And you'll know at a glance by the two pair of pants
Mood:  spacey

The 300 references.  They will not stop.  Witness this snippet of dialogue:

My brother: I'm taking the truck over to Portland Glass to get that crack repaired.

Me: Come back with your windshield....or on it.

(OK, that one was my fault.)

*****

In the meantime, on top of Oranges and Sunshine and Killing Time, we're being treated to a luxurious, dizzying spate of new projects:  A Cautionary Tail, Measuring Up, On Borrowed Time, Dipped in Chocolate, Enjoy the Ride, and now Top of the Lake.  Doesn't it make you all fizzy with vigorously shaken up, carbonated anticipation?  Measuring Up is especially wonderful - it's a beautifully constructed (and narrated) short film, and a terrific cause.  I love the young actor who played Tom.  When you get kids from all walks of life together, with all different experiences, some amazing stories can result.  There's a certain amount of courage in putting your innermost words and pictures down on paper, and sharing them with others.  But it's also very liberating.

I also loved Enjoy the Ride, which has an inspiring message that applies even when you're not driving. (David's narration made me want to run outside and gaze peacefully at whales, except that it's dark and cold and all the boat charters are closed for the season and the whales have all gone to Bermuda anyway.  Fooey.)  Of course, it's not just speed, but obliviousness in general that robs you of awareness of the here and now.  Cars, MP3s, cell phones, portable DVDs, and texting all cut you off from awareness of what's happening outside your little cocoon.  Wake up and smell the other drivers!!

*****

Election Day today.  No statewide offices at stake, but we have three hotly contested ballot initiatives:

Question 1 - motion to overturn a law passed by our right-wing legislature and idiot Tea Party governor (and funded by the Koch Brothers) which would ban same-day voter registration in Maine.

The law was passed under the sanctimonious guise of "preventing voter fraud", but its real intent is to prevent working people, the elderly, college students, and immigrants from voting.  In other words, people who skew heavily Democratic.  In other other words, it's a voter suppression initiative.  That's just fundamentally (pardon the pun) undemocratic.  I would vote HECK NO against this law even if it went the other way, and worked to stifle Republican turnout.  Everybody deserves a voice.  And a nifty sticker that says "I Voted Today!"

Question 2 - Let's have casinos!

Question 3 - And more casinos!

I don't understand the fixation this state has with casinos.  Every November there's at least one question on the ballot proposing to install slot machines, or harness racing, or roulette tables, in some sleepy rural community 5 hours' drive from anywhere.  In fact, we already have 2 casinos,  as well as the Scarborough Downs racetrack, but it's not like they've proven to be huge tourist draws.  People come to Maine for the beaches, the mountains, the forests, the quaint seaside villages.  They come to ski and hike and sail and camp and laze on the beach and eat clams dripping with melted butter and go whale watching and ice fishing and moose spotting.  They do not come to Maine to sit inside a dark, smoke-filled slot parlor feeding in quarters from a bucket.  That's what Foxwoods and Monhegan Sun are for.  No amount of slot machines is going to transform the state into a glitzy neon destination for high rollers.  Las Vegas we're not. 

Maybe some of these casino developers should watch Enjoy The Ride.

*****

The countdown is on: 6 days to twins.  Collectively, they weigh somewhere around 14 pounds now.  The clothes rotation is down to two pairs of maternity pants and one pair of shoes that I don't have to bend over to put on.  (I'm planning an elaborate Viking funeral for them when this is all over.)  Oliver the cat is busy dispensing quantities of fur all over the cribs and changing pads and stroller and Pack 'n' Play (which, after I assembled it sans the instruction manual, had two metal support rods left over.  Hopefully they're not load-bearing rods).  My navel, once a deeply cavernous innie, has slammed shut into a tight-lipped nothingness.  I hope I didn't leave anything important in there, like car keys.  Wee little outfits are laundered and at the ready.  Diaper cases are stacked to the ceiling (roughly a half hour's supply, by my calculations).

And so we wait.  The world feels like a held breath right now.

See you on the other side...