April 2015 will go down in history as the month that the 2016 race for the White House began in earnest. Hillary Clinton’s online declaration of her presidential candidacy was the critical moment. With it America’s two major political parties have locked horns with each other. The Democrats intend to continue their control of the presidency for another four years; Republicans hope to finally make good on a conservative bumper sticker that began appearing on automobiles as early as the summer of 2009 and that read, “Had Enough Yet? Next Time Vote Republican.”
The post Do America’s political parties matter in presidential elections? appeared first on OUPblog.
I went to the MoMA and…”saw a coat closet trash and two water fouintains I’m very disapointed I did not see a dinosaur you call your self a museum!” [MoMA]
Cute alert: Goose looks after blind dog [Metro]
Apparently, James Frey will be a guest on the final Oprah [NYPost]
Most Americans can’t name a GOP presidential candidate [CBS]
Notes from Chris
CHART: Gay marriage opponents now in minority [FiveThirtyEight]
Curious what $110 of Lucky Charms marshmallows looks like? [Reddit]
Some fascinating facts about Mr. Rogers [Tumblr]
This is a video of little boys with incredible dance skills [YouTube]
Last Friday, I challenged all of our readers to write a sestina. I expect many of you discovered just how difficult this form can be. I’d like to highlight the poem I received from Paul Gallear of Wolverhampton, UK. Paul is one of the voices behind the Artsy Does It blog and you can follow him @paulgallear.
I’m a dirty-shirted mess.
My eyes are heavy and thick
With fatigue; I’ve not slept for days
And I’ve never been so tired.
All I need to do is sleep,
Long and deep and numb.
My thoughts are thoughtless, numb;
My skin, greasy; my hair, a mess.
Things change without sleep:
I’ve become listless, thick
And stupid – I’m idiot tired,
Living in a stunned daze.
Time moves from hours to days
And perspective becomes numb.
Beyond tired.
My mind begins to mess
Around. There’s a kind of thick
Which only comes from lack of sleep.
I daydream of sleep.
Waiting – the hours the days
Crawl as though caught in thick
Honey, drowsy, lethargic and numb.
While they are mired in that mess,
I grow more weary, more tired.
One day, I won’t be tired.
The time will come for sleep.
When I am enough of a mess,
And my dignity went days
Ago, I won’t care. I’ll be numb
And sleep will be long and thick.
I hope the night is black and thick
And that even the moon and the stars are tired.
They can make their lights numb
And pale to help me sleep.
The sun will shorten the days
To help me out of this mess
If the night is thick, I’ll sleep.
I’m so tired, it’ll be for days.
Until then, I’m one numb mess.
I, Ted Dawson, would like to use this venue to formally announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America.
I will be running as an Independent Illustrator and as a write-in candidate. Early polls show me as a spoiler in a race that everyone is already bored with.
My platform consists of doing away with all but two of our six thousand nuclear warheads, using executive order to pass through the Freelance Writers and Artists Protection Act, taking back all the newspaper JOAs and re-establishing competition among newspapers, revoking all 53,000 presidential pardons issued in the past, establishing an Interstate Sidewalk System, and letting children eat free at all public restaurants. I will also eliminate congressional elections and establish a lottery for appointing citizens to the Senate and House of Representatives.
I will accept no donations, nor will I use any of my own money to run, as I don't really have that much. Therefore I will be the only uncorruptable candidate. I will also be doing no campaigning, as I have a family to support. I am willing to take this professional drop in stature because I love the potential my country has and, as president, would make more money than I currently earn.
My stance on some so-called Hot Button issues:
War in Iraq: War does not create Peace
Universal Health Care: How about Global Health Care?
Anna Nicole Smith: Get Over It
Intelligent Design in Schools: Just the facts, ma'am
Global Warming: Will actually make the world colder, which is weird
Gas Prices: Eliminate fast-food drive-thrus
Thank you for your vote. Now back to our regularly scheduled illustration blog.
