By request, below is a chart showing my Halloween costumes and the relative weirdness I ascribe to them. The weirdness factor is highest for 2007 because I didn’t do anything, which I find to be super weird (and lame). The results are generally unsurprising; I’ve had some pretty normal cute little kid outfits, and then in the later years a transfer to costumes more in line with the Mean Girls explanation of Halloween. But there are a few weird ones in there, to be sure:
I wonder if my lamp costume was the reason I wasn’t selected for my elementary school’s gifted program?
In the Fall of 2002, I canvassed in Loudoun County, Virginia. For a Democrat. It was kind of like I was the tax collector, and Loudoun County was Western Pennsylvania circa 1794. Brochures were thrown at me, doors slammed in my face, and the donut holes offered to volunteers were stale. It was a crapstorm.
In 2004, I was in London. I cried. I apologized to Europeans. And I ate a lot of Pizza Hut pizza.
I was going to make a Venn Diagram comparing these experiences to my recent weekend adventure campaigning in Pittsburgh, but it’s impossible. We waved giant “Obama 2008″ foam fingers in local United Steelworkers’ union halls with former Steelers and Dan Rooney (bewiest old man ever). We stopped by a high-energy signmaking party. Etc.
Anyway, the Extremely Important Editorial Board of Chartography has concluded that charting the awesomeness of this experience (and all of the incredible staffers and volunteers) is really quite impossible, and is providing a picture challenge instead. Whoever can identify what this photo is depicting wins a prize:
I keep reading about how the McCain campaign is refusing to give up on Pennsylvania. And even though Obama isn’t Ed Rendell, who won with 15ish counties out of 67, I still think he’s going to win it. Plus, no one told the McCain campaign that I’m going to be in PA soon to campaign for Obama. Time to pack it in, Walnuts.
James Carville said that between the two major cities lies Alabama. While that may be true, it’s not very creative. Calling it “Pennsyltucky” is a bit better. But I really think we should give all of these backward hick states a break (you’re welcome, West Virginia), especially because this talk in the news has me wondering how I think of/envision/describe Pennsylvania. Here is my first broad assessment, sure to be improved over time:
From what I can tell, Obama has enough Yinzers and You’s Guys to win. How on earth did Rachel Maddow get a show and not me?
This blog has been getting more hits than I have actual friends, and now I’ve got a bit of chartmaking performance anxiety. By request, here’s my very first and now unacceptably outdated flowchart:
I’m feeling a bit like an NPR person during the pledge drive. I need ideas! Also…formatting recommendations. Also…a decisive answer on whether it’s “flowchart” or “flow chart.” The alternative to charts and graphs is…an in-depth analysis of a Dan Ratherism for every single day until November 4th. And I’m not sure that I can crank out a few hundred words on why a frog would carry a hand gun if it had side pockets.
My econ teacher said that one of the biggest issues he had to deal with was how to measure intangibles like happiness. In my classes, we ended up using “utils” of satisfaction, which was good for educational purposes, but quite frankly, I think a cone of Peachy Paterno ice cream is worth way more than the two utils my professor attributed to it. It seems like a better idea to use descriptive terms I feel my audience will identify with.
So when I realized last week that I’ve been dumping money into a John Hancock 401(k) retirement account for 12 months, I decided to check the % rate of return and put my econ strategy to use. And…yeah:
My rate of return is currently -30.5%.
The thing is, I knew Ohio State was going to be crap this year, and I’m pretty sure that if I bet more aggressively against them, I’d be able to save more money for retirement than I am right now. I could have preserved a 0% rate of return by lining the walls of a Newport Beach banana stand with my money (it shows up as negative on the chart, though, because I figured George would skim off the top). I could have set 30% of my contribution money on fire and I would STILL have more saved for retirement than I do right now. This is a sham!
(Note: I get that hash mark three doesn’t count as a Mental State. I was running out of words to express moderate amounts of anger…so maybe the utils thing is wiser than I thought.)
I know I said this would be all about charts and graphs, but I lied. I just can’t get over these unintentionally hilarious high fructose corn syrup ads. The corn lobby better be careful, because this is like a declaration of war to Michael Pollan and the Slow Food folks. And I don’t know about you guys, but I’d prefer not to have an heirloom squash chucked at my face, so, I have to take their side. Also because my doctor, who needs about 20 more feet of wall space to fit all of his degrees, kindly informed me that HFCS is “the devil.”
I wish the Corn Refiners Association the best of luck in their battle against science.
Whenever I Google “Chartography,” Google reloads with the red message Did You Mean: Cartography? Um, actually no I didn’t, and I could do without the tone implied through the use of Italics.
For two years, I had an incredible blog (mostly because of the comments). I deleted all of it because of a unique opportunity, and in my hasty rush to lower my profile, I didn’t archive any entries, and I’m devastated. A comeback is in order!
I’m trying to focus on charts and graphs here (subject matter suggestions and contributions are encouraged…you’ll get credit!) and most of all on entertainment. Since I just set this up, I’ll be adding a blogroll/article links, etc. when I get the chance.
That said…Hi Mom. Hi Dad. Hi Facebook friend. And hi to the poor bastard who was routed here because he didn’t know how to spell Cartography.
Posted by Sarah 
Posted by Sarah 
Posted by Sarah 
