Rather than the Toronto Film Festival being the start of something big this year, it seems as if my return from that wonderful trip brought me home to a void. For those reasons, primarily, this blog has been unusually quiet. That's the bad news. The good news is that it has freed me up to focus on my other passion, the presidential election.

I don't write about politics on this blog but there is another forum on the PROnetworks website where I do. I've also been a volunteer in presidential elections going back (ahem) years and have been making phone calls and knocking on doors this fall as well. It will all be over after tomorrow, of course, and it won't be long before we'll be perusing the Sundance and Santa Barbara lineups for January. Film Independent's Spirit awards are approaching as well, and I'm looking forward to getting my ballot in the mail and screening the films I haven't had the chance to see.

But tomorrow we have the chance to change the direction of this country, and I urge all my fellow film fans to get out and vote. Find your polling place, bring a friend, and, most of all, bring a good book. Maybe even a portable DVD player and watch a good movie. Because, as we've heard, there is a chance the lines will be long and the wait interminable. The law states that anyone in line at the time the polls close must still be allowed to vote. But get there early. Participate. Be a part of what our ancestors fought for. Have a voice in our government. Nothing is more important for a citizen of our great country to do than vote. So do it.