Concussions, Cuts, They Came And Went
Now Playing: Super Furry Animals--"Y Gwyneb Iau"
Yesterday afternoon saw some of the nicest weather I've seen in Ann Arbor for a while--cold but not too cold, cloudy but not too cloudy. My malady, whatever it is, seems to recede by the day. There was a balefulness to my walk home, though, that made me wonder about the future. Some jackass driving one of the Michigan campus buses nearly ran me over at South University and Washtenaw, soon after a lump of flannelled hippie offal accosted me on Liberty, asking me something belligerently unintelligible. He yelled some more shit after me, but I didn't stop to hear.

Tuesday saw elections held all across southeast Michigan. The big one, of course, was the Detroit mayoral contest between Freman Hendrix and incumbent Kwame Kilpatrick. Detroit, by my own account and others', is a much more interesting and enjoyable city than many people credit, but it could be a lot better, and it was nice to think that the metro area in general would be in more responsible hands than Kilpatrick's. Sadly, that didn't turn out to be the case--Kilpatrick won with 53%, last I checked.

Closer to home, we had city council elections in Ann Arbor. I haven't written a great deal about local politics, mainly because it's done so much better here, here, here, here, and here. For those unfamiliar with the local situation, Ann Arbor politics hinge on the rich ruling the poor. Mind you, this situation essentially prevails throughout the world, but in a country like the United States, and especially in a city with Ann Arbor's ostensibly liberal reputation, it's intolerable. How does the old tale play out here? Middle- and upper-class homeowners (in general) attempt to limit development (and usually succeed) in the seemingly progressive interests of environmental responsibility and historical preservation. Unfortunately, they do this at the expense of lower-income residents, primarily students and renters, through insisting on nonsensical, purely superficial "improvements" such as a "greenway" running through the city center, and preventing building downtown above a ridiculously low set height, which limits density, thereby raising grocery and retail prioces, as well as commercial and domestic rents. I voted for Democrat Stephen Rapundalo in the 2nd Ward, as he's gone more often on record in supporting lower-income interests. That's all I really have to go on, but it'll do for now, I suppose. He won with 52%. Dale Winling ran as a write-in for the 5th Ward on an outstanding platform, and I wish I could have voted for him.

Why do I go on about all this stuff? I take voting very seriously; like an hourly wage and overtime, it's something directly related to my welfare and society's that was bought with the lives of fellow Americans. Of course, one can make the choice not to care at all, but that's a choice I've never made and hopefully never will.

I will take the GRE on December 15 at 3:00 p.m. Since the statute of limitations ran out on my first test four years ago, I've been constantly talking about retaking the thing, and actually making the commitment feels like overcoming an obstacle in itself.

I also finished Uncle Silas, but I can't talk about it until December, only to say that it was much, much better the second time around.