I wanted to share something cool I found on the internet yesterday. This tool lets you build a virtual ballot based on your address showing all the elections in which you will be eligible to vote on November 4. You can see everything down to referenda and judicial retention elections. Each candidate (including all third parties that will be on the ballot) had the opportunity to fill out a pretty extensive survey explaining his or her background and views on a variety of issues -- Iraq, tax policy, healthcare, energy, gay marriage ... and on and on. And you can select candidates and compare their survey answers side by side. It's definitely a quick way to get a bit of background on candidates and races you might not know much about.

The best thing I've found so far is that Tom Hanson, Republican challenger to incumbent Congressman Rahm Emmanuel, lists his election as president of his class at New Trier East High School as one of the top three accomplishments of his life! (He also is "not convinced" that global warming is actually occurring, but thinks businesses should be "prodded" to reduce emissions nonetheless.) Awesome.

Gawker makes me happy.


I'm attempting to watch twin peaks. It is not awesome. But this is just the pilot--maybe it will get better.

I am so broke. I kind of sort of maybe failed a job interview today. Part of it was because I purposefully tried to, part of it was I legitimately wasn't prepared for the questions. You see, when I entered the office, it was immediately clear that everyone who worked there was unhappy. Then the guy was going over all the things I would need to do as a Junior Marketing Assistant, and what he actually meant was "Chief Marketing Executive"--in charge of all online copy, in charge of all online marketing, calling clients and integrating and advertising the company. But rather than calling it what it actually was, the company was advertising it as a Junior Marketing Assistant job, and offering $25,000 a year for it. So while I said some things which I knew were bad, and while my body language was poor, I still totally screwed up some questions like "What is the most effective form of online advertising?" Whatever. Practice is practice.

Benjamin came up the last week of September and the first week of October. In an effort to give us something resembling a real relationship, I insisted we go on dates. I took him to the Scandinavian House, a museum/show/restaurant focuses on all things Swedish, Finnish, and Norwegian. We went to a Renaissance Fair at the Cloisters. We helped my friend Krystal paint her room. We went up to Harlem to visit the Little Red Lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge. Wandering home, I picked up pieces of blue glass and he poked dead fish with a stick. It rained almost every day. We went to IKEA for the free water taxi and meatballs. We went to Grimaldi's with my friend Nina, and a Latin-Italian fusion restaurant in Williamsburg with Mary South and Patricia. I was a bit unhappy that I spent so much money, because now i'm incredibly panicked.

I think I hate the music in Twin Peaks. It's freaking me out.

Things have really slowed down for me this month. Since the market crash, nobody wants to hire, and I'm struggling to find any work at all--not even freelance work. I might go into event staff or something if things don't get better. I was asked to provide more information for a company named DE Shaw, and I have never wanted a job as much as I want this one. I feel so good about it, and the people seem amazing. So pray for me.

What else is new? My family's struggling a bit. I'm generally quite happy, with the exception of all these stresses. And church is going well. If I could get a job, things would be just about perfect.

My lack of posting is due almost entirely to the flux of company who has been living in my apartment for the last 2 months. Do know, however, that photos were taken, and I am still unemployed.

I'm beginning to think the more that I write, the worse my writing gets. Seriously, I'm doing this like 8 hours a day, I turn in whatever rough draft I'm working with, bang. It totally sucks. Hopefully I can start getting better paying gigs, so I won't be so stressed out.

I have nothing to say. I just want to push that bottom post off the page and into the Internet ether.

I passed the bar.