Noodle

I love Mortgage Partner, but we cannot really discuss politics. It's not like we're Carville and Matalin, mind you, but I get way too emotional when he beats up on Hillary. And it's not like I even know if I'm going to vote for her. I just don't like confrontation. Those of you who know me know this. I cry in the face of adversity. Unless I'm pissed off. Then I just yell a lot (in a fabulous, articulate way).

Life around here lately has become Indecision 2008. I feel like we eat, sleep, breathe politics. We're even considering letting an Obama staffer sleep here. We don't call it a night without checking up on our friends, Barack, Hillary, and John.

I wonder all the time how I went from being a fairly apathetic Independent to actually giving a damn. When I was in high school, I worked on the newspaper with a guy who's a lot like MP. Opinionated. Pushy. Rabid. (Ok, to be fair, MP is pretty balanced. But he watches political debates like someone else might watch a Packers game, or in fact, how he watches Packers games.) He was in my face all the time about Ralph Nader--a name I can't invoke without smirking, just a little. At the time, I couldn't vote, so I really didn't give two hoots. Two years later, when I could vote, I registered Independent because I figured that's what I was--pragmatic, seeing across party lines, and ultimately, on the fence.

Voting didn't register in my way of life. Not even in 2000 when I attended a Gore rally with my unable-to-vote-in-America German roommate. We took pictures. It was a little like seeing any other celebrity.

Fast forward four years, and my thoughts on politics, and voting, changed dramatically. I saw the error of my apathetic ways. No longer would I worry about someone else to take care of the issues in the country or in my city. Since then, I have voted pretty much every time something comes up. I care about the direction of this country, and being a homeowner in the urban core has made me care even more about my city.

So at this point in the blog, you're all probably wondering why I would call this post "Noodle." Because I'm an English major nerd above all, I'm currently reading Bleak House by Charles Dickens. It's one of the freaking funniest things I've ever read (and I'm not kidding--I think the title is a huge joke on all of us who think the book is going to be dreary).

At one point in the novel, Dickens writes: "What follows? That the country is shipwrecked, lost, and gone to pieces [...] because you can't provide for Noodle!"

In the notes it says: "Noodle: The name for a fool, especially a political one." And I really think that about sums things up. About me. About how MP and I battle over to Clinton or not to Clinton. And while I wouldn't say that we're Noodles, I think we're both fighting against Noodles.

And that's something we can actually agree on.