It's political...if you're not into it, just skip!

Palin in Comparison

from Slog by ANTHONY HECHT

Karl Rove on picking a running mate:

"I think [Obama's] going to make an intensely political choice, not a governing choice," Rove said. "He's going to view this through the prism of a candidate, not through the prism of president; that is to say, he's going to pick somebody that he thinks will on the margin help him in a state like Indiana or Missouri or Virginia. He's not going to be thinking big and broad about the responsibilities of president." Rove singled out Virginia governor Tim Kaine, also a Face The Nation guest, as an example of such a pick.

"With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he's been a governor for three years, he's been able but undistinguished," Rove said. "I don't think people could really name a big, important thing that he's done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America."

I wonder if Rove still feels this way. Somehow, I think he probably has a different take on VP qualifications now. Let's see...

[Palin's] a populist, she’s an economic and a social conservative, she’s a reformer, she took on the incumbent governor of the state Frank Murkowski — Republican — beat him in the primary, won an upset in the general election. She’s a former mayor. She’s the mayor of, I think, the second largest city in Alaska before she ran for governor.

Actually, Karl, she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, population 8,000. At the time, not even one of the 10 biggest "cities" in Alaska.

via TPM, via Gruber, with an assist from Think Progress

(Sorry about the already-everywhere post title, had to use while it's still a little bit funny—for another 2 minutes or so.)

From a MoveOn.org email...they are generally more extreme than I care to align myself with or generally support (crazy, I know)...but I found this information interesting:

Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.

Huh?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

• She was elected Alaska 's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.¹
  
• Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.²
  
• She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. ³
  
• Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.⁴
  
• She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.⁵
  
• She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.⁶
• How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.⁷

This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.

We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:

She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK

As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK

Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK

I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.

In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.

Sources:

1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-3262229-QARy2Ux&t=1

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-3262229-QARy2Ux&t=2

4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-3262229-QARy2Ux&t=3

5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-3262229-QARy2Ux&t=4

6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-3262229-QARy2Ux&t=5

"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-3262229-QARy2Ux&t=6

"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-3262229-QARy2Ux&t=7

7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-3262229-QARy2Ux&t=

it happened at 7:20 am, 8/27/08

I left my apartment early because I've been getting stuck in traffic the past couple of mornings (stupid schools!). So, at 7:20 am EST I was ready to leave. So I did. And the moment I opened my door I came FACE-TO-FACE with the most delicious Fridge speciman I have seen in person in a very long time!

Why was he at my door? Well, my door and the foot of the stairs are about 6 inches away from each other. This is the first time in my two years of residence I have ever almost-collided with a stair dweller/climber. And I certainly didn't mind it. Well, except that my hair was still completely wet and piled unattractively on top of my head and I was holding some papers with my lips.

Why he was coming in at 720 am EST in gym-ish clothes with his dry cleaning I'll probably never know...but another encounter with him I won't mind.


....ahhhhhhh.........

all is well

I just got a pep talk and a little revenge and all is well with the world again.



I can make it another day.

That is all.

my heart is too soft

I've finally figured it out: I'm too emotional, too fragile, too connected with needing reinforcement and positive feedback to work in corporate America.




...I try not to feel beat up when I'm criticized over and over. But I do. I feel attacked even though I know I'm doing the job I was hired to do. I've been stripped of every single responsibility I've ever had around here, and still I'm not good enough.


Makes for a long day.


At least there's a night ahead of me full of Paulo ;)

Oh, and when I get home tonight I need to write about my latest EH escapade.


Until then I shall be enjoying the new Okkervil River.

New Year's!

I've just made the decision: I'm heading to Maine for New Years!

Hooray!

I checked with my dear friends the J. Emlets and they are willing to host me (at least that's what I inferred through text message) and the airline prices are actually pretty decent---so I'm headed to Maine December 29-Jan 2nd!

