gimme a B!

The bookcase by the bed has 27.5" shelf width. It's all the bookcases in the living room that have 28.25" shelves. So last summer, when I got 4x4s to prop up the back row of paperbacks, I had them cut in 28" sections at the building-supply store.

*sigh* It seemed like a good idea when I started. I'd take the books off the overcrowded shelving unit by the bed, sort them out properly, putting in all the A and B books that have been piling up in the kitchen and living room, and reshelve them using the 4x4s that have been gathering dust on the windowsill for months.

Yeah, right. I think I'll just reread _Falling Free_, go to bed, and get some of the books out of the way. Not necessarily in that order.

at least one of us was rather missing the point

The town had an election today. I made it outside around midafternoon. It seemed bright enough that I thought the police lights would not be much of a problem, so I headed for the town center. There seemed to be dozens of candidates, lined up with their families along Mass Ave, waving signs at passers-by.

One woman stopped me and asked if I was going to vote, and I nodded. She asked me to vote for her as a write-in candidate for Town Meeting. She told me her name, and gave me a little sticker with her name and address printed on it. I looked at it (thinking it was a clever idea for write-in candidates to prevent misspellings), looked at her, and asked, "why?"

She gestured with the big sign she was holding, [her name] for Town Meeting. It was awkward for her to hold it and the sheet of stickers at the same time. She said, as if I was crazy, "Because I want to be on Town Meeting."

"I see that. But why should I vote for you? What do you want to do that's different from the current Town Meeting?"

She looked really indignant that I asked. "I have lots of ideas! I would really shake things up. The current Town Meeting is so divisive, always arguing about everything..." She trails off, shaking her head, and finally just says, "I'm not like that."

The person with her waved a sign, and encouraged me to vote for this woman. "She really cares. You should vote for her." I smiled at them and moved on. The candidate repeated that she really wanted to be on Town Meeting.

If I think in terms of her running for Town Meeting for its own sake, there's a detached zen beauty to it. She's so passionately enthusiastic about being on Town Meeting, but it's enthusiasm for the Town Meeting, or perhaps the campaign itself, not so much enthusiasm for the town being governed, that seems to inspire her. Of course, a town is a lot more complicated and untidy than a meeting. I'm not sure if she recognized that and was too busy campaigning to talk about the details, or if she'd be in for an unpleasant surprise if she wins.