I hate this freaking election

Hello, everyone.
This is Isaac: twelve years old and feeling fine!

Dad says I should post my views about the election here, even though he already sort of did.

Well, I think it can be best summed up in what I voted for in that poll Dad put up in the upper left hand corner of the site. I chose the last choice, specifically:

I hate this freaking election.

We did a paper in our Social Studies class that was supposed to help us choose a candidate. We wrote down our views on six topics: Education, War in Iraq, Health Care, National Security and Terrorism, the Environment, and Jobs and the Economy. Then, she told us the candidate's views, we wrote them down, and circled who we agreed with for each view. Me? I agreed on three of the issues with Obama, and on three of the issues with McCain!

This, obviously, did not help me decide who I was going to vote for.

Nor, by the way, did the girl in my grade who, on Halloween, dressed up as Palin and tried to get me to vote for her.

But I'm getting off track.

I talked to Dad, and he told me that when you're torn on the views, you look at other things. Things like:

1. Integrity (That would be neither candidate)
2. How well they ran their campaign (Obama)
3. Experience (McCain)

Great Googaly Moogaly: I still don't know who to vote for.

As Dad said, the kids in my class were getting angry that I wasn't taking sides.

The conversations went like this:

My Republican friends: So, who are you voting for?
Me: I don't know.
Aforementioned Republican friends: Ha ha ha. Seriously, Isaac. You're voting for McCain, right? I mean, who would vote for Obama?

(or:)

My Democrat friends: So, who are you voting for?
Me: I don't know.
Aforementioned Democrat friends: Ha ha ha. Seriously, Isaac. You're voting for Obama, right? I mean, who would vote for McCain?

The number one argument for Obama was "Obama is your mama!" This will tell you the sort of people in my class who tend to be Democrats.

The number one argument for McCain was "Come on. Who would seriously vote for Obama?" when I asked them why they said this, they would stutter out, "um,er,ah,well, seriously? Are you going to vote for Obama?" When I asked them to tell me what was so bad about Obama, 90% of them suddenly had pressing engagements elsewhere.

So my classmates where unhelpful. Pretty soon, all my Republican friends were convinced I was for Obama because I didn't unquestionably accept their views, and all my Democrat friends thought I was voting for McCain for the same reason.

For a short time, I thought about forgetting both candidates and voting for Ralph Nader, but Dad said he would disown me if I did, so I decided not to.

At last, Election Day. Our school actually got to "vote" on November 3rd, but of course it didn't count for anything. So you guys got an extra day to think over your choices.

Lucky ducks.

Anyway, so: the voting "booth": a laptop on a desk in the lobby. I had an important class I had to go to in 5 minutes, but I still couldn't quite make up my mind.
At last, I decided.

I'm not going to tell you who I ended up voting for. Except that it wasn't Ralph Nader.

I eventually decided because the candidate I voted for, while I only agreed with him on half of the views, this half was, in my opinion, the most important half.

Well, Obama's president and I'm just glad the election's over. I think in 2012, I'm going to crawl into a dark hole for the year.

And that's my views on the election.

Isaac (On His Birthday)

So, today is Isaac's twelfth birthday and it seems the whole world is paying attention.

Well, paying attention to something.

Meanwhile, there was a school election, yesterday.  Being the terrible father I am, I flat refused to influence his vote, other than helping him learn about the issues and candidates.  It may surprise you to find that his views are actually more sound than many adults I know, but not if you have watched cable news.

Isaac found himself torn.  On half the issues, he supported one major party candidate, on half the other.  Meanwhile, his sixth-grade friends are rabid partisans.  "It seems like most of them are just voting for whoever their parents are voting for, and they don't even know why!" he complained.  He also noted that the most reasoned argument from any of his classmates was "O-ba-ma!  O-ba-ma!" chanted over and over.  His friends began to look upon him with suspicion for not taking sides.

However, Isaac summed up the campaigns very well.  "If you don't vote for Obama, you're a racist.  If you don't vote for McCain, you hate America.  None of it makes any sense, and they all seem to be lying!"

Nevertheless, he voted.  I will not tell you who he voted for, but the candidate has an A in his last name, so we will call him candidate A.  (The other candidate has an S in his middle name, so, likewise.)

Riding the bus, one of his classmates saw his "I voted" sticker and asked who he had finally chosen.  He then began to berate Isaac for choosing A.  When Isaac tried to interject with the reason he had voted for one and the reasons for voting against the other, his friend refused to listen.

Later, Isaac was carpooling with a family of ardent supporters of A.  When Isaac mentioned what had happened on the bus, the mother began to loudly and vociferously berate his S-supporting friend.

So, Isaac has, on his twelfth birthday, experienced all the joys of the American voter:  he got to choose between two candidates he did not like, he got yelled at by a friend who disagrees with his choice, he got to feel embarrassment at the ranting of someone who liked his choice, and, a full day after voting, he still does not know who won.

Isn't democracy wonderful?

Still, if he can vote, you should be able to.

By the by, if you wish to drop him a line, his address is Isaac at TenSengi.com.  I would recommend not discussing politics.

--
Sincerely,
Christopher Coleman (proud father)

PS.  Two weeks ago, my kids told me to turn down my music.  I am a brilliant father.

An Official Sign of the Overdue Apocalypse

Swansea Council became lost in translation when it was looking to halt heavy goods vehicles using a road near a store in the Morriston area. Which is (we are waiting for confirmation) believed to be in Wales.All official road signs in Wales are bilingual, so the local authority e-mailed its in-house translation service for the Welsh version of: "No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only".

Unfortunately, the e-mail response to Swansea council was an out of office response, in Welsh. Which the Council then authorized to be used for the signs.

The English is clear enough to truck drivers - but the Welsh reads "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated."

Sign the Apocalypse Is Overdue # 12,674

Miami Lt. John Buhrmaster, a longtime homicide investigator sums it up: "It's a great record when people are not killing each other."

FL.I.P.P.Y.

Just wanted to let everyone know I've added the link to Isaac's book on the side bar of the blog. Feel free to tell friends and family about it. :)

We went to see City of Ember on Halloween night. We like getting out of the house and away from the trick or treaters. It was a good movie. It is set in a post-apocalyptic future. To save a portion of humanity from nuclear fall-out, a city is built deep underground. The people in the city have no idea there is any other world than their city, and now it is starting to fall apart. Visually, it was very stunning. The story was not completely well done. There were too many little things that were unexplained if you hadn't read the book. Also the pacing was kind of off. All in all, though, it was a very enjoyable way to spend our evening. I would recommend this movie. I hope the boys will post comments to tell you what they thought of the movie.

I also really like the book this movie is based on. I thought the concept was fascinating, a story about people who don't know what the sky is or weather or lots of things we take for granted. The sequel People of Sparks is also good.

Too Much Information

Whether they're watching TV, playing tennis, or voting, nudists like to be nude.