There shall be some of this:


















And this:


















And of course this (if Bethany isn't too pregnant and let's us come over and hang out):


















And the most wonderful tradition of all, this:




















And he'll be a year older:


















And they'll be there cause they live there now!:


















And if we pray really hard, she'll be there too:


















And if we're lucky there will be this reunion:





















So, everyone and anyone: make your plans now! Let's go to Maine for New Years! We may have to have alternate NYE party plans, but that's ok. We're resourceful. Maybe we can host our own party down in the dining hall...Bethany, we'll set up and clean up after ourselves...we promise!

This idea has temporaily gotten me out of my perpetual job depression funk. Thanks guys!

Oh, and Iga, thanks for letting me come over and sit in your ultra-modern chairs. We should do it again some time.

Jason, apparently a crowd wants to come to Athens the next time I head out for the Carl Lundberg Jazz Trio night. It'll be fun!

Anyone up for traveling to Maine with me? It's readily apparent that there shan't be anyone "special" to travel with this year (perhaps ever. maybe it's best this way...now I don't have to ever throw out my ratty sleep shirt!)...so I might as well travel and spend as much time with friends as possible.

Ohp. Gotta get back to work.

Let me know! Have a great Monday afternoon!

Hello Lame, my name is Corporate Law

Just got out of a meeting. Topic of meeting?

If our published hours of work are 8-5 we cannot be at our desks before or after said time. Fine. The kicker: we cannot take our lunch breaks at our desks because when I'm in my cube, I'm technically "working."

No more eating lunch while watching things on Hulu or blogging (during lunch) or any other such actions. If I'm to eat here, I have to eat in the breakroom. With 200 of my closest friends. And two microwaves. And maybe 20 chairs. That should go really well, now shouldn't it?

I guess I'll just waste gas and go home every day. Or go out to eat. Or just sit in my car listening to podcasts. Awesome.

God bless corporate life.

uh oh

I find myself thinking of PB this morning...I might actually legitimately like him (I like to have frivilous crushes, as is obvious...but I don't like REAL crushes that often--they're heavy).

A text message conversation between myself and PB's brother-in-law G:
me: I've got to be in Athens tonight [ok, that wasn't totally true...but I was glad for a reason to go to Athens to see my friends I don't see nearly as much as I'd like]. Do you think PB would be totally creeped out if I showed up where he's playing jazz with my Rebuilt friend?
G: NOT AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [there were a lot of exclamation points, this, however, is an approximation of how many there were] I think he would be really glad to see you! Tell him I said hello.
me (944 pm): He is enjoying my presence. SCORE!
G: told ya :)
me: yeah, there was a kiss on the head. a mouthed WOW when I walked up. All signs point to I'm in love ;)
G: best news I've heard all day


So, at least his sister's husband likes me.

delicious.

delicious:
--hanging out with jana and molly harwell
--getting to eat an organic and locally grown dinner with one of my favorite people on the planet, j. harwell
--half-price house wine
--jazz night...there was a breeze on this late summer evening. Piano Boy was a vision in jazz playing both the keys and trombone
--j. harwell left and I felt like I should be sitting in an old gretta garbo film, smoking cigarettes, looking on proudly as I wait for my man to whisk me away...it was dark, there was jazz that permeated my being, there were patio lights strewn about, and I just sat there drinking my wine relishing in the fact that I'm alive and that I'm done living in fear. I shall drive to surprise people at jazz nights. I shall do what it takes to live my utmost life.

It's 1:18 am EST. I could wax poetic, but for right this instant, I'll leave you this:

so this is what I've decided.

BC gets until this coming Saturday to answer my guided closed-ended questions on his own. I will then use the EH-sanctioned Nudge feature (nudging those that you've contacted reminding them of such and that they need to reply in some form or fashion). If he doesn't reply by the following weekend (Labor Day), I'm closing the communication and moving the junk on.

Three weeks is adequate time to decide if you'd like to tell me through an A, B, C, or D answer whether you'd rather eat at a fancy restaurant or a hole-in-the-wall. Seriously now.

This message has been approved by Terra Cotta Sugarbaker and I'm grateful for that.

Sunday Sunday Sunday!

