Governor Evans

Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

I'm feeling better by the way, which is good news for my students, my devoted blog readers, and, I suppose, phase 2 of my duplex overhaul plan (the main goal of which is to make my garage capable of holding a car once again). It's bad news, however, for the ants. Death to you all!

Yes, it's true. I don't mind killing ants. But I think you already knew that.

I'm feeling a little bit scattered tonight. There's a lot on my mind, including several things I've wanted to blog about for quite some time. So maybe this will be another blog about a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

"Rent" is coming out in movie form on November 23rd, wide release. I saw it on stage when I was interning in D.C. Have any of you seen it? I was really inspired by it at the time. I have fond memories of that night - the music is super catchy, the characters very compelling, the message endearing. I wonder how many conservatives are bound to see it. Not many, I'd imagine, if they knew what it's about. Which is a shame, really, because for me it humanized, for the first time in my life, homosexual relationships. "Rent" is about several love stories - one between two women, one between two men, and one between a man and a woman. When I saw it I was but a tender 21 year old, only about a year removed from the College Republicans. I had never imagined that a woman and a woman or a man and a man could have the same kind of loving relationship that I'd always associated exclusively with a man and a woman. Seems obvious to me now, but back then it was something of a revelation. I think a lot of people need to have that revelation. Thus, I'm glad to see it has become a movie, which is probably overall a much more accessible medium for the masses than stage musicals.

I've decided to try writing a novel again. No - I shouldn't use the word "try." Only "do" or "do not." There is no "try." Right? Right. So I've been attempting to recruit some other folks into NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which begins November 1st. So far, I've convinced two of my colleagues to join me in the 50,000 word novel writing adventure. If you're interested, go to nanwrimo.org. You may recall my embarrassing attempt last year with the horribly named Eduardito and the strange day when he went up into the sky. I only make reference to it here because it is SO embarrassing that my embarrassment ought to compel me to actually make something worthwhile this year. I SWEAR I'm a better writer than that. I was sick all that month, plus I was taking guitar and Spanish classes and dealing with my two most challenging groups of students ever (and you all know how THAT turned out - quite splendidly, thank you). And, perhaps most debilitating of all, Mark didn't believe in me (cheap jab on my part).

So anyways, I'm going to do it. Starting November 1st, I will be a novel writing machine. 1,600 words a day ain't so tough - after all, I survived K. last year. Obviously, I can do anything. I mean, this blog, for example, is about 750 words, and it has only taken me about 15 minutes. But yes, a novel is a different kind of animal to tame.

Continuing my stream of consciousness, let me simply announce I want to be governor of California. If Arnold can do it, then I sure as hell can. He had no experience, he dodged nearly all the debates during the recall election, and still he wound up being elected.

Do you know what it takes to run for governor as an independent candidate? I didn't either, so I found out. I have to pay a filing fee of $3,500 *or* submit 10,000 signatures by July 27, 2006. Between June 12th and August 11th, also of 2006, I need to get 165,573 signatures, which represents about 1% of California's registered voters, to appear on the ballot. Unfortunately, I don't have the big bucks to pay the signature harvesting companies to harass peope outside of Safeway to sign petitions to make it look as if I have a lot of popular support. So I'll just have to do it another way.