abracanabra: (Default)
I voted, hurrah! I am a precious snowflake (with a red sticker).

Seriously, pretty much everybody I am acquainted with votes and is mercilessly harassed by the others until they do. I wish there was a personal way to reach out to the whatever-percent who don't. Who are these people? Red stickers don't quite seem to be enough. Reaching outside the peer group has only been successfully done once, when I and the manager sent home a co-worker who "hadn't had time to vote." Unanimous response: "Um, you need to go now!" I work with a lot of poor, disenfranchised people, what can I say?

In the category of "best places to hit on quality people," I've gotta give the polling station props. As I approached, there was a charming gentleman who leapt forward to open the door. He seemed to be lurking around the polling station and being nice to random people. As I say, charming. And a damn good move. If you're looking for a certain caliber of mate, you could do worse than make the polling stations your hunting ground.


(This stream-of-consciousness post has been brought to you by NaNoBloMo--30 posts this month, and this is the 2nd.)
abracanabra: (crazy)
  • Carl Watts looked from her mushroom-pale skin to the stone-carved words over the door she fled from: "Work Shall Set Ye Free." #nwm #twitfic
  • YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Salvaging Scottwell" is officially accepted by Baen's Universe. My first pro sale!
  • His statements didn't sound like he'd make a good mayor, *but* this is hilarious. (BoingBoing) ping.fm/HAECk
  • When squirrel removal guys say they'll install a "monitor," they really mean they'll tape a plastic bag over the hole.
  • Fu Manchu is turning into an excellent writing cat! His current toy is a wadded-up ball of paper.
  • Er, that should be, *writer's* cat.
  • ++++++ I now have 2 squirrels in cages and (hopefully) NO SQUIRRELS IN THE WALLS.
.
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 13:14 That wacky Bachmann's at it again, this time violating federal law: ping.fm/wFQO9
  • 13:40 There is apparently a cheese-thief at our CSA drop-off site. Oh the suspense! The drama!
  • 16:18 PDF of advanced-level gmail tips to make your email easier (even I learned something): ping.fm/t4Hcw
.
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 10:06 TOBY funny--and yes, I *am* a fan of Clint Eastwood movies. ping.fm/pPyMw
  • 11:03 + Got new books! J.D. Robb's "Promises in Death" & C.J. Cherryh's "Regenesis." But can't read, must write. Meep.
  • 15:09 Wow, dojang has declared a snow day. No classes. Me=staying home and warm. Too bad Phil's sick, too, poor guy.
  • 15:45 Attempting to write and edit in description of a clockwork horse's head a young woman keeps hidden in her closet. Failing.
  • 16:35 Yale also offers its lectures as MP3s. I'll never run out of listening material again. academicearth.org/
  • 16:42 Starting out with "Introduction to Astrophysics" and "The Good Life: Happiness." ping.fm/68ZGN
  • 16:57 If you care about universal health care, let congress know (MoveOn): ping.fm/34z2k
  • 18:47 If a kid comes by asking to shovel, we're kind of obligated to say yes. At least he took care of the first 4 inches of this snowstorm.
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 23:30 Anybody who says Blade Runner sucks should be Clockwork Oranged to watch WaterWorld for an entire week as punishment.
  • 23:36 Dear Kerasotes Theatres, I do *not* want tickets to the Jonas Brothers 3D. In fact, I am afraid I may now have nightmares.
  • 10:17 MPR statement of the day: "California is a stalking horse for the federal government" (re car standards).
  • 13:29 I'm really *pleased* with the new president: tinyurl.com/a76su7
  • 18:08 Damn! Don't have offline access to gmail yet.
  • 18:19 Woo-hoo! Between sadly shutting down my laptop and starting up my desktop, I got Gmail offline enabled.
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 07:45 Puttering around kitchen, getting breakfast ready, looking out window, *seeing snow everywhere*.
  • 09:32 Coworker 1: "Drive safe!" Coworker 2: "I'm going to drive like a bat out of hell."
  • 11:38 Listening to MPR talking about effects of environment/arts amendment, feeling warm glow of satisfaction.
  • 14:20 Obama has a Flickr photostream? Awesome! And wily! Comments are worth reading. ping.fm/4IKMP
  • 23:18 Look no further for creepy tentacle photo shoots: ping.fm/iQYGt
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)

No bailout, you say?, originally uploaded by aswiebe.

