WARNING: MORE POLITICAL TALK THAN I ORIGINALLY INTENDED

The kickoff was our office trip to go see Fahrenheit 9/11. I had a couple of mimosas in me, thankfully, or I might have left the theater and thrown myself under a bus when the film was over. Sure, Michael Moore is a blowhard who tells a skewed story. But beneath his gimmickry and Moore-ness, he presents important footage and information in a way that challenges us to get to the truth of the matter for ourselves. And you can't argue with seven minutes of My Pet Goat.

More importantly for me, he reminded me how truly angry I am about this administration. I tend to be very head-in-the-sand about the whole thing because I am so frustrated and feel so impotent. But there's an election coming up, and there are things that we can do. Think of how much damage has been done in four years. Our country is hated all over the world, the only people benefiting from the current economic policies are the "haves and have mores" as Bush himself called them. There's a constitutional amendment on the table that could take away the civil rights of gays, the Patriot Act is a travesty against civil liberties, and the right to safe and legal abortion is in danger. (Don't kid yourself that it isn't; the next president will be appointing more than one Supreme Court justice.)

I'd like to encourage everyone to register to vote, even if you think you are in a state that doesn't make a difference. Every single vote makes a difference. I want the popular vote in California to be overwhelmingly in favor of Kerry and Edwards. I want to see voter turnout somewhere above the apathetic 40% that it usually is. This election is important. It could well be the most important election in my lifetime.

Go to declareyourself.com and register to vote by mail. It is so easy. It is so important. (And yes, even if you disagree with me, I encourage you to register to vote. And also get informed. Don't just listen to the Rush Limbaughs and Ann Coulters of the world. Listen to the Al Frankens and Michael Moores, too. And then make your own decisions.)

I have also been looking at Driving Votes, and am strongly considering taking a trip to a swing state to register voters this summer. (I've always wanted to see the Grand Canyon and drive Route 66; Arizona might be fun. Other nearby swing states are New Mexico, Nevada and Oregon.) For now, it is still in the planning stages. If I decide to do it, I will have to figure out a fair fundraising strategy, and a strategy to follow if I raise no funds whatsoever. If I raise enough funds, I might do more than one state! If I don't raise any funds, well, that's what credit cards are for.

Okay, I'm done with the politics for now. That movie just had a profound impact on me, in spite of the problems I had with it--I'm so happy that it's doing well.

POLITICS-FREE CONTENT STARTS HERE

After that, we had a half-day at work, so I went home and caught a matinee of Before Sunset, the sequel to a movie I loved, Before Sunrise. One review said it was too short and I completely agree. I could have watched a movie that was twice as long. And I don't want to spoil anything, so all I will say is that it was perfect and lovely, and if you liked the first movie at all, you should go see this one. Try not to let the Ethan Hawke thing get in the way. The film is really so great.

Also this weekend I saw Spiderman 2, for which my expectations were way too high. I liked it, but I sure didn't love it. I don't know why I can stomach all kinds of cheese in bad romantic comedies (of which Before Sunset is not one) but Peter Parker has some maudlin conversation with his dead uncle and it makes me roll my eyes. I also find Toby Maguire, hot body notwithstanding, about as sexy as a turnip. Not to say he was bad in the film; he was actually great, as was Alfred Molina. But I find him sexless in general.

And then I went to Sacramento for Beth's Independence Day Extravaganza. This portion of the entry will be in Photo Essay form.

Others in attendance, but not pictured: Jared and Trish, Ian, and little pinky time.

On Monday, Shannon came over to help me make my Journalcon swag. (I purchased my plane ticket yesterday, and I will definitely be there.) It is the first swag I have ever tried to make, and damn cute if I do say so myself. I may even make some similar items as giveaways for my fundraising drive. That would be fun.

Then Shannon and I got totally nerdy and played the Sims. She's going to do a guest entry, so I won't spoil it, but it was a lot of fun. As you'll see when the guest entry goes up. Along with all the other content that should be going up soon. Thanks for sticking around while the site is in flux!

Oh, and speaking of sticking around, the occasion for the new site design (other than my own overwhelming boredom with the three-year-old design) is that July 1 was my five year journalversary. How time does fly. Five years, wow! If you've been reading from the beginning, remind me to send you some swag.