It's that census time of the decade again. And if you're not totally paranoid that the government will use it for the systematic eradication of your race, you really ought to fill it out. For the next 10 years, people like me will cite that information to discuss (read: make sweeping judgements about) a place and its people.

My household of 3—all first-time census takers—filled out the census last night. And aside from spurring conversations about whether a car counts as a seasonal residence and what thought process had the 2010 census add the word "negro," it was painless. The New Mex tells me this census was streamlined to counter the extremely low turnout of New Mexico's last one, which had one of the lowest completion rates in the nation. The head of the household (in our case, the person who got the census out of the mailbox) has 10 simples questions to answer; the other members of the household (those who don't like getting off the couch for such things as mail) only have seven.

Here's to letting the feds know that you exist!