The Progressive Case for Tackling Public Sector Pensions

Three cheers to Gina Raimondo, Rhode Island's treasurer, for not only getting the tiny state's pension costs under control, but being motivated to do so to preserve important public services. Consider this excerpt from Time Magazine's article on her:

"'I still believe in the power of government to make lives better, and I believe that if someone is willing to take a stand, other people will follow,' she says. 'Those diplomas on my wall would not be there without the GI Bill that educated my father, without the public library, without the RIPTA bus.' In other words, the progressive case for tackling bankrupt public-sector pensions rests on the idea that government has obligations to the future as well as to the past. That may sound obvious, but it is a theory that crosses a major Democratic fault line. The stewards of past obligations - namely the unions representing public-school teachers and other government employees - have been the backbone and sinew of the party for a generation. The unions are among the biggest donors, and their members pound the pavement at election time. They have no interest in giving up the fruits of their loyalty."

Quite ballsy of the rookie Democratic politician to do the right thing rather than kowtow to the power players within her party. But she's absolutely right: if we don't get our spending in order, we run the risk of defaulting on the ability to provide the essential services we will need in the future.

Deficit reduction at any level has morphed into a charged moral issue and an ideological litmus test. But kudos to Raimondo for boiling it down to its essential choice: do we rein in our spending, or do we create burdens now that hinder our ability to provide for the future? Which would we rather save our money for: yesterday's obligations or tomorrow's needed public services?

Diverse Discussion

I first learned how to lead spiritual discussions while in college, where I had the opportunity to run Bible studies in the dorms for three years. While there might have a wide range of familiarity with the Scriptures, the perspectives tended to be fairly homogenous, since the participants were drawn from the same pool of young, relatively well-off Ivy Leaguers.

It wasn't until I got involved in my church here in West Philadelphia that I've enjoyed the privilege of leading a more diverse group in spiritual discussion. Earlier this month was the last of six weeks that I taught Sunday School at church, finishing up a 12-week DVD-based discussion called "The Reason for God," in which Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, talks about difficult questions with a group of non-believers.

Dr. Keller and the DVD participants were pretty cerebral, as well, as were our congregants. Fielding questions like "why does God send good people to hell" and "how can a good God allow suffering and evil" tend to move the discussion in those directions.

And yet, because of the mish-mosh of Sunday School attendees, rather than in spite of it, we ended up having a really wide range and a really meaningful depth of discussions. In our group included the marginalized and the powerful, the well-educated and the less educated, people in their 20's and people in their 80's, whites/Asians/blacks/Latinos, and so on.

Even with all of this diversity, people did a good job of listening to one another and staying on topic, by and large. The topics each week were so accessible that practically everyone contributed, and no one felt they had nothing to share or were too afraid to share.

Alas, the DVD series came to an end, so I'm taking a break from leading Sunday School until at least the first of the new year. One participant came up to me afterwards and said we should keep on talking about these things. I do hope that congregants will continue to wrestle and share and listen and help. And I'm now racking my brains as to what we can cover in 2012 that will also lend itself to such a diverse group being able to track together and carry on such a lively discussion.

Lazy Linking, 61st in an Occasional Series

What I liked lately on the Internets:

61.1. Why law schools should pay students to quit.

61.2. While I'm for spending cuts and tax increases, and not just spending cuts, I'd like there to be far more spending cuts than tax increases, and here's why - "Raising taxes is not like earning more income; it’s more like visiting the ATM." Speaking of which, Keith Hennessey describes how Congressional Republicans now agree with my position, and what that means for political messaging.

61.3. The dessert version of turducken. [Hat tip: Marginal Revolution.]

61.4. David Brooks again shines a light on why our current political dysfunction is so problematic.

61.5. I don't begrudge Big Pharma making beaucoup bucks on their drugs in the same way I don't begrudge athletes making huge salaries - in both cases, the big winners represent a tiny sliver of all the initial entrants. Speaking of which, Adam Ozimek discusses why we shouldn't penalize the highest fliers among us.

61.6. Original sketches from the creator of many of Macintosh's icons. [Hat tip: kottke.org.]

61.7. Whether you believe in man-made climate change or not, remember that the best way to help the poorest among us who are affected by extreme weather is to help them become richer.

61.8. Subsidies for alternative energy to wean us off fossil fuels - good idea or boondoggle. Discuss. The Economist did.

