the first 3k-5k words). The reason you’ll have to wait until around that date is because you can’t submit a book that has been previously published, and if I approve my book for sale in the next week, then technically it will be self-published, and I will no longer be eligible for the contest. There’s a good chance I won’t even make it to the 500, and if I don’t, then I’ll hit the “publish” button and move on. But I figure it’s worth waiting another month to take part in this contest, and see what happens!
Stacie also entered Luke in a contest. It’s put on by Regis and Kelly, and while I typically would be against pimping out the baby in photo contests, there is a potential grand-prize of $125,000 in college scholarships, so I figure it’s worth it. Here’s the photo we submitted.
(Photo credits to my brother, geekyweekly)Wish us luck!
…and another Christmas album! This one was made by yours truly and my best man Kurtiigeek! I can’t remember the year exactly…but I’m going with early 2000′s…perhaps 2002 or 2003? Kurtii might know. Enjoy!
I wanted to get this post up before any real voting is done or there is any hint of how today will go. I want you to have my personally biased assessment before the fun begins tonight!
Here’s how I see things. McCain certainly has an uphill battle. There are some key states that he really needs to win like Florida and Ohio, and recent polls show him clearly in contention there. If Obama wins PA and NH (which recent polls show likely) then McCain really has his work cut out for him. There are a number of states he needs to win, like NV, NM, and CO to name a couple, and the polls in all of those are either very close or have Obama slightly ahead.
Speaking of polls though, I think the polls have overstated Obama’s lead for a while now. When pollsters come up with their polling numbers, they determine what percentage of the electorate will be Democrat and Republican. Many pollsters are giving Democrats a 6% advantage this year…but that hasn’t happened in the last 8 years! Over the last few election cycles the number of Republicans and Democrats that showed up were either tied, or Democrats showed up 2-4% more frequently, but never 6%. The last Presidential election was a tie, and to assume that four years later will be a huge Democrat turnout might be wishful thinking. Another promsing nugget is that several times in the primaries Obama was expected to win handily, sometimes by as much as double-digits, but he lost to Hillary in some of those states. Over and over Obama hasn’t been able to close the deal, and with some polls showing almost 10% of people unsure of whom they will vote for, that means McCain can still have a lot of votes in play. Since most of my readers are on the West coast, make sure you ignore any exit polling you hear because it consistently overstates support for the Democrat, and make sure you get out and vote. Here in California we’ve got other important things on our minds like Prop 8!
But either way, it should be interesting tonight. I’ve got some sausages to grill and some beers to drink, but whoever wins tonight wins. Obviously I think an Obama win would be bad for the country, but I’ve never had a blog while someone of the opposing party was in the White House. That might be fun, but I’ll certainly trade that for McCain and his supreme court nominees.
Here is my “guide” as requested by a couple people. Thanks to GeekyWeekly for doing the work on the Judicial nominees. Those are always a pain. Have fun tonight everyone!
Federal and Statewide
President/Vice President – John McCain/Sarah Palin
House and Senate Seats – Republican
Judicial
Office #72 – Hilleri Grossman Merritt
Office #82 – Thomas Rubinson
Office #84 – Pat Connolly
Office #94 – Michael J. O’Gara
Office #154 – Michael Jesic
Propositions
Prop 1A – No
Prop 2 – No
Prop 3 – No
Prop 4 – Yes
Prop 5 – No
Prop 6 – No
Prop 7 – No
Prop 8 – Yes
Prop 9 – Yes
Prop 10 – No
Prop 11 – Yes
Prop 12 – Yes
Measure R – No
Here’s a big post to finish up the props! I’ll probably make a final post on Monday to cover a couple other things and give some final thoughts before we vote on Tuesday.
Prop 11 – REDISTRICTING
My Summary: Right now the legislature gets to draw district lines. This would give the power to a 14 person panel, consisting of five democrats, five republicans, and four others.
