2003.10.10 alright! i think i'm gonna score!

well now. the last post sparked quite a round of commentary. it's always amazed me how certain topics in certain circles can be so powerfully mobilizing. equally amazing is that often the most vehement and violent reactions are provoked by those topics that have the least chance of ever truly reaching a universal solution or consensus–abortion, religion, church & state, star trek vs. star wars, capt. kirk vs. capt. picard vs. capt sisko, windows vs. mac vs. amiga.

which is not to say that the commentary on the last post was vehement or violent, it was actually quite stimulating, exciting, and informative. if you haven't read them yet, you should.

aside from taking part in political discussions, i've been keeping myself busy. keeping my favorite girl relaxed and happy during her stressful educational endeavor. and pursuing all those other little tasks that i've outlined for myself.

i've nearly finished the database design for My Favorite Martyr. i've finished reading a few of the many books that have been piled up on my bookshelf for the last year or so. i went home for a visit with the family for my brother's birthday (he just turned 16, so if you're in the vicinity of Princeton, KY, be sure to keep a very sharp eye on any other cars on the road.) let's see… the band has recorded the main tracks of the last song of our album, so now we're getting down to mixing in earnest, adding extra layers, and writing new material. i've bought a flash book and am trying to teach myself that. and by god, now i'm very nearly 30 friggin years old. not yet damn it! not yet. but almost.

finally, to bring this back around to the topic of politics (my pet subject, of late), i'd like to be the first to point out my new 2004 Candidate Score Sheet. i'd like to be the first to point it out, but ironically enough, my friend ben has beaten me to it on the community blog he frequents–Lost in Louisville. He beat me to it, 'cause i've been showing it to him the last few days as it's been developing, and i'm a slow bastard about writing a new post. what does it mean when a veteran blogger gets beat to the punch on announcing one of his own projects? i'm not sure, but it's gotta be something profound.

anyway, check out the Score Sheet, and make note of the fact that there's even a link up at the top where you can get a blank version of the chart so you can do your own. if you're really cheeky, you might even email your chart to me (a completed HTML version would be easiest for those of you who know your way around the code, otherwise, just however you see fit.) and i'll figure out some place to put links to them all. sounds like a fun project for the whole family!

ok. enough with tha jibba-jabba. my boss is letting me leave work early–who am i to argue?!

- 04:47 pm :: permalink :: 4 comments
categories ::  Amiga - Birthday - Calls to Action - Cool Links - Family - Love Life - Lucifigous Prick - Music - Personal Projects - Politics - Work - x:13 Family

4 Responses to “alright! i think i'm gonna score!:”

Jennifer said:

I am seriously impressed. I think me and my husband will be sending in our 2 cents…
This is gonna go somewhere really good, I can feel it in my bones. Way to go with the technologically-enhanced-grass-roots self-educating-community-building effort. Beautiful!
But that's just my humble opinion.

# October 10, 2003,

m@ said:

thanks! glad you like the idea… i was feeling a bit obsessive compulsive for a while there, so opening it up to "the public" should help to alleviate that. 😉

plus, anything i can do to raise issue awareness/education levels, even if to a select group is a good thing, in my opinion.

of course, i'd *love* to be able to make this more "interactive" and more "automated", but for now the best bet is just to have interested parties send in their results. as many projects as i want to get some work done on, and as pressed for time as i habitually feel, i'm afraid creating an app to tally other's votes would be too consuming.

needless to say, i'll be totally intrigued to see the results that others send in, especially the results of people i know and whose opinions i respect.

# October 11, 2003,

Sara said:

So, how do you use this thing?

People with new babies need exceptionally easy instructions.

Love ya bro,

SARA

# October 11, 2003,

m@ said:

The easy way is to print out the blank score sheet (complete with instructions, added late last night!) and go to the issues pages that are linked from the column headers for each candidate.

Read through the statements for each issue, and assign the candidate a score on that issue from -3 to 3 (least to most agreement). when you've scored all the candidates (or as many as you want to score), put the data into one of the formats mentioned in the instructions, and send it to me in an email. I'll make up a chart for you and put it online.

I think maybe i'll even make up a "community score sheet" where i'll calculate an average score for all the candidates.

I'll look forward to seeing your results! Especially considering you're living in a Socialist country and have thoroughly enjoyed the benefits of a socialist national health program.

# October 11, 2003,

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