61.9. Proof that love truly exists - your partner isn't the optimal amalgam of your preferences, but rather something entirely different and better.

61.10. Liu Bolin has disappeared again. But now we can see how he does it!

Composterized

I was first introducted to composting in fourth grade. A rep from a farm our class was going to visit told us how a student the previous year was able to pack his lunch without generating trash. The student's mom had used a container that he brought back home, and packed a fruit salad inside a cantaloupe skin. The skin could then be thrown into the compost pile at the farm. Everyone was impressed, even if we couldn't quite figure out what the big deal was.

Some three decades later, I have finally taken the lesson to heart. But I'm doing it the cheap and lazy way, so I'm asking for your help to correct me if I'm doing something wrong. I bought two new garbage cans so that I could commandeer our old garbage cans. I drilled holes in them for ventilation, laid down some plastic wrap underneath them, and then filled them about a quarter-full with some dry leaves I had gathered the weekend before. Every time I wash the dishes now, I throw fruit and vegetable clippings into a bin, and wash my dishes over this bin, take the bin outside and dump the food waste and the grey water into the garbage can, and then shake some more leaves on top.

I say "cheap and lazy" because there are obviously better ways to do this: I could secure the area with chicken wire, or buy a composting barrel, or stir more often, or put the garbage cans on the ground rather than on plastic tarp on my backyard deck a few feet from the door from the kitchen. But my time is scarce, I'm a cheap bastard, and I don't need the soil until spring. So I have time on my side. I'm just not sure if the compost will "take" (i.e. will convert to soil), or if the trash can will attract vermin or insects. I sure hope not; it makes me feel good to think that I'm converting what I used to let go down the kitchen sink drain into soil that I would otherwise have to pay money for next spring. But I welcome your feedback on how to do this better, if you have any thoughts.

70,000 Hits

We celebrate another milestone here at Musings: 20,000 hits as of May 2009, 30,000 hits as of February 2010, 40,000 hits as of November 2010, 50,000 hits as of March 2011, 60,000 hits as of July 2011, and now 70,000 hits as of November 2011 since I put a counter on the site in February 2005 (which was two years after I had launched this blog in February 2003). (Counts do not include views from other sites, like Facebook and Linkedin, where my posts also go.) Thanks for visiting, and I hope you'll continue to stay engaged.

Turkey Talk

Of my many pet peeves, this one is relevant for today: people wishing you a "Happy Turkey Day!" I'm not sure why, but I have less of a problem with the commercialization of Christmas or the bunnification of Easter than with the turkefication of Thanksgiving. Part of it is that pounding the turkey and then either watching grown men in colorful uniforms beat each others' brains up on TV (i.e. football) or gearing up for crazed bargain-hunting (i.e. Black Friday) seems so stereotypically American in the worst sense that I am hoping against hope for different traditions that don't indicate a fat and happy empire on the decline.

Part of it is that by substituting in the word "turkey" we are substituting out the word "thanksgiving." And, in our cynical and spoiled times, I think it's all the more important to get back to a posture of thankfulness. I'm not even going as deep as being thankful to God, although obviously I believe that is important. I'm just talking about being thankful and expressing thanksgiving. If we would only take the time to consider the totality of our lives, we would be astounded at how good we have it.

For all our complaints about the economy, about injustice, and about the big and small problems in our lives, there is likely far more to say in the positive. We owe it to thank many people for their generosity and kindness. We are living in a time of unprecedented wealth, comfort, and medical and technological advancement. And, those of us who believe in God believe in a good and powerful and omniscient source of all of this goodness, and that in itself is reason for giving thanks.

So, yeah, enjoy the turkey today. But give thanks for it, and for everything else, good and bad, that your life consists of. We'll soon reach our fill of turkey and football and shopping. But we won't soon run out of things to be thankful for.

The Economics of God and Giving

Not long ago, our church's "Stewardship Sunday" would feature an announcement by someone in our Finance Committee encouraging congregants to make a pledge for the coming year, so we could budget accordingly. Having a sense of how much we're going to receive in offerings is helpful for being good stewards of our money, but it occurred to us elders a few years back that stewardship is primarily a spiritual issue and not a financial one, so we asked to take on the announcement. This year was my turn to give the announcement, and I read from 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, making three points along the way:

1 Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, 2 that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.

