monday mail

Hi julia

How would you like to automatically achieve
almost anything you wanted... without having
to try - or even THINK about - achieving it?

I think that sounds great. That was the best of the Monday morning spam. But, you know, everyone complains about spam, but at least you can just hit "delete" and it's gone.
Unlike my snail-mail box which keeps reaching epic proportions every time I turn my back. I just tried photographing it three times, but each time the photo was completely illegible (or whatever the visual equivalent is). It's a mailbox that can't be photographed. Almost as if it is a vampire. Which is is. My life is being sucked out by faxes and emails and envelopes. I throw away or ignore 85 percent of that which is targeted at me and my various addresses and numbers. And rightly so. Yes, the other 15 percent is stuff I need and want to see. But does that seem proportional? And how much time do all those items read and discarded represent? Am I spending more than 10 percent of my life looking at stuff I don't need to see? And if it is more than 10 percent, how much more? More importantly, what is a reasonable amount of time to spend looking at stuff yo don't need to see here in the 21st century?

postscript: the email sends you to a site for brain bullet software.

the beat goes on

The general consensus, in the office today, on the matter of the Libby indictment is a. good and b. what about rove? Yes, the liberals have a blood thirst, although as far as weeks go, this sho hasn't been much of one for Bush. Truth be told, I don't feel, and have never felt, that burning liberal hate for the Bush administration. I tend to hold the political view that all politicians are the same (what is that view called again?) but, still, it's nice to see something resembling justice and I enjoyed this Salon piece about the situation (you have to watch a quick ad to read the article, FYI).
Man, this has been one convaluted and crazy scandal. And it ain't over yet. Of course, the role of the media is part of what makes this all so interesting.
On another note, slightly related, note, at least Robert Vigil resigned. Finally. Just got the press release from the gov about the search committee to replace Vigil. FYI:

Governor Bill Richardson today announced the members of a bipartisan search committee he has appointed to identify qualified candidates for the position of State Treasurer.  The committee will be co-chaired by Kim Sanchez Rael, a member of the Board of Finance and an Albuquerque businesswoman, and Craig Reeves, the President and CEO of the First National Bank of New Mexico in Clayton.  The group will present a list of three finalists to the Governor in about a week.
“The new Treasurer must be a have extensive experience as a financial manager, impeccable credentials and unquestionable character,” said Governor Richardson.  “I am confident the committee will provide an outstanding list of candidates, and I will choose the best of them to help restore the credibility and integrity to this important office.”
The committee consists of legislators, financial experts, and representatives of business and banking.
“This process will be non-partisan and non-political,” added the Governor.  “The main goal is to rebuild public confidence in the office and show the investment community New Mexico has resolved this difficult situation and is on solid financial ground.”
According to the state constitution, the Governor must appoint a replacement to serve until the next general election, which takes place in November, 2006.  The members of the search committee announced today by the Governor include:

Phil Archibeck- Banker, Albuquerque
Richard Ledbetter- Banker, Farmington
Bruce Malott- CPA, Albuquerque
Paul Bardacke- former NM Attorney General, Albuquerque
Rep. Jeanette Wallace, Los Alamos
Rep. John Heaton, Carlsbad
Rep. Larry Larrañaga, Albuquerque
Rep. Kiki Saavedra, Albuquerque
Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, Albuquerque
Sen. Joe Fidel- Grants
James Jimenez, DFA Secretary
Don Kidd- Banker, former state senator, Carlsbad
David Weymouth- Banker/Investor, Albuquerque
Steve Keene- CPA, Albuquerque
Derrick Watchman- Banker, Phoenix
Judy Espinosa- State Treasurer’s Office, Bureau Chief Admin. & Outreach, Santa Fe
Don Chalmers- Businessman, Albuquerque/Rio Rancho

