Zoo and Beach

For our home vacation, we (Darwin, Maksim, Aran, and I) went to the Detroit Zoo on Wednesday.  Kala joined us.  The weather was supposed to be low 80s and pleasant, but it hit 90 and muggy!  Aran and I carried umbrellas for portable shade, and did we care what other people thought?  We did not!

The five of us wandered about the zoo, watching a variety of animals.  The new Penguinarium was still attracting a lot of attention, and like the polar bear exhibit, it included a glass tunnel under the penguin pool so you could see the penguins swimming.  Penguins!

Kala liked the lemurs, which we didn't remember them having before.  Aran's favorite was the tiger, totally zonked out on his back.  I liked the ibises in the aviary.  I also took some photos in the butterfly house.



We finished the day hot and sweaty and animaled out.  At home, we decided to make a quick trip back to the nice beach from yesterday to cool off, and it was a perfect way to cap off the day.

BONE WAR and Cover Progression

The covers for the Books of Blood and Iron follow a progression, and it's pretty cool.  We start with IRON AXE:



We have an ancient axe, crudely made and battered and chipped. It looks like something from an archaeological dig, which makes sense, since the Axe was made more a thousand years ago, and quickly.  An axe, of course, is one of the first tools humans ever created.  Stone axes were used first to cut wood by hunter-gatherers, then were adopted as weapons.  The volcano-esque surge of power in the background is a great touch.  If you've read the book, you know why . . .

Then we have BLOOD STORM:



The weapon is more sophisticated.  It's better-crafted, but still well-used.  Since it belongs to Pendra, one of the Gardeners (or fates), the well-used part makes sense.  So does the blood on the blade.  The sickle came after the axe, appearing when people settled down into farming communities and needed something to harvest grain--or slice enemies in half.

Finally, we have BONE WAR:



The sword is the most difficult weapon to forge, and a sword of ivory, complete with runes and a blood-red ruby in the pommel, would be all but impossible to make.  Swords were the final bladed weapon to be created by human civilization.  We've arrived at the most powerful and sophisticated weapon in the progression, sleek, powerful, and able to slice through fate itself.

I had minimal input on the covers, incidentally.  Anne Sowards, my editor, asked me for some images or ideas from each book that might make good covers, and I gave her a list.  The Axe showed up on the first cover (I'm afraid I don't know who the artist is), and Anne thought a progression of weapons would look great for the series.  She was absolutely right.

Voting

I made a minor scene at the Michigan primary polls yesterday.

Michigan law requires you to prove your identity at the polls in one of two ways: show photo ID or sign an affidavit on the back of the ballot registration stating you are who you say you are.  The latter came about because a few years ago, Michigan's GOP tried to sneak a voter ID law onto the books, but were told by the courts, "You better not!" at the last minute.  However, a lot of people still think you need ID at the polls.

I refuse to show my ID to exercise my Constitutional right to vote.  So I always show up without my ID on me.

When Darwin and I went down to the local elementary school to vote, the poll worker handed us the little form to fill out.  I automatically flipped mine over to sign the affidavit on the back.

Darwin said to the poll worker, "Does Michigan law require me to show ID to vote?"

"Yes," said the poll worker.

"No," I said firmly, still filling out my form.

"Yes," said the affronted poll worker.

"No," I repeated.  "You can fill out the affidavit on the back like I'm doing right now."

There was a bit of a kerfluffle, and the supervisor came over.  He acknowledged that the affidavit was acceptable. I took my ballot to the booth.

Darwin, who ended up showing his ID, got delayed. The poll workers messed something up and had to discard and redo a couple-three ballots, including his.  This meant I had to wait around for considerable time while Darwin voted.

"Does Michigan law require me to show ID to vote?" asked a lady in line.

"Yes," said the same poll worker.

"Really?" said the woman.

"Absolutely," said the poll worker.

At this point, I stepped forward and said, "You can sign the affidavit on the back if you don't have ID with you."

"That's what I thought," the woman said, and signed the affidavit.

A moment later, I noticed the supervisor standing alone, so I approached him.

"You know," I said, "Michigan law definitely doesn't require ID to vote."

"Yes, it does," he said.

"No, it doesn't," I said, feeling like I had stepped into Monty Python's Argument Clinic.  "I just voted without it."

"Well, you have to show ID, and if you don't have it, you can sign the affidavit."

"Which means you don't need ID," I said.  "But your poll worker just told me =and= that woman over there that we're required to show ID."

"No, he didn't."  (I swear he said exactly this.)

"Yes, he did.  That's why we had the argument a moment ago.  After you clarified that I could sign the affidavit, the worker knew ID isn't required, but he told that woman she needed it anyway.  Your poll workers are lying to people.  They shouldn't be allowed to do that, yeah?"

Pause.  "Agreed.  I'll talk to them."

A bit later, he came over to me with a piece of paper that had Michigan's voter ID law on it.  "You can see here," he said, "that ID is required by law."

"But down here," I said, pointing, "it says that if you don't have ID, you can get a ballot by signing an affidavit."  Here my teaching instincits kicked it.  "A better way to say this might be, 'May I see your ID? It's not required, but it helps us.' "

He thought about that.  "Okay, yeah."  And he walked over to the ballot worker table.

Eventually, Darwin finished with his ballot and we left.

Changing the world one ballot worker at a time.