Category / Bonus post

by Kilby

Election Day

Having survived many months of an extremely arduous campaign, many CIDU readers may feel the same way as Drabble’s dad did (above). Nevertheless, there is a lot at stake today, so I would prefer to quote Walt Kelly’s famous exhortation, as expressed by Pogo:

Heinlein expressed a similar sentiment in “Double Star“: “Take sides! Always take sides! You will sometimes be wrong — but the [person] who refuses to take sides must always be wrong! Heaven save us from poltroons who fear to make a choice. Let us stand up and be counted.“

The prize offered for Week 92 of the Invitational was a tote bag, featuring an election year haiku, written by Paul Lander in the journal “Light“:

P.S. Since CIDU has always avoided overtly political discussions, comments are disabled. Please use whatever time you would have spent on composing an elaborate opinion to go to the polls and cast your ballot.

P.P.S. The following option is neither rational, nor legitimate, even if some people may think it is funny:

May Day!
by Kilby

Bonus Post: So help me, it’s May Day!

There are a number of reasons (and ways) that May Day is celebrated around the world, as these comics demonstrate:

Of course, the “real” reason for the holiday is its significance for the labor movement, but that is precisely why it has a somewhat tarnished reputation in the United States…

… especially because of certain militaristic “celebrations” in other parts of the world:

Therefore, since today is not a holiday in the United States, it may be necessary to postpone the celebration:

by Kilby

A Message from Robin Bickel

Last week Robin sent some news, following up with “…feel free to share my post with the group! I am so happy that CIDU continues to be a place where people can actually converse in a civilized manner. Sadly, that seems to be less and less the norm every day.“, and adding that she “…will be sure to share news with the group during the [coming] year.”

I’ve added some relevant links and footnotes to Robin’s message:

Hope this little note finds everyone well at CIDU land! The boys and I are doing well and as it’s already the end of November. (Where does the time go?)
I’m gearing up for holiday cards.† If anyone would like a card designed by the ever talented Zak, please drop me a line (even if you’ve gotten a card in years past).†
Aaron and Mary Cate hosted a bike-a-thon to raise money for the rare disease Charcot Marie Tooth (which Mary Cate has).‡ It was a huge success, and they’ll be doing it again next September. I’ll send out an e-mail next summer in case people would like to donate or participate. It was a lot of fun.
Zachary is still working hard making the business section of the NY Times all pretty. You can check out his Instagram at authenticzakbickel if you’d like to see his work.
Eight of us (including Aaron and Zak) went to Vienna for a week. Not only did we eat fabulous food, see amazing architecture and really great museums, we also saw the government apartment building where my father-in-law lived when he was a young child.
Happy Holidays everyone!

P.S. (†) – From last year’s holiday card reminder: send the e-mail to “robinbickel (at) gmail.com“, and put CIDU in the subject line. If you’d like, you can send Robin a card to 43 Peace Rd, Randolph, NJ 07869.

P.P.S. (‡) – The link goes to Bill’s most recent (2020) Walkathon post, in which Aaron gave some basic information about CMT and their fundraising. Please note that the link listed there for Mary Cate’s fundraising page is no longer in service.