Surely our congregation can relate to affliction and deep poverty.

3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, 4 begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints,

Wow. Giving, giving more, and begging to give still more. All so that they might have the privilege of participating in the support of the saints. Would that we have such an attitude when we give.

5 and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

Aha, so there it is. We give ourselves first to God and to each other. And that was my challenge to our congregation, to do just that.

I closed by reading a couple of nearby verses:

8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.

It is a strange faith we practice, that we are made rich through Someone's poverty, and that when we give we end up with more and not less. Such is the economics of God and giving.

Lazy Linking, 60th in an Occasional Series

What I liked lately on the Internets:

60.1. Why relocalizing food production is bad for the environment.

60.2. Hat tip to many for steering me to this delicious post on the economics of the McRib sandwich.

60.3. Navajo Nation is floating bonds, monetizing natural resources, and catalyzing mixed-use development.

60.4. The face of modern slavery. So sad on so many levels.

60.5. There is a correlation between household income and fast food consumption. Just not the correlation you're assuming.

A New York Minute

Huzzah for Philadelphia and huzzah for public transit, that I can do the following in between the time I drop off my kids at school in the morning and the time I pick them up from school in the evening:

* Take a bus to the train station and a train to New York City
* Check in at a housing finance conference and listen to a couple of speakers
* Participate in a 90-minute panel discussion
* Network over lunch
* Have three meetings in three different locations around Manhattan
* Grab the train back to Philly and the bus back to my neighborhood

Yup, that was my Friday. Let the weekend begin.

Pass Intercepted

Ugh. Earlier this week, somehow, even though I always jam my Transpass deep into my back pocket, it crept up the pocket, out of the pocket, and onto the street, somewhere between my home and my subway stop. I retraced my steps in their entirety, even returning to the two drop-off locations of my kids, and even though I needed to catch a train to Harrisburg for a speaking engagement. But to no avail. I am pass-less for the remainder of the month.

I have tried to convince myself that perhaps the Transpass was found by someone who needed it more than me. But I am still grumpy. There are no full work weeks from here to the end of the month (and hence weekly Transpasses aren't worth me buying), so I have bought a wad of tokens to get me through, and will count down the days until I am with Transpass again, with all of the freedom and free riding that comes with it.

Community Association

Last night, I was voted onto the Spruce Hill Community Association board at their annual meeting. I am delighted to serve in this capacity. Everyone should serve on a neighborhood association board at some point in their life.

This one is particularly rewarding for me, because the people in my neighborhood are really good-hearted. Plus, collectively they make for a huge step up in my intel on issues of importance to me, like upcoming real estate developments, neighborhood events, and of course the status of our schools. That last topic took up the bulk of the 90-minute meeting, between a Q&A with the principal of Lea Elementary and a presentation by a neighborhood mom who has banded together other neighborhood parents to engage Penn Alexander, Penn, and the School District concerning enrollment issues at Penn Alexander.

Heck, I even got two nice grey SHCA T's (one for me, and one for Amy) for five bucks, as well as a free stack of brown bags for recycling leaves. And I enjoyed a pleasant walk home with two other board members, both of whom have kids at Penn Alexander who are friends with Jada. The whole thing felt very similar to my experiences with and affinity for my church: a quirky and diverse mix of good-hearted neighborhood people who are engaged in meaningful issues and trying to do good stuff in the community. Sign me up for more of that, indeed.

It's Official: David Oh Takes the Final City Council Seat

The extra counting is over, and it is official. David Oh will be sworn in as a City Councilman at Large in January. I am honored to have campaigned for him, and am looking forward to seeing him in action and hopefully working with him. Philadelphia, your days just got a little brighter.

Ever the Contrarian

Let's see: I've already outed myself as Christian, capitalist, and Republican at a time when and in a place where Christians are accused of being intolerant, capitalists are accused of being greedy, and Republicans are accused of being uncaring. I'm on record for saying property taxes should be higher, as should gas prices. Heck, I've even said my utilities bills are too low.

So what more could I possibly say to convince you that I am certifiably insane? Well, for starters:

1) I think the Electoral College is the best way to elect a president. Folks, we're a representative democracy, not a democracy. And, if you don't like that there are swing states versus irrelevant states, consider the alternative of a popular vote, which would be that candidates would only spend their time in dense urban areas, completely neglecting the sparse rural areas that make up the vast majority of our land. Urbane urbanites might say "good!" but my point is that a popular vote leads to distortive campaigning behavior just like the Electoral College does.