So there's that.
In a completely unrelated piece of news (except everything's connected, right?), as you may recall Chilacas was slated for a council review and, Wednesday night, as we had our Halloween party, the council voted down letting Chilacas be a nightclub (my friend Joe Ray Sandoval, who has been running hip hop there since The Paramount closed) stopped by our party afterwards to give me the 411. As a result, tonight's Love Gun and Holllis Wake show, booked for Chilacas, have been cancelled, and the band members I've spoken to were pretty bummed. They also wondered how it was that the council drags its feet on so many things, but managed to vote this down so quickly (hey, it's a perception, thus valid). The band members are now out all the money they shelled out for this gig, not to mention the money they turned down for other gigs (Halloween weekend a big night for working musicians). They also have a newly embittered view of city politics. I see that as the bright side, though. It's hard to get certain segments of Santa Fe's populace particularly interested in Santa Fe politics, unless it hits home, and now it has. I told one of the band members it's not too late for him to run for city council.
I, however, must now decide how to spend my Friday night. I'm thinking Half Rack. I'm also secretly thinking SLEEP (well, not so secretly I guess), but I'm trying to stay motivated. Jesus, though, Halloween kind of takes it out of you around here. There's way too many Halloween thangs. On the bright side, I don't have to judge and/or MC the Swig Halloween Party this year, since they are not speaking to us (they're mad that we wrote that they were for sale after they denied it to us; but we had heard it all over town so, you know, we are a newspaper. Actually, I've now heard multiple times who they've sold to, but I haven't nailed it down yet).
On another tip, we had an interview with SF Police Chief Bev Lennen this week because I knew she was retiring and asked Dan to interview her. Lo and behold, on Thursday, both The New Mex and Journal run stories about her retiring. I wrote The Journal a snippy note asking them to remember to credit us when they follow our stories. The reporter told me he'd known for a while Lennen was retiring but was holding off on running it. Uh huh. I believe him; I thought everyone knew. But Lennen told Frosch that everyone started calling city hall after our article came out, so it wasn't really public knowledge, and apparently the dailies hadn't done anything on it. I love accidentally scooping people. I kind of assumed it had been written about already, which is why we covered it in the interview, rather than as a news article per se. But I guess the only place it had been made public was on Channel 16, during Zozobra.
 Well, I need to go talk to my reporters. There's a Fran Gallegos scoop in the air today they need to find out about before I let them leave.
Hey, Happy Halloween. Remember, any holiday that's about chocolate and dress-up is good.

Jen, Dan and I at SFR's Halloween Party at Vanessie's. Look for more photos on our website from the many, many attendees. Hope you were one of them. We had a blast.

thanks Jim Baca

this made me laugh.

duly admonished

Well, it's Tuesday and we are close to done with this week's paper and as soon as I sign off on Outtakes I am going to drive home, drive the speed limit home that is, and collapse in a heap. It turns out that dating someone takes a lot of time and disrupts one's routine and can even, on occasion, make a person stare off into space smiling like an imbecile. In other words, as I said to the guy-I've-been-dating-for-three-weeks last night, "Romantic love is sort of a disease, don't you think?" For the record, he does not. He also appears to have the good sense to find me amusing and not take the endless stream of cynical things that come out of my mouth too seriously. So far so good.
I am completely despondant, however, over the state of my driving record. Yesterday's court appearance was, in a word, abject. First off, that court house is hot and claustrophobic. Secondly, I was pretty much the last person called up which meant sitting through a solid hour of other people's lame excuses for speeding, failing to stop, street racing (seriously) drivig without insurance etc. By the time it was my turn, even though I thought I had a legitimate explanation for my most recent speeding ticket (not to mention the fact that I've been genuinely trying not to speed for months now) I didn't really have the stomach to listen to myself excuse myself. So I plead guilty and requested defensive driving school, was given a reduced fee, not sent to driving school (thank fucking god) and admonished by the fill-in judge Sonya Carasco Trujillo who, it should be noted, did not throw the book at me, but looked as though she would like to throw something at me. She "admonished me to slow down" and looked so generally disgusted with me you'd have thought I was an axe murderer. She truly seemed way more annoyed by me than she did by, for example, the street racers (of course journalists probably are below street racers in the food chain), and the uninsured and the failing to report an accident people, and I didn't even try to get out of anything. Now, granted, she did have a few of my prior offenses (speeding) in her possession, but still.
Anyway.
Halloween is fast approaching and SFR's Halloween party is tomorrow night and I have yet to figure out a costume. Halloween is kind of a big holiday around Santa Fe. I always forget how many Halloween events there are. It's like five costume contests in one week. Well, I am the judge of SFR's costume contest and I can promise you that in MY position as judge I will be fair, courteous and pleasant.

