I usually do something about how I'm thinking about the upcoming election, so here goes.

Mayor - Wilson: Somerville is having a challenger vs. challenger mayoral election this time, and it seems the big difference between the two candidates is on housing: Both in favor, but Jake Wilson supporting a more incremental approach of upzoning areas of the city near transit (note that's most of it), Willie Burnley taking Somerville YIMBY's favored "upzone all of the 'neighborhood residence' zone to 'urban residence'" approach. I think their agendas are similar, but I think Wilson will be more able to get stuff done, and "get rid of 'neighborhood residential'" is a much harder sell despite being very similar in result to more targeted upzoning.

City Councilor At-Large - Istvan, Wheeler, Mbah, Link: This is Somerville YIMBY's slate.

Question 1 (New City Charter Ratification) - Yes: After a long process to update Somerville's charter, the new version seems to be something with broad consensus support: Mayors past, present, and future are in favor, city councilors are in favor, local civic groups are in favor, etc. Seems like a straightforward improvement.
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Question 2 (Four-Year Mayoral Term Instead of Two) - No: More discussion here. I was leaning "yes" earlier, now I'm leaning "no". A bit uncertain. Best argument for: Longer terms help new mayors recruit better high-level staff. Best argument against: City council is every two years, and the power balance is still stacked against them, even if the new charter passes.

Question 3 (The Palestine One) - No: Well, here I feel even not making a recommendation is likely to get me yelled at. Here's the full wording:

"THIS QUESTION IS NOT BINDING: Shall the Mayor of Somerville and all Somerville elected leaders be instructed to end all current city business and prohibit future city investments and contracts with companies as long as such companies engage in business that sustains Israel's apartheid, genocide, and illegal occupation of Palestine?"

I guess the way I break this down is like so: I think analysis of a ballot measure should be focused on the case where it actually does something. In that condition, I think it's likely to hamper city government here while not doing any good for anyone.

I wish the US didn't have so many factors of the political system involve the government threatening to blow itself (along with the US and maybe global economy) up every few months: The budget, the debt ceiling, "temporary" measures as key parts of various policy frameworks.

Meanwhile, Trump's demolished an entire wing of the White House to turn it into Mar-a-Lago 2. Apparently there's a really pressing need for event space, so it's a shame that Trump's inevitably going to fill that niche with tacky garbage. And it's insane to unilaterally demolish a WH wing during a government shutdown. Imagine the reaction if Obama did anything even remotely like that.

My mom was in town last weekend for her high school reunion, and it was a pretty great visit. Friday evening had dinner with cousins Amy, Josh, Sylvie, and my Aunt Milly at Dosa & Curry. There was a lot of stuff going on for HONK! Fest all weekend. Julie and I took Erica to the festival in Davis on Saturday, and we all went with my mom to the Harvard Art Museum on Sunday morning before going to the parade.

Monday was a rainy, quiet day at home, but I decided to do a cooking project Erica had been planning, she wanted tomato soup with pesto grilled cheese. So we baked milk bread and made pesto and made the soup with fresh tomatoes and herbs. I made the soup more or less according to this recipe, but I didn't broil the veggies after baking, added more garlic and herbs, used a can of coconut milk instead of cream, and also added a can of tomato paste. For the fresh herbs, I used all the fresh tarragon and sage in the packets I got from the supermarket. Which was an ounce each, so a questionably large amount, and I would have felt like a fool if I'd ruined the soup on that account. I thought it turned out great, though, and fortunately everyone else liked it, too. I really love sage, though. Season your food more, it's fine.

New people are starting on my team at work this week. Busy, busy.