Beginning anew in 2012

Hey folks. Happy 2012. Yep, we're still here. And yep, we're still dreaming big.

As a reminder, the original intent of this project was to construct a physical, scaled replica of the 2008 U.S. presidential electoral map using drinking apparati. It was an idea that arose out of two tangential but complementary interests. But, as discussed by Kevin, we realized early on that a full-scale model is probably out. Even the more modest 55,000-bottlecap map was a bit daunting. So despite early enthusiasm, the project faltered.

But the dream didn't die.

Enter the year 2012 and a new wave of primaries, a new set of candidates to squabble over their exact shade of red or blue, a renewed sense of campaign fatigue setting in months before a single vote is cast. But it's important to keep one ear turned toward your 24-hour news network of choice (which, if you're a Muppet, is not Fox News), because there's a lot at stake in this year's election. No matter what you think of President Obama and whether you want him reelected, come November we want a renewed commitment to progress and action, a replenishment of optimism, a revival of exhilarated idealism and successful development and implementation. We need leadership, and we sure as hell aren't getting it from Congress. Specifically, we need solutions, direction, answers to our problems as a society and a culture:

Whether or not you "believe" in climate change, Mother Earth is without a doubt suffering a massive freak-out; yesterday, the last day of January, was 53 degrees in Chicago, a symptom of the warmest winter since the 1930s. We're entering a whole new era of privacy concerns with social media and Internet availability and permanence, even extending to our kids, many of whom are getting cyber-bullied. Sometimes they're cyber-bullied for being gay, which is something you'd think we would have moved past by now, given my own generation's nonchalance about sexual identity. And bullying in the U.S. isn't just personal; thanks to a 2010 Supreme Court decision, corporations (including the millionaires and billionaires who run them) are in a prime position to bully the electoral system by pumping money to candidates who support their own agenda -- sometimes to the detriment of the rights and interests of the individuals who don't have millions of dollars and a lobbyist on speed-dial. Syria is immersed in violence. Everyone hates the current American tax structure, but no one can agree on how to get specific with tax reform. Almost 40 years after Roe vs. Wade, we still haven't settled the tension surrounding abortion. Needless to say, there's a lot going on, and there are a lot of reasons to care about this year's presidential election.

That's why we're re-focusing this project. We shall no longer look to the past, to 2008. We shall look ahead to 2012. We have until November to play around with the details, to practice sculpting the western seaboard in cups or bottlecaps or deflated ping pong balls colored with Sharpies or whatever else we're using to create this silly but completely necessary project.

It's a new year, and come November 2012 we shall endeavor to deliver a new map that accurately records and reflects on the changing ideologies of Americans across the country. (Though if Romney continues his lackluster rise to the top of the GOP pile, I have a feeling we're going to need more blue chips than red ones.)