the merger we've all been waiting for

Despite consistent denials that everyone seemed to know were not sincere, it's now been reported that New Times will acquire Village Voice Media. There has been a lot of discussion about this matter. The alt.media sphere tends to lean against corporatization of any sort, so generally speaking folks have been concerned that this will create monopolistic media markets.
The deal will be subject to a Department of Justice review due to a past anti-trust situation. The Bay Guardian has been a particularly loud voice against New Times and undoubtedly we'll hear more from them soon. John Dicker, who wrote the Wal-Mart book we profiled recently, weighed in on the deal on The Huffington Post today, as did Dan Savage editor of The Stranger in Seattle. The Stranger competes against Seattle Weekly, a VVM paper.

muni court

Mondays at SFR aren't particularly pleasant on the best of weeks. But a Monday that includes a mandated court appearance is bound to be that much worse. Just fighting traffic all the way down Cerrillos is going to suck. And with my luck I'll manage to get a ticket on the way to court. Also, hate to say it, but at least if Judge Fran were there I could pretty much plan on a reduced fine, since she was sort of known for that kind of thing. (or maybe not; I don't know). I'm kind of hoping the cop who pulled me over doesn't show, although that's probably too much to hope for. I'm not feeling overly optimistic that the list of reasons I've prepared to try to talk my fine down are going to go over very well.
I haven't been to muni court since Tom Fiorina was judge. I think I was 19 or something. I had accidentally drove into and knocked down a wall on old Santa Fe Trail, largely because I was driving an Ecoline Van that was so huge I had to stand up to brake. Fiorina was pretty reasonable, particularly given that I plead (for some reason) no contest, which was ridiculous. (Fiorina asked me at the time, "so who's fault was it then? The wall's" and I thought, "yeah, good point.")
I feel sort of nervous and sick. I actually don't fare too well with authority figures and in law-enforcement situations.

life is a circus

Or at least it seems that way sometimes.
I'll compare life to the real thing. I'm supposed to go to the circus tonight. The "no animals harmed" circus, I might add. Hopefully I can make it through an evening without throwing up. Have I mentioned how much this sinus thing sucks? I'm now hearing reports from the blogisphere and beyond that others have suffered with this for weeks on end. And now my colleagues are catching it (ahem) from me. I guess that's why sick people shouldn't come to work. What a conundrum.
On another note, while I appreciate Move On in general, I'm not sure this letter writing campaign thing they and other groups have gotten into doing is a great use of grassroots energy. We, for example, don't publish these form letters that come in. They are obviously form letters for one and, for two, we only publish letters in response to things we've written. Sending mass letters to the media, here and all over, encouraging them to adopt fair practices and avoid another Judith Miller is not, I don't think, a particularly pointful endeavor as far as public discourse goes. Although, well, maybe a grassroots Internet campaign like that directed at the national media might send a message. According to the site, 13 letters have been sent to local media and hundreds to national media. On the other hand, we supposedly received three, according to the site, but in reality have only received zero so...
That New Mex story today about the magazine salesmen killing Benjamin Suazo in the bowling alley parking lot was very weird for a variety of issues. The fact that there are groups of people who sell magazines was one of them. The New Mex comment board on this is pretty interesting; the readers are right, race does tend to come into lots of things in Santa Fe.
Including politics or, perhaps, especially politics. As far as we can tell, based on today's reporting, practically the entire city council is now going to run for mayor. It's going to be a long political season, I can tell you that.
Just got this from the state police; thought it was sort of sweet and, of course, bizarre. Everything seems bizarre to me lately. I think my sinus cavity may have been previously responsible for rationale thought.