2) I think the BCS is the best way to determine a national champion. You might convince me that a four-team playoff is a good alternative, except that the scheduling logistics might be challenging, and I know we've given up on calling the players "student athletes," but two bowl games during finals, both potentially involving long road trips, seems a bit much. The BCS takes a combination of humans and machines and spits out a 1 and a 2, and they play each other, which isn't half bad. The old system, or a playoff system, aren't as clean.

3) I don't think there's anything wrong with the intentional walk or the designated hitter. I'm as much of a baseball purist as anyone as young as me can be. But there's nothing wrong with pitching around the other team's stud when the game is on the line. Baseball is more of a team sport than most others for the very reason that, when the chips are down, you can't send your best hitter up at will, as he has a set spot in the lineup and he can only come up once every nine at-bats. And if the other team wants to put him on first, it's up to the guy after him. I fail to see why this is bad for the game. As for the DH, who doesn't like more hitting? And who doesn't like the wrinkles that result from AL teams playing in NL ballparks, and vice versa?

I have more, but I'll stop here.

Happy Veteran's Day

War is evil. Corporate interests may play too much of a role. Maybe we shouldn't have invaded Iraq. It can all seem like such a waste - of resources and of human life.

Maybe you believe some of the statements above. Maybe some or all of them are patently obvious to you. Maybe to think otherwise is sheer lunacy. I don't know.

I do know that there are a lot of people out there who have served in war. We call them veterans. They have survived something unfathomably dangerous and difficult. Most have served with a greater purpose and courage and dignity than I will ever summon up in my entire life. Some bear scars - physical and/or mental - that utterly debilitate them. They all paid a steep price of some sort for the honor of serving their country.

All of them deserve our respect and admiration today.

Giving to Caring

I am on the Host Committee for the Caring Center's 25th Anniversary Gala, to be held at World Cafe Live on Saturday, November 12, and am requesting your support of this great event and this great organization.

Both my kids went to Caring Center in West Philadelphia and benefited greatly from the good-hearted teachers, sound instruction, and other resources. At a time when schools and pre-schools are usually pretty homogenous, the Caring Center was incredibly diverse, by race and ethnicity, income level, and profession, which made for a really good experience for my kids and other kids as they made friends and played and learned together.

Early education has a great return on investment. If you are interested in finding out more about how you can support the Caring Center through this event, whether by writing a check, getting a ticket, buying an ad, or being a sponsor, please write me back with your contact information and I will have the Caring Center send you information and follow up with you. Thank you in advance for your support of the Caring Center and of early education.

Repent State

There has been an outpouring of righteous indignation, in the media and in social settings I have been a part of, in response to the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State University, in which a long-time trusted assistant under revered football coach Joe Paterno was arrested for 40 counts of sexual abuse of young boys over a 15-year period. This indignation has tended to focus on the abusive acts, as well as on the ways in which Penn State leadership either did not act forcefully enough or did not act at all when confronted with their existence.

You may find it strange to know that I have not felt or expressed much of that indignation. It is obviously not because I don't believe these acts are abhorrent; I know far too many people in my life whose lives have been wrecked by sexual abuse to think that these are minor transgressions. It is also not because I am a Penn State football fan who wishes for this whole incident to go away so that I don't have to deal with the stain this is going to leave on Paterno's legacy or on the ability of the team to have future success.

Maybe it is different for different sins, and maybe I am oversimplifying things, but I think there are generally two reactions to these kinds of situations, both of which emerge from a realization of one's own flaws. The first is to allay one's own guilt by pouring condemnation on others worse than us. If we even have an inkling that there are consequences to our own bad behavior, we can be made to feel better that there are others out there who are worse than us. And, piling on the condemnation further removes us from dealing with the possibility of our own condemnation.

The other response is for outwardly wicked sins to remind us of our own sinfulness, and to sober us to its consequences. We are reminded that the withering heat applied to those at the center of the Penn State scandal is nothing compared to the ultimate judgment exercised by the Ultimate Judge. We are reminded of the cry of the psalmist in Psalm 130: "If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" We are brought to our knees by the realization of all of our own sins, as well as all of the times we have been sinned against, as well as all of the sinfulness around us. And, try as we might, even by recommitting to good deeds and repenting of bad deeds and helping others walk right, we are ruinously marred by the existence of sin in our hearts and in our generation.