I finally told G (Piano Boy's brother-in-law and my good friend), through a text message, that even though BC was a match for me on the computer, it's his brother-in-law that seriously turns my head.

We had a lovely and wonderful interaction last evening at church, PB and I, and I'm a'thinkin' that I will surprise him in Athens tomorrow night as he plays with his jazz trio. I need to get myself to Athens anyway to visit my dear Harwells, so why not visit with them AND stalk PB? I think it's a great idea. I'll keep you updated.

BC totally looked at my EH profile again yesterday...so he didn't come to church, but he definitely looked at my page!

Gotta get back to work. Just thought I'd give you a mini-update.

No seriously, I'm heading to Vegas...

...to elope with THIS guy:

The one thing Steven is most passionate about:

• I am passionate about foreign culture & travel, about people, and about God's grace & glory. I love to travel around the globe. I am fluent in Spanish, conversational in Arabic, & I speak enough French to embarrass myself. I love discovering the uniqueness of various cultures. I am an extrovert at heart & love being around people. I enjoy making people feel included and welcomed. God has shown me his grace over & over through His protection & providence. He is my strength & my portion, and my greatest passion is reflecting His glory among the nations.

The three things which Steven is most thankful for:

• My wonderful family & friends
  
• Opportunities I've had to travel all over the world
  
• God's grace & protection

The most influential person in Steven's life has been:

• Hmm... this is a hard one. I would say that rather than one individual I have been most influenced by a series of fellowships or communities: my summer Bible Study in high school, my BCM accountability group in college, the church staff I worked with as Student Pastor, my house-church overseas. It's the community, the composite of individuals through the leading of the Holy Spirit, that has most impacted my life decisions and has helped make me who I am today.

Steven's friends describe him as:

• Intelligent
• Spontaneous
• Passionate
• Spiritual

Three of Steven's best life-skills are:

• Remaining calm yet resilient during a crisis
• Making new friends
• Sharing my beliefs through teaching, participation, and example

The most important thing Steven is looking for in a person is:

• I'm looking for someone who has counted the cost of following Christ and is on an adventure with Him.

The first thing you'll probably notice about Steven when you meet him:

• Probably my laugh. My students make fun of me because I laugh too loud and too often, but I have found that good-natured laughter is the quickest way to put someone at ease. Living overseas I quickly learned that, even if there's a language barrier and you have no idea what the other person just said, if you can read the situation well enough to know when to laugh, you've made a close friend (even if he's making fun of you!)

The one thing Steven wishes MORE people would notice about him is:

• I don't really know...

Steven typically spends his leisure time:

• Since I can't afford to travel all the time, I love meeting new friends from around the world, learning about new languages & improving the languages I know.

The things Steven can't live without are:

• Laptop (My connection to the world)
• Cell phone (My connection to my friends & family)
• iPod (Music is my recharge)
• My books (Sadly, I like books more than reading!)
• A little bit of adventure in every day

The last book Steven read and enjoyed:

• I'm the kind of reader who has 4 or 5 books going at any given moment and switches haphazardly between them. I just finished a collection of short stories in Spanish. My favorite was "El primer milagro", the story of the Nativity told from the perspective of the stingy, dysfunctional family of the innkeeper. I'm currently almost finished with "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis. I love the keen sharpness with which Lewis gets to the heart of things. "A great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and... God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again." Brilliant!

One thing that only Steven's best friends know is:

• How to make me blush.

Some additional information Steven wanted you to know is:

• I just returned from 2 1/2 years of studying Arabic while living in the Middle East (Lebanon & Jordan, not Iraq). And yes, I'm an AP Spanish teacher, so I speak 3 languages. I'm hoping to start my Masters in Applied Linguistics in the spring at Georgia State and then in a few years move back overseas... Where? Only God knows for now!

Oh! And he's totally cute. Awesome.

Thanks eHarmony :)

it really IS in the attitude!

Ok, so at some point right before I got to work this afternoon a peace fell over me...and a confidence I don't think I've ever felt seeped into my very being. And this is the