Albuquerque—DPS Motor Transportation Division Patrolman Stan Lundy delivered a baby boy when the expecting parents couldn’t make it to the hospital in time. 
Just before 7 pm on Friday October 7th Patrolman Lundy was checking the paperwork of a truck driver he had just pulled over when he was approached by the expectant father, Matt Heine.  He asked for an escort to the hospital.  Officer Lundy found that the expecting mother, Christi Heine, was in labor and it became very apparent that the baby was coming soon.
Baby Paul was born in the front seat of the car on the side of I-40.  Mother and baby were taken to the hospital by ambulance that arrived just after the birth.  Baby Paul weighed 8 pounds 9 ounces and was 21 inches long. He has three older siblings.
The truck driver was released without any citations.

Perhaps I can start getting out of tickets by always having a woman about to go into labor in the car with me. After all, cheaper to get the car washed than keep going to court.
Folks, I am out of here. Have a great weekend!

 

blog epistolary style

Dear Aimee Mann,
Thank you for the awesome show last night. You are way cool and your new album is dope. I would like to say I'm sorry you had to play in the James A Little Theater and I hope you don't think less of Santa Fe for it. You belonged in The Paramount, but it's closed. Or at least in a rockin' club where we could all drink and smoke and get rowdy with you. The acoustics weren't so hot last night and if I ever meet the audience members who walked out on you when you were playing I will have a few choice words for them. You rule.

Dear Sinus Cavity,
Could you please cut me a break? I don't have time for you right now. You can cause as much mind-numbing pain along my jaw line as you like, I'm not giving you anti-biotics. I drank some water. What do you want from me?

Dear Freelance Writers,
Is there any possibility you could just psychically divine everything you need to know about the upcoming gift guides so that I don't have to write it all out?

Dear Halloween,
You are the best holiday. We are going to party in your honor at Vanessie, a week from Wednesday at Vanessie. What should I dress up as?

Dear Internet,
I think it's cool that thanks to you I found two old friends from high school who I never thought I'd talk to again and whose names are different because they got married. I guess some people do that. I didn't. Of course, I got divorced.

Dear Guy I am Dating,
Yes, now you get the picture. I don't sleep. I don't eat. And I come to work when I'm sick.

Dear Albuquerque Journal,
Congratulations on the headline, "Grinch Didn't Steal Christmas." You made me laugh. I think it was actually intentional this time.

Dear Robert Vigil,
Please stop handling millions of dollars of state investments out of your house. This is just bad behavior. You'll have your day in court. Seriously, this is ridiculous.

Dear Santa Fe,
Congratulations on being ranked second to San Francisco AGAIN by Conde Nast readers as the best city to travel to. That's 14 years in a row. Guess we really are a tourist town.

Dear North Korea,
Can you ask the governor if he's going to run for president in the US and let us know?

Dear ipod,
Happy one-year anniversary. You are the best relationship I've ever had.

metatimes

There's a certain weird irony to this E & P story about the Miller Times saga. The irony, really, is that all the inside Times sources are anonymous for the story, given The Times' last public editor's ongoing investigation or, queries, into anonymous sources. This whole Times situation has been so interesting. I guess it's a bit of a litmus test of a variety of issues: institutional journalism, the relationship between government and journalism, the insularity of journalism.
So, tonight I am going to see Aimee Mann and I am pretty darned excited, given that Aimee Mann pretty much sings the soundtrack to my life. Well, most of my life. I have to confess to being in a slightly more optimistic mood of late on the romantic front. I am less optimistic about my "bird flu" situation. This weird sinus thing I have appears to be going around; I talked to Gwyn today and she's had the same thing for THREE WEEKS. There's nothing worse than hearing someone has the same horrible illness you have and that it lingers.
I am contemplating ducking out of here earlier and lying down for a little while. I think if I move quickly I can make a break for it.
But before I go, some of you may have seen funny e-bay item about the leather pants (I heard about it through terrell's blog.) Here's the followup.

