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the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Toronto, 2003.09.08

I did something stupid tonight. I was keen and did my civic/civil duty. I called the "Elections Ontario" people and asked about getting on the voter's registry so I could vote in the upcoming provincial elections.

So far, so good - nothing stupid in that. They told me that I'd have to come in and get registered. And I believed them.

That proved to be the stupid bit. I got out to Bathurst and Eglinton, where the office is for my electoral district. I filled out the forms. I watched as they struggled to find my apartment in their system. Then I listened as they told me, "Oh, we'll be canvassing that building!"

Dang abd blast. Two hours out of my life. Ah, well. I would have just spent the time doing something creative....

rand()m quote

It has always seemed strange to me...The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.

—John Steinbeck, Cannery Row