My Opinion: One of the major opponents is the California Democratic Party, and the opponents argue that this is a “Republican power grab.” Hahaha! So when the Democrat controlled congress gets to draw the lines for the districts electing them it’s OK, but when that power is given to a much more objective board of non-elected people, it’s a power grab? That’s hilarious.
Bottom Line: I’m strongly supporting this one. People that are being elected shouldn’t be allowed to draw the districts for the voters electing them. That’s a huge conflict of interest.
I am voting YES on Prop 11.
Prop 12 – VETERANS’ BOND ACT OF 2008
My Summary: Provides low interest rate loans to veterans so they can buy houses.
My Opinion: This one is also a no-brainer. If you read the arguments against the prop, it’s basically an endorsement! Their biggest complaint is that the money should only go to people who were in battle basically, as if those veterans are more valuable than the ones who served and didn’t go into battle.
Bottom Line: Tom McClintock co-authored this one, and they’ve done an act like this 26 times in the last 85 years.
I am voting YES on Prop 12.
Measure R – Half-cent sales tax hike for transportation in L.A. County
My Summary: Would raise the sales tax in LA County to 8.75%. The increased tax revenue would go to a number of projects, including expanding a subway.
My Opinion: Tax increases! You know how the state is broke and there isn’t enough money for anything? Instead of cutting back on stupid programs we’ll just raise taxes! Yay!
I don’t like this measure because a ton of money is going towards a subway…
The MTA says that could be enough to extend the line from its terminus at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue to Westwood. The route hasn’t been decided, but a recent MTA study recommended that the subway follow Wilshire to Beverly Hills, swing south to Century City and then north to Westwood.
Meh, that’s something I’ll never use, but I’m supposed to spend more in taxes to make it happen.
Bottom Line: Raising taxes for mass transit during an economic downturn doesn’t sound like a good idea to me.
I am voting NO on Measure R.
Make sure you visit Geeky Weekly for his take on Prop 11, 12, and Measure R.
Prop 10 – ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLES AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
My Summary: From the LA Times: “Borrow $5 billion, most of it to be distributed as rebates to buyers of vehicles fueled by natural gas, hydrogen, electricity and other alternative fuels.”
My Opinion: This one is a no-brainer. Not only is it a lot of bonds, but they’re super stupid bonds too. This one is especially pointless now that gas is coming back down to Earth. I doubt people will be running out to buy any alternative fuel cars now.
The other main reason I’m against this, is that I think alternative fuels will only become a reality when economically feasible. Just because some people desperately want alternative fuels doesn’t mean the government needs to drop $5 billion on it. If any of the car manufacturers think they can make a buck, they will.
Bottom Line: People that want alternative fuel cars can have them, but the government doesn’t need to pay for them.
I am voting NO on Prop 10.
Make sure you visit Geeky Weekly for his take on Prop 10.
Prop 9 – CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. VICTIMS’ RIGHTS. PAROLE.
My Summary: Straight from the voter guide…
My Opinion: I probably won’t spend a ton of time on any of the remaining props, but I like this one. The reduction in parole hearings sounds like it’s well overdue and could save money. I read this at ballotpedia:
Proposition 9 would save money because under the current system, taxpayers are spending money to fund hearings for criminals who have little chance of release. For example, supporters of Prop 9 argue, “‘Helter Skelter’ inmates Bruce Davis and Leslie Van Houten, followers of Charles Manson, convicted of multiple brutal murders, have had 38 parole hearings in 30 years. That’s 38 times the families involved have been forced to relive the painful crime and pay their own expenses to attend the hearing, plus 38 hearings that taxpayers have had to subsidize.”
I also like the idea of the victim’s families having increased rights during bail and parole hearings.
Bottom Line: Tom McClintock supports this one. Murderers shouldn’t be released on bail without letting the victims family know.
I am voting YES on Prop 9.
Make sure you visit Geeky Weekly for his take on Prop 9.