bush bubbles

I had to steal this from Yvonne. It's not as graceful as the original version with the yogagirl falling, but it's more satisfying.

looks like rain

jesus I feel bad. My sinuses hurt so much it's making my teeth ache. I just want to go home and hide under my bed.
I think it's kind of exciting that James Martinez, who throws the cage matches, now says he's running for mayor. Maybe we can organize some kind of cage match mayoral forum.

is it hot in here?

or is it just the fever I'm running? Yes, I've got some kind of bug, which comes with fever, chills and swollen glands. My art director and I just wondered if perhaps I am the beginning wave of the bird flu pandemic. Here's hoping not. Although I might conceivably be able to take a sick day if such a thing were to happen.
Can you believe there's another hurricane on the way?
Can you believe I got pulled over AGAIN on Saturday night for driving, for one block, without my headlights on (to Sweeney for Rockfest. Now, yes, I should have remembered to turn on my lights (not something I normally do) and the cop could have flashed his lights at me and I would have checked. Instead, he pulled me over and asked how I planned to see without lights, and did I plan to "have the force guide me." And said if I didn't turn on my lights a drunk driver might hit me. I have to say, given my growing repertoire of Santa Fe cops, the state police and sheriffs deputies are always very polite; the Santa Fe city cops seem to go out of their way to be sarcastic and mean. He gave me a written warning and sent me on my way. I saw him later at Rockfest. He was about my height. I am growing weary of this police state.

just in

just heard former city manager jim romero picked up a packet to run for mayor. Jaysus.
I am very tired today, my friends. Who knew a night in a bowling alley playing pinball could end so late?
I'm psyched for Rockin the Cage tomorrow night. I think it will be fun.
I think this Slate story on how much the press loves Ipods is really interesting and kind of funny. I, as everyone who knows me knows, love my ipod with devoted passion. I believe the words, "I want to marry my ipod" came out of my mouth recently.
I so can't wait to go home and lie down. Lay down. Lie down.
Sleep.
Vayo con dios.

the mayor's race beginith

Yesterday Larry Delgado announced he won't seek a third term as mayor. It's a little paranoid for me to think he made this announcement on a Wednesday so that we wouldn't have much chance to report on it but, there you have it. How to win my good graces: Only break news on Mondays and Tuesdays!
I said as much to former County Commissioner Paul Duran when he called that morning to tell me he was going to run for mayor now that Larry is out of the race. I had run into Duran a few weeks ago while I was arriving at and he was leaving Santacafe and he had promised me I'd be the first to know when he decided. (I didn't ask for this commitment, he just volunteered it. I think because the New Mex reported on his former DWI and we really didn't (again, politicians, if you're going to get popped for DWI please do it on a Monday or Tuesday) and now, for some reason, Duran feels favorable towards SFR, a state I'm sure won't last long. Later in the day when I talked to Duran (while waiting at the mechanic's for my headlight to get fixed) he said that now he wasn't sure what he was going to do because former county commissioner Javier Gonzales (a politician who definitely does not favor SFR following an investigative report I wrote and we published in 1998) might run and Duran wasn't sure if he and Javier should face off and risk taking each other's votes. My guess is Gonzales is a slightly more viable candidate (longer out of the public eye et. al) but anyway, I asked Duran how they would decide and he said, "rock, paper, scizzors." (As a side note, Paul Duran is one of the few public figures I've ever known with a sharp, sarcastic tongue and even though his politics might not be quite my cup of tea I can't help but appreciate the humor). Duran then told me he felt it was his destiny to be mayor and had even had a dream about it. I asked him what the dream was and he said, "I was mayor in it." He also said he thought the mayor should get paid a real salary, like $125,000 (which is probably not the best campaign platform IMO) because otherwise one would always have retired people running for office who could afford a $20,000 a year salary. Not that he has anything against retired people, he added.
Anyway, I'm supposed to get an update on this next week, he says, after him and Javier hash things out. So I guess the mayor's race is about to heat up and it is looking like an exciting campaign season. Stay tuned, and send us your political gossip!