Now that the politics are mostly settled, I expect everybody's going to go back to being upset over the economy, right?

abracanabra: (Default)
  • 23:19 Somebody in the neighborhood is setting off fireworks.
  • 07:55 Norm Coleman won. Slimy bastard.
  • 08:58 On elevator: "I'm in withdrawal. This morning I didn't see my close personal friends Erik Paulson & Ashwin Media. A toothpaste ad was on!"
  • 09:20 I keep getting these upswellings of glee as I read through the news.
  • 10:48 Only 3 more hours of not killing my coworker to go.
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 23:41 Just chose who I'm voting for based on their correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Both candidates are awful. Ugh.
  • 23:51 Whew. Have figured out who we're voting for, down to the water board. (Yes, my vote choice counts x2.)
  • 07:45 Dreamt I'd already voted. Alas, not so.
  • 08:53 A steady stream of people was going into my polling place as I passed it at 7AM.
  • 08:54 At freeway on-ramps, people holding political signs have replaced pan-handlers. Awesome.
  • 09:27 Coworker just took off to vote, hoping to be "back by 12:00"
  • 10:51 Having serious trouble fighting off a case of the sleepies at work.
  • 12:05 I'm wired (because of election) and sleepy (because of staying up late to figure out who to vote for in the small races).
  • 16:48 Chose my voting time perfectly. 2 PM, no line at all.
  • 16:50 "Inner city youths" are shouting Obama's name at passing cars and doing little (premature) victory dances on the street corner.
  • 20:37 Phil says 331 club is way on the other side of town & so he won't be going there. Watching results @ home.
  • 23:09 Obama won!!! First time the presidential candidate I voted for won. Wow. What now? I'm not used to this.
  • 23:19 Somebody in the neighborhood is setting off fireworks.
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 07:53 On the bus this morning: woman with poodle skirt and bobby socks, sitting in the front.
  • 08:00 In the back of the bus, dark-robed and hooded figure of indeterminate gender wearing creepy mask.
  • 08:40 This might be enough to get my Mad Scientist into the kitchen (NYT.com): ping.fm/TRZ89
  • 10:21 Note to self: as soon as Gmail text messages rolls out to my account, see if it lets me get Twitter msgs.
  • 11:13 I sit in awe of how slow my coworker manages to work. I couldn't be that slow if I tried.
  • 11:41 What we really need: media.villagevoice.com/2646723.28.jpg
  • 11:46 Plans for tonight: stay home, hand out candy (in costume?), watch horror movies.
  • 17:53 Had first trick-or-treater at 4:30--little boy in an alligator costume.
  • 18:02 Zombies, aliens, or psychopathic killers? Cannot decide which movie set I want to watch.
  • 18:30 Zombie movie extravaganza at my house!
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)


Yesterday afternoon I volunteered for a political campaign for the first time.

I went to the Minneapolis office and wound up working the phone bank. It's a large ground-floor room with ranks of foldable tables for the phone bank and the data entry stations. The front of the office was poster and leaflet center. There were some interesting decorating touches. A very shiny wall mural of Obama. Some Barack o'lanterns. One of the things I wished I'd taken pictures of was an AC/DC style poster for Barack. Or that I'd grabbed one. In the back, they had the quite generous snack layout and the restroom, which had a sign on the inside asking people to make sure the door was unlocked when they left--signed "Barack."*

I was afraid I'd get shuffled into data entry (which I'm good at, but--yech, too much like work), but they assigned me to making phone calls to people who'd supposedly expressed interest in volunteering instead. This felt a bit surreal to me. I was only there to volunteer for a few hours, probably not going to be going back--and I was calling people to encourage them to volunteer this weekend and election day. It was also strange volunteering at Democratic headquarters, what with me not being a Democrat** and all. Phone calls in the middle of the afternoon don't actually get many people, so most of what I did was leave messages, though I did get a handful of volunteers committed.

So, if you support Obama and want to do something to help, they really need volunteers for election day and for this weekend. They're looking for people to drive others to the polls, to knock on doors, and to make phone calls. Find your local office.

