Voter Registration Reminder

Are you registered to vote this November? 

Even if it's obvious which way your state will go in the presidential election, there's a lot more to weigh in on. Congressional candidates, state congressional candidates, other state offices, local officials and ballot questions will also be on the ballot. Given the current gridlock in Congress and the direct impact of ballot questions, those decisions may well be much more important the the presidential one. Your vote matters.

Reminder that if you have moved since you last registered, you must re-register at your new address.

Massachusetts friends: 

MA requires voters to register at least 20 days in advance of an election. Since the election is November 6th, your registration form must be postmarked by October 17th. Don't delay! It's really easy - you can do it right now. Print the form here

The form requires your full 10 digit zip code. I didn't know mine, but you can look yours up here by entering your street address.

I strongly encourage you to register as "No Party (unenrolled)". As far as I can tell, there is no advantage in Massachusetts to registering with a party. Unenrolled voters are not excluded from the primaries as in other states; they may vote in either primary. Studies like this one show that party affiliation can override independent judgement. In the study, self-identified liberals indicated preference for a stringent welfare proposal over a generous one when told that the Democrats supported it, while the control group of self-identified liberals chose the opposite when given no party information. And analogous for self-identified conservatives. Isn't that horrifying? Do your mind a favor - register Unenrolled. (Yes, I realize this isn't a magic bullet to eliminate cognitive biases, but I think it's a step in the right direction.)

Pennsylvania friends:

PA requires that you register 30 days in advance of an election. Since the election is November 6th, your registration form must be postmarked by October 7th. That's less than 2 weeks from now. Don't delay! It's really easy - you can do it right now.

Pennsylvania (awesomely!) allows you to look up your registration status online here

If you find that you're not registered, or are registered at an old address, you can download a registration form here

IMPORTANT NOTE: Pennsylvania now requires ID in order to vote. You can find a full explanation here

Check that your ID meets the requirements. For most of us, it's pretty easy. A current driver's license or passport is good enough. Make sure you have it with you when you go to vote.

Pennsylvania, unfortunately, holds closed primaries. You must be registered with a party in order to vote in the primary. While I dislike the idea of identifying with a party, I think it's more important to vote in primaries than avoid party affiliation.

Coming Soon:

I'm working on another post that will outline all the decisions on the November ballot (except probably the local stuff) with links to the websites of each of the candidates.
 

Wow, it has been awhile! What a busy summer. Here's just a little of what I've been up to:

This is my new favorite brownie recipe... double chocolate coconut brownies - yum!

 

I adapted the recipe from this King Arthur Flour recipe

Double Chocolate Coconut Brownies

INGREDIENTS 

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups dark chocolate chips

1 teaspoon coconut extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (This is the step I always forget :)

2. Beat the eggs with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, coconut extract and vanilla till smooth. 

3. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, add the sugar and stir. Heat briefly until the mixture is hot but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. 

4. Add the hot butter/sugar mixture to the egg/cocoa mixture, stirring until smooth.

5. Add the flour and chocolate chips, again stirring until smooth.

6. Pour the batter into a non-stick brownie pan and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick poked into the center comes out with just crumbs, not wet batter. 

Optionally, adding a tablespoon of Bailey's adds another great aspect of flavor. I also want to try adding lemon zest or orange zest, or a tablespoon of peach schnapps

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I've suddenly become a hat person - don't know where that came from. But I've collected a whole bunch of cute hats over the past few months, and made this hat rack to store them / show them off:

 

I'm really pleased. It has made my room so much more homey :) 

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Now that Fall is almost here, I'm super excited about...

Restarting aerials class (off for August)

Apple cider

Caramel apples

Getting to wear sweaters