I'm not saying there is no role or no right for us to heap judgment on those who hurt children or on those who cover it up. These are despicable acts worthy of condemnation. But, let us tend to our own souls as well, and use this tragic set of events to see whether we are mindful of the darkness in our own hearts, sobered into confession and repentance by the searing heat of God's judgeful eye, and made all the more joyous at the reality of His mercy by the awareness of our dire need for it.

May God have mercy on those who have done wrong, on those who have been wronged, and on all of us who have done our share of wrong and of being wronged. I leave you with the remaining verses from Psalm 130, which follow after the one I quoted above:

If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Still Too Close to Call

This feels familiar. In 2007, David Oh won by seven votes but then lost by 122 when the absentee ballots were counted. Yesterday, 96 percent of ballots had been counted and David was up by 140. So it's still too close to call.

There's nothing to do but wait and hope for now. Hopefully this will be made official soon. In the meantime, here are some personal highlights and lowlights from the last day of campaigning for David Oh in 2011:

* My daughter greeted me in the morning with “Happy David Oh Day!” Meanwhile, my son bounded downstairs and said, “I’m ready to vote for David Oh now.” (I assure you no four-year-olds voted for David Oh yesterday. I am not sure I can make that statement about other candidates.)

* Low turnout had the kids bummed about standing outside in the cold holding up “Vote for David Oh” signs. In the hour before school started, we must have seen a grand total of 12 voters. I guess the fanfare of going to door to door and passing out stuff was much more interesting to them than standing still not seeing anyone walk by.

At any rate, I'm proud of my kids for tolerating me exploiting their cuteness and their labor on behalf of my candidate. Let's hope that their efforts were not in vain.

Vote for David Oh Today

Lazy Linking, 59th in an Occasional Series

Stuff I liked lately on the Internets:

59.1. An elite marathoner trains just like I do, by running on city streets.

59.2. "I think a more diverse viewpoint needs to be raised. The problem is that in an introductory course, what the professor says is generally taken as fact." Seriously? Has this generation of college students lost the ability to think critically?

59.3. Siri = silly now, Google killer later?

59.4. "Freshman 0.5" just doesn't have the same ring to it, although it's truer than "Freshman 15."

59.5. Liu Bolin has disappeared again.

Following Jesus in a World Saturated by Social Media

The image above is something a friend of mine sent to me a while back. It got an immediate chuckle from me, but also made me wonder what it is like to convince a young person in 2011 to follow Jesus. In a world in which fundamentalist Christianity is so often mocked and dismissed, when young people find it completely normal to constantly multi-task, have scores of extra-curricular activities, and "follow" hundreds of people, how does one make a compelling case for dropping everything and following an itinerant preacher who lived and died 2000 years ago?

My casual observations below have probably been recited countless times already in the blogosphere, so I realize I'm not breaking new ground here. But humor me, as I'm writing this as much for myself as others.

It seems to me that "the long obedience in the same direction" that Eugene Peterson talks about is still, in an attention deficit disordered world, what God calls us to, and still what many of us may desperately long for, our outward behavior notwithstanding. That is to say, pruning down from too many endeavors to just those that are meaningful is still a good word.

It also seems to me that the various media by which we send and receive information must be engaged in by followers of Jesus. Somewhere in between being captured by it and self-righteously boycotting it (and who doesn't know people who represent either extreme, or hasn't themselves represented either extreme?), there's a happy medium that acknowledges that media matters, that media is inherently neutral, that media can be negative (and therefore we should take caution), and that media can also be positive (and therefore we should try to use it in those ways).

Would Jesus tweet? Do you imagine him having more followers than anyone else, or do you imagine him speaking a condemning word against the whole exercise? Again, I think it's somewhere in between, although I will note that while he had his mass-audience moments, he was much more likely to trade in more intimate groupings. (Maybe he would "direct message" more often than tweet?)

Of course, there's more to social media than just the big three of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and youngsters are increasingly spending hours and hours interacting with each other on a whole host of apps and platforms. I'm not sure that Jesus would be completely ignorant or avoiding of such things, but I think he would probably lean on the side of seeking out fewer, deeper, more intimate contacts: less sermons on the mount, and more concentrating on 12 men. Without going overboard and incorrectly dismissing the whole industry, we should probably do something like that as well.

