AND AS THE DAYS GREW SHORT...
The Horror came to America and chewed its way into the collective psyche. The people knew it was happening again. Daily they saw proof that the old tales were true. When the Horror returned, it didn't just move in to the big house on the hill. It awoke the Horror in the simple minded, the weak spirited, the followers and the down. When you've got nothing left, embracing evil is easy. There would be no treats this year. Oh, but there would be tricks. Bloody, costly tricks...
IN OTHER NEWS: I just watched that Dracula again. Is Johnathan Harker some kind of idiot? JOHNATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL: There's some weird, funky stuff going on but if I'm gonna sell real estate, I might have to get down with some draculas. 

MID-TERM VOTING 2: Return of the Enfranchised! (29 Days Out)

So, today these 13 states ended voter registration.

TEST

You moved: Some states have rules regarding residency. If they get return mail from your old address, they could drop you from the rolls. And you might live in a popular zip code. Check your registration! Update your address when you #CheckYourReg Something got hacked: Something you never heard about happened and your name got wiped. A computer blew up. A system went down. Somebody hit the wrong button. I don’t believe in widespread fraud but to say it’s not worth checking to see if you’re about to join the small percentage these glitches effects? Ten minutes of your life. Worth it! You died: Well, now you shouldn’t be voting at all, Mr. Zombie! We done told you! Something changed: A rule. A law. A location. A service. Something. And you don’t follow these things (who does?) until it matters. Like right now. Now is THAT time. You’ve been legally disenfranchised: There are states that have laws and statutes that allow them to kicked you off the roles because of a legal issue, a financial issue, or a political issue.

TWAIN ON VOTING: Part 2

Our marvelous latter-day statesmanship has invented universal suffrage. That is the finest feather in our cap. All that we require of a voter is that he shall be forked, wear pantaloons instead of petticoats, and bear a more or less humorous resemblance to the reported image of God. He need not know anything whatever; he may be wholly useless and a cumberer of the earth; he may even be known to be a consummate scoundrel. No matter. While he can steer clear of the penitentiary his vote is as weighty as the vote of a president, a bishop, a college professor, a merchant prince. We brag of our universal, unrestricted suffrage; but we are shams after all, for we restrict when we come to the women. Zing!* - "Universal Suffrage" speech delivered to the Monday Evening Club about 1875. Reprinted in Mark Twain: A Biography

MID-TERM VOTING: 30 DAYS OUT

But in this country we have one great privilege which they don't have in other countries. When a thing gets to be absolutely unbearable the people can rise up and throw it off. That's the finest asset we've got -- the ballot box. Mark Twain - interview in Boston Transcript, 6 November 1905 I believe that. And so I checked my registration. You still have 24 Hours! Time to overcome the glitches that sometimes happen. We have a voting system and systems are made of people and people make mistakes. Here are some things that could happen to prevent you from voting:

Halloween 18: Welcome To It

If you're not hip to the Vale, you need to get there. Spooky great! http://www.welcometonightvale.com/

Losing a Man

Sometimes we don't all make it. That's just life. And when you hang around with artists, you lose people. It's not uncommon to find artists dealing with intense highs and frightening lows. Addiction gets hold. Despair becomes a way of life. We lose the ability to hear anything other than the Editors in our head. And sometimes, some of us decide not waking up tomorrow would be better than facing another day of pain.

The Buddhist says life is pain and if you can accept that, everything becomes a little more peaceful. The Marine says life is pain and should be because who wants it to be easy anyway?

Losing is one thing. You're outnumbered, outgunned, outsmarted. That's how it goes.

Giving up is something else entirely.

If the Golden Rule is "Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you," then maybe the Iron Rule should be simply: Don't Give Up.

Don't. Give. Up.