"I have been but little in," said Ninian hastily...

I'm not as angry, sad, bored, or resentful of election coverage and election debate as many people seem to be (maybe it comes from spending a lot of time reading about places where elections--if allowed at all--are completely corrupt or life-threateningly violent, or both).

But I am amazed at how much electioneering I've been subjected to, both by phone and through the mail. It's almost entirely related to state and county ballot measures, and it's heavier than I can recall encountering before. Ever.

I'm sure my friends and family in Virginia are getting swamped with material on the federal races, as they are much more of a swing state than Maryland is. I'm hearing a LOT about casino gambling, some about police unions, and a little about gay marriage. Almost nothing about about the presidential and Senate races, and just a little about the House race, I suspect largely because my neighbourhood has been redistricted and they want to be sure everyone knows who their rep actually  *is*. :-)

I just discovered that I've been redistricted. My street used to be part of Maryland's 4th Congressional District, which is represented in Congress by Donna Edwards. Now, it would appear, it's going to be part of the 8th, which is represented by Chris Van Hollen.

Now I don't have anything against Rep. Van Hollen. He was born in Pakistan, which is kind of cool, and comes from a Foreign Service family. He's only four years older than I am. He's served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as a staffer. He has a good record on policies that are important to me, like clean energy, gun safety, the environment, campaign finance reform, and (sensible) animal rights. He's stood up to the Israel lobby.

But I liked being represented by Donna Edwards. :-(

Montgomery County, Maryland, hit by 3.6 magnitude earthquake

I woke up and the cats hurled themselves off the bed. I checked the clock, got up and looked out all the windows, didn't see any fires or explosions or interdimensional beings erupting out of the fifth dimensional, established that the power hadn't gone out, and went back to bed.

There have been three other earthquakes in the area, apparently, in the time I've lived here, but this is definitely the only one I can recall feeling.

I have spotted a very odd-looking assembly of buildings a number of times through the trees while commuting. Finally, I know what it is!

Not sure which icon to use, so I'll stick with me (from a hike!)

Just back from trying out a new park hike. I did ~ 6 miles in about 3.25 hours. Short version: I liked the hike and the park, but my hatred for the author of the 60 Hikes book is cemented--he SUCKS at writing directions, and I strongly suspect that none of the entries were updated between the book's original publication in 2005 and the new edition in 2007.

My feet are sore and my muscles are creaky, but I had a very nice afternoon. More after a bath+shower+dinner and some AMU work

This is late notice, but better late than never (I hope).

Restaurant participating in the Thanksgiving in February program donate the proceeds of their meals from one meal today to local homeless outreach programs and other services in the Montgomery County area that help people who need short-term assistance.

Breakfast is past and lunch is proceeding, but if you have no plans that prevent it, you might consider dining out this evening at a participating restaurant.

For any of my editorial and/or local friends who might be interested:

Job Description:

Challenging Full-time Position Open for Accomplished Writer/Editor
with Supervisory and Quality Control Skills.

AFYA, Inc., in Laurel, MD, has a full-time supervisory position open for a Quality Control Manager - Writer/Editor. Qualified candidates will be experienced writer/editors with the ability to supervise editorial and graphic design staff, manage the production of a variety of deliverables, and perform writing and editing as needed. This manager will establish and enforce editorial standards, supervise a Senior Graphic Designer and editors (both full-time and on-call), conduct quality control reviews of deliverables, and contribute to the development of
proposals and other marketing and business development materials.

Requires a B.A. in English, journalism, or a related field; 7 years of experience in managing a publications production department, and 5 years of supervisory experience. Must be knowledgeable of the GPO Manual of Style and be able to edit using the track changes function in Microsoft Word. Must be able to juggle multiple priorities and work well under pressure. Anyone recommending a candidate who is subsequently hired for the position will receive a $500 referral bonus.

Payrate: $57 to $65K per annum

Contact Info:
ContactName: Angela Pyle
ContactTitle: Human Resources Director
Company: AFYA, Inc.
Address: 8101 Sandy Spring Road, Suite 301
Laurel, Maryland 20707
JobURL: www.afyainc.com

soccer_fox and I had a lovely day yesterday; I took the day off to get some legal transactions arranged with the State Of Maryland, and accomplished a few.

We footled about most of the morning, talking and watching Wonderfalls, then in the afternoon we went to the Motor Vehicle Administration and got MD drivers' licenses and registered to vote. We had hoped to change the titling and registration of our cars as well, but we were not able to find a place that could go the state safety exam that day, so we're going to do that later. We've still got a couple of weeks left in our grace period.

We also walked up to the local library and got cards there. It's in quite a nice community center, which has a computer facility and game room and various meeting rooms. Herself read the town newsletter and discovered that there's a healthcare-related committee that needs volunteers to serve, so she's going to be looking that up. We also saw an ad for another local famers' market, one that redactrice had mentioned to me, so we're goign to give that a try next week. It was a nice day for walking about, and we wandered home a different way.

N made us a tasy dinner, and we watched a movie I'd ordered from Netflix on a whim. It's called "Blow Dry", and it's a gently hilarious comedy in the vein of The Full Monty or Strictly Ballroom. It's advertised as starring Alan Rickman, which drew me to it, but once it started playing there was a huge parade of British and other actors whose appearance is like a warm blanket to me, promising an evening of good acting, gentle humour, and wonderful fun. Bill Nighy has become, for some strange reason, one of my favourite actors, and he plays Rickman's principal foe. Natasha Richardson plays Rickman's ex-wife, who ran off ten years before the film opens with a colleague and her new love interest, played by Rachel Griffiths. Josh Harnett plays the son of Rickman's and Richardson's characters. Warren Clarke, Rosemary Harris, David Bradley, Oliver Ford Davies, all sorts of people in supporting roles. It was great fun.

Most of all, I got to spend a whole day, in a leisurely way, with my favourite lady, which was a huge treat for me. I do love her so much! :-)