What's Luck Got to Do With It

No, this is not a post about Stanford quarterback and poster boy Andrew Luck. It's about what luck has to do with success in life. As much as it pains me to say this, as I adore the Oakland A's, this Business Week article is right: more than statistical analysis, the A's succeeded earlier last decade because of a confluence of homegrown talent (notably young stud pitchers Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito) and then flopped later last decade because of a big bet on third baseman Eric Chavez (who ended up being plagued by one physical ailment after another). For all the A's front office did to stay one step ahead of its competitors by zigging when others zag (first by buying up undervalued players with atypical baseball bodies and high on-base percentage, and then, when that arbitrage opportunity vanished, by focusing on team defense), success and failure had to do with good timing and unforeseen injuries.

This New York Times article, co-written by Jim Collins, the author of one of my all-time favorite business books, "Good to Great," talks about the role of luck in business, and makes the case that luck's impact is asymmetrical: good luck can be helpful but bad luck can be disastrous. Hence, successful people manage luck by being sufficiently ready to capitalize on the upside of good luck and being sufficiently prepared to absorb the downside of bad luck.

"Luck" is somewhat of a bad word in Christian circles, as we are trained to believe that there is no such thing, since God is in control of all things. But if you slightly alter the meaning of the word to mean "things beyond our control," I think it is useful to consider how to deal with luck in life. And, in this regard, I think Collins' takeaway is on point. Because we believe God is certainly in control and we are certainly not, there is wisdom in being braced for "luck" to enter into our lives, whether good or bad. It is proper to be humble when good luck comes our way to not think ourselves too responsible for it, and when bad luck comes our way to not think ourselves somehow exempt from its consequences.

The Christian may have a different take on what "luck" means, and on what "success" means. But Collins' message has some use to us: who knows when we will find luck, but what we can do is prepare to make the most of the good kind and to absorb the impact of the bad kind. As for me, I'd be lost if luck was everything, capricious as it is; I feel more grounded knowing that "luck" is, like all other things, under the control of One who I know.

Vote for David Oh on November 8

You've heard me pitch for David Oh in this space before, so I won't rehash his credentials or my admiration for him again; after all, this is his third time running, and I've participated in each of those campaigns. I just want to link you to an article that covers the recent allegations raised against him about his military service, in case you were wondering about that issue and why it's gotten so much press: "Hall Monitor Special: Who's Behind the Attacks on David Oh — and Why?"

If anything, this whole episode should strengthen our resolve to vote David in. Here is someone who actually wants to be a public servant, in the truest sense of the title. I think it's fair to say that the vast majority of Philadelphians, as tolerant as we are of an acceptable level of "playing politics," are now fed up with useless and baseless politicking, and are looking for some real leaders to work with them to get stuff done for Philadelphia. Let's make a big dent in that work by voting in David Oh on November 8.

Huang Family Newsletter, October 2011

Another crazy month for the Huangs. Amy did all the heaving lifting on getting our kitchen renovation completed and getting ourselves resettled in there, all while working and choring at breakneck speed. Lee jammed trips to Washington DC and the U.S. Virgin Islands into an already crazy work schedule, while also juggling teaching Sunday School class, nominating new elders and deacons at church, fundraising for Aaron and Jada's old school, and campaigning for a friend of his who is running for City Council. We got Aaron baptized, and celebrated Jada's sixth Gotcha Day. The kids finished up soccer class at the Y, and will start basketball (Aaron) and ballet (Jada) early next month. We're letting our zoo membership lapse, so we dressed up for Boo at the Zoo (twice!), and had fun trick-or-treating around our neighborhood on Halloween.

For Halloween, I Dressed as a Republican

The snow and a packed social calendar prevented me from canvassing for my friend David Oh this past weekend. So with our neighborhood's Halloween parade on the docket for yesterday afternoon, I strung two placards together and wore them like a sandwich board as we snaked through University City. Even though David and I are Republicans and University City is staunchly Democrat (Barack Obama took our ward by 97 percent to 2 for John McCain in 2008, with Libertarian candidate Bob Barr getting 1 percent), he is well-liked in these parts: a lot of people came up to me and said they were voting for him, that he was a decent fellow, and that they hoped he would win. It made me feel good. (I also liked that I was killing two birds with one stone.)