* Side note: I wonder how many kids born this year are going to be named Barack? Lots, I imagine. I'm picturing kindergartens filled with 'em a few years from now.
** If you must know, unaffiliated, but I usually vote mostly a Green ticket, and that's where my "support a political party" tax money goes.
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 10:11 Science fiction tells me that deliberately creating an evil AI is a *bad* idea! ping.fm/3Wnts
  • 11:26 Conclusion: MN "Taxpayers" League are assholes.
  • 11:29 Since when is <$5/month/family a "massive" tax increase?
  • 12:18 PostSecret Exhibit at Mpls public library through Nov. 30: ping.fm/Bsu3E
  • 21:31 Successfully acquired Halloween costume! Now just need a little costume tape to make sure everything stays in place. What place has it?
  • 22:06 Miss having Phil to put cold feet on. Is very sad.
  • 22:27 Hot water bottles don't howl as entertainingly.
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 13:48 Pretty stars (Hubble): ping.fm/NaBRD
  • 14:44 Wait--our military raided inside Syria? WTF? Next up, serious concessions to avoid serious problems.
  • 15:25 Hilarious, pro-Obama get-out-the-vote customizable video: ping.fm/vHsjX
  • 17:15 I have not yet seen this "snow" that everybody else is talking about, but I'm keeping an eye out.
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 10:58 It's so cold at work that my fingernails are turning purple. Need sweaters.
  • 17:19 You know those polls that say "such-and-such percent of people say so-and-so is doing a bad job"? I'm now one of those people!
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 17:14 Watching Pushing Daisies immediately followed by the presidential debates. Beware of whiplash!
  • 17:15 Note to self: to bike through autumn, will need very warm gloves with good grip, and more knee socks.
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 08:59 It's going to take a while before I can hear "Main Street" without shuddering.
  • 10:26 I am suspicious of any book whose blurb includes the phrases "still-hot aging rocker" and "sexy Mexican laborer with a few secrets of hi ...
  • 13:15 Useful article re selling art at art shows: tinyurl.com/4hzhp8
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 08:14 Forgot I'd only *set* the lid on my mug and spilled tea all over my pants. Now it looks like I had an accident and tuck to the left.
  • 09:15 Step back in time 100 years ago (SciAm): ping.fm/Q8r6k
  • 09:43 ++free croissant
  • 09:55 Obama *listens* to scientists. ::swoon:: (SciAm) ping.fm/hhhj9
  • 15:50 Nobody wants free movie tickets? You are all *fools*!
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 10:25 www.google.com is being awesome today.
  • 19:09 Palin? Is a book-burner. That should settle that right there.
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 07:07 It's Friday? It *is* Friday. It's *Friday*!!
  • 10:13 Paper delivery guy: "How long have people been stuck in the elevator?" Receptionist: "Up to 2 hours."
  • 13:30 When it comes to recipes, "Mediterraneous-style" is code for having 2 out of 3 - lemon, capers, or green olives.
  • 13:58 Amused that "How to Carry Someone Who Is Passed Out" illus. shows woman in heels carrying man.
  • 14:54 Have acquired strange addiction to mini Reese's peanut butter cups and have no idea how to get rid of it!
  • 16:05 Are people going out tonight? Feel a bit like celebrating the end of this week.
  • 17:38 Interesting extrapolations of pregnancy rights applied to Palin herself: ping.fm/O5xC9
  • 17:39 Via wiredferret.
  • 18:02 Heading over to the Red Dragon to celebrate the end of the week.
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter
abracanabra: (Default)
  • 10:17 Sometimes I forget things for no apparent reason. Like how to check my voicemail, though I do it every day.
  • 12:22 In Cahoots, deleting vast swathes of Vicesteed. In consolation, there will be a wine tasting in a few hours. That should help.
  • 12:40 And...Obama's VP is an old white guy who "might make a pretty good attack dog."
  • 13:22 Two guys just made a random hook-up in Cahoots' back room, exchanging phone #s. That's weird.
  • 14:01 Past Me did it again, leaving me a "describe this" note. That bitch.
Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Profile

abracanabra: (Default)
Abra Staffin-Wiebe

April 2025

S M T W T F S
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27 282930   

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios
OSZAR »