Extreme closeup.So, October happened. More specifically, the Siemens Competition happened. And while there might not have been any travel in October, it was still a long, exhausting month.

I’m not looking to do a half-assed “catching up” type post here, but here – in bullet form – is what’s been on my mind lately. (With detail to follow in later posts.)

  • Today was (mid-term) Election Day, and it looks like the Democratic Party is going to claim at least one house, if not both. (As I type this, MSNBC is calling the House of Representatives for the Democrats.) This is a good thing, if for no other reason that it fucks with the Bush administration’s plans.
  • The other upside to today being Election Day? No more negative campaign ads. NJ’s own dark, dark Senate race between Tom Kean Jr. (R) and Robert Menendez (D – incumbent) was quite enough for me, but we also get the spillover from NY and PA. It’s enough to make you swear off TV.
  • That, however, won’t be happening anytime soon. This TV season is rocking my fragile little mind. Heroes and Battlestar Galactica are totally satisfying my inner geek, while 30 Rock and The Office bring the funny. (I’m also digging Aaron Sorkin’s latest, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, although I’ve discovered that not everyone shares that opinion.) And that doesn’t even take into account series 28 of Doctor Who and the now complete season 2 of The Venture Brothers! (And, for that matter, the episodes of Torchwood I’ve gotten through…um…well, let’s just say it’s not on US air yet and leave it at that.
  • Got to the movies for the first time in months this past weekend. Wanted to see Borat, but ended up seeing The Departed, which was outstanding. The moral of The Departed, by the way, seems to be that whether you’re a cop or a criminal, you’re gonna end up getting one in the head.
  • On my way into work the other day, I passed a Toyota Prius with a license plate that read “54 MPG”. There was one huge-ass smug cloud hanging over that car.
  • Three friends (two online, one IRL) have lost people close to them. My condolences to all of them…

Thankfully, November (the month, not the…um…me) will also be reasonably quiet – at least through Thanksgiving – so I’ll have plenty of time to get this blog back in sync with my silly little mind. More soon…I swear!