True story--I went to vote for myself this morning (to recap: I'm running for school board) and I was right behind my opponent! The ladies working the polls thought it was funny--I could tell when they looked up after I told them my name. Hilarious! I imagine in a small town it's bound to happen that two people running for the same seat would run into each other while casting their ballots... I tried to catch the guy's eye to laugh about it, but no dice. He knew I was there, but didn't seem to find it as amusing as I did. For the record (and off the record), I have no gripe against my opponent. I'm running for the seat, NOT against him. It's not personal at all. That said, may the best woman win (hahaha).
True story--Rick, that other guy who's running for president, was at one of the cheese factories up the road from my house yesterday. My phone's been ringing off the hook between him and the other, other guy vying for my vote. Had I been at the cheese factory, buying my monthly infusion of cheddar, I doubt I'd have stood in line smiling with excitement. Just sayin'. Nothing I've read in the Good Book inspires me to cast a ballot for him--or the other, other guy. Everything I've read in the Bible tells me to vote for the guy looking out for the poor, widowed, immigrant, imprisoned and destitute. It doesn't mention anywhere that Jesus wants believers hating on gays, arming everybody with guns, passing harsh immigration laws, restricting access to health care (including birth control pills, natch), destroying the environment for monetary gain or denying welfare to those suffering poverty or unemployment. So you can imagine how my jaw dropped when I heard on a local Christian radio station that "believers should vote for Biblical, Conservative candidates." (Their emphasis on the capital "C" in "conservative, reader.) As opposed to Biblical LIBERAL candidates? I wanted to ask. Trouble is, most believers I know are lock-step Republicans and most of my liberal counterparts are not believers. Trust me when I tell you that I pray for wisdom on these issues, but it feels lonely in my Christian Liberal Camp. Every time I struggle to reconcile my faith and my politics, I keep returning to Matthew 22:37-39, which tells me it all boils down to "love God and love each other," an incredibly validating passage for this liberal voter.
True story--part of me is nervous as hell about today's outcome. On one hand, it's out of my hands. I've put myself out there, staked signs in people's yards and gave good newspaper interviews explaining my positions. On the other hand, losing would feel like rejection, which would be kind of a downer. On one hand, if I win I have a chance to re-correct the course of things in our town's schools. On the other hand, if I lose, I won't be obligated to give up a bunch of Monday nights and sit through countless hours of boring meetings. As you can tell, I'm trying not to think about it a whole lot. And, apparently I have four hands.
True story--last week I mentioned two great books I'm reading, but I forgot to mention their titles. The book about Haiti is Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat and the book about Tuscany is The Reluctant Tuscan: How I Discovered My Inner Italian by Phil Doran. Both are categorically memoir, the one about Italy is really funny and insightful, the one about Haiti gives me a better idea about Haitian culture and while it's written in that disjointed, impressionist typical of South American memoirs, I like it.
Stay tuned for election updates and a bunch of other random stuff tomorrow.
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