anything for buffy's dad

I didn't get a blogging invitation to preview Joss Whedon's movie Serenity but I am definitely going to go see it. I am, as those in the know know, a die-hard Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, so anything from Whedon is alright by me.
On another note, Dan Frosch hurt his back and had Jonanna walk on it earlier. And I was there (it was in the doorway of my office so it was hard to miss).

out w/ the old

Delgado won't seek re-election. Wonder if that means next year we'll get a mayor who returns our phone calls?
Dare to dream.

now that's funny

Melinda in our office just told me that this photo of City Councilor David Coss made Jay Leno last night. I have to say, I still haven't recovered from how funny this photo is. Did the new mex not notice how big his nose looked? Or did they think it was funny too? More importantly, did Coss think it was funny? Well, I'm supposed to have coffee with him tomorrow to hear about his mayoral campaign, so I guess I can ask him then.

now that's a woman

I am still trying to recover from Salon's article about men having sex with blow-up women (see previous post). But I have counterbalanced my horror at this article (horror is not the right word but I am on deadline and tired of WORDS) (also, not like I've never heard of this before, but the article was so detailed and, um, well, just read it) by reading my friend Heather's blog and looking at her really unflattering photos of herself post-wisdom teeth surgery. I like it when people keep it real.

hey doll

Uh huh.

columbus day bad

In the newspaper biz a Monday holiday in which no government offices are open is nothing but a pain in the ass. Particularly when said newspaper goes to press on Tuesdays and several reporters have left some reporting over and can not complete it because there is no one to answer the phone in their offices (noun agreement?). For my part, I rolled into the water company parking lot at 8 am to pay my bill and then realized there was no one there to take my money. Thank God for the drop box. A lackluster weekend, folks, filled with mishaps (a burned out headlight I've been unable to fix myself and am too afraid to take to Pep Boys on account of them basically blowing up my car the last time I went there). Bets on how long it takes for me to get pulled over for it? On the bright side, there are lots of pumpkins around and, well, who doesn't love a pumpkin? Am starting to strategize over my Halloween costume; have yet to make a decision. SFR will be having its Halloween party this year at Vanessie's (used to be at The Paramount which is, of course, no more) on the 27th I believe (whatever the Wednesday is before Halloween) so start planning! Hmm. Looks like the cover story just landed on my desk. Guess I better find my red pen.

tgif and top 10

Wow, I've been a lousy blogger this week. This week feels as though it was a month long. To tell you the truth, if you could see me right now, typing at my desk, a slightly crazed look in my eye, you might forgive my inability to gather my thoughts well enough to type out a few cohesive sentences here or there (and you know it's bad when people start sending you topics). I could tell you, briefly, that my regular hair appointment turned into a four-hour procedure that ended with part of my hair being purple, but I'm still in shock over it (I took a day off yesterday in an attempt to regroup. It didn't work very well, hence I have partially purple hair).
OK, here's a top 10 to finish off my week.

1. I wish the Supreme Court had decided to hear this case.. I remain very worried about The Patriot Act. If you missed it when it came out, Silja Talvi wrote a great story about it in August.
2. As mentioned previously, I interviewed John Grubesic, our state senator from Santa Fe, who has had a difficult year, for this week's issue. At any rate, Grubesic reveals, in the interview, that he's in a 12-step program. I was contacted, anonymously, by a reader, who said under AA's rules, Grubesic shouldn't have revealed that, nor should I have. I spoke with a close friend on this topic, and he thought it was open for debate. Actually, he recited chapter and verse the AA manual that refers to this issue, but that's another story.
3. I might be going to Hawaii in January. I love Hawaii and I haven't had a vacation in a thousand years.
4. Michael Tisserand, from Gambit Weekly, got props for his ongoing series about life after Katrina. It's good writing, and you can read it every week on Altweeklies.com
5. I have an entire plate of cookies from Santa Cafe on my desk, but I'm not going to eat them.
6. R.E. Harriet Miers, Jessie Jackson has a point.
7. I turned on the heat for a minute last night when it was cold and then realized I won't be able to afford gas this winter if I don't hold out a little longer.
8. I guess the House Republicans are reviewing Vigil's impeachment. I can not believe he went back to work.
9. I'm allergic to bees. Stories like this freak me out.
10. See, I'm not just thinking about my own personal life. I am also thinking about politics and the supreme court and gas prices and bees and…oh, I'm not fooling any of you am I?
Have a great weekend!

focus!

I've had a few stern emails from my blog readers wondering why my blogging has been so lackluster this week. Well, I've been very busy with work.
OK, OK. I met a boy. And we've been out a few times this week and it's been a little hard to focus because it's been a MILLION years since I actually liked someone and a. I don't remember what it's like and b. apparently it makes you kind of nervous and jumpy and you can't concentrate very well. So, there, now you know. Let's never speak of it again.
Ahem. So my task today is to start what I'll refer to as The Election Files, meaning making sure I've started compiling bios and photos and phone numbers for all the various candidates for all the various upcoming elections, firstly the March 7 city elections. We have a good story today on the fact that the city has yet to form the committee that would consider various electoral reforms on the ballot in March. This is really unfortunate, I think, because it would really serve Santa Fe voters to have the option of runoff elections. Runoff elections, as you may or may not know, mean that when someone runs for office, they need to get at least 50 percent of the vote to win. Voters, when voting, choose not just one candidate, but a first, second or third choice (depending on how it's set up. There are a variety of different ways to run runoff elections and one of the criticisms is that it can be confusing and/or costly). But what this means is voters don't have to vote "politically," i.e. for the candidate they think will win, they can vote a little bit with their hearts as well. It also means that candidates don't go into office with 23 percent of the vote or some such thing, which can often happen when there are a lot of candidates in a race. I think it's really important for Santa Fe's government to get cracking on these electoral issues. Look how vibrant and interesting Albuquerque's election was. Part of that is because they had ISSUES on the ballot, not just people. And one way Santa Fe could generate, I hope, more interest in civic debate is by having electoral questions on the ballot, like runoff and campaign finance etc. I mean, granted, Albuquerque didn't have great turnout, but Santa Fe is the kind of place, I think, that if there were substantive issues on the ballot voters would weigh in. I think one of the reasons voters turn out less is that all they are voting for are candidates, and none of the candidates inspire enough energy one way or the other for people to show up.
Ahem. Speaking of candidates and politicians, I thought my interview with State Sen. John Grubesic was kind of interesting. Well, it was a very interesting interview to conduct but, obviously, quite shortened for publication. It's odd to talk to someone as candid as Grubesic tends to be about things. Well, we'll see how people react.
OK. I'm off to get organized and stay focused! Sorry for the personal disclosure that begun this entry but, hell, it's my blog and I'll blab if I want to.

five seconds

Some Mondays are worse than others. This one has been... not bad, but I feel internally frantic. Am also transcribing like crazy. I type insanely fast but not with great accuracy (kinda the same way I play the piano). I need to go the gym and run full speed on the treadmill for a while and burn off some nervous energy. I'll be glad when this issue is put to rest. I'm glad I did some laundry over the weekend. I'll be glad when my hair is cut on Thursday so I don't look like a hairball with eyes much longer. I am actually curious to see what happens with Albuquerque's election tomorrow. It's interesting how remote Albuquerque's politics are from Santa Fe's. I've been more into it than normal as a result of reading Jim Baca and Joe Monahan's blogs. I look forward to writing a post with more depth at some point, but any Monday post is an accomplishment of some sorts, I suppose. We sent a writer to the border to cover the Minutemen over the weekend. That won't be in this Wednesday's paper though, but next week's so we have a chance to absorb things. OK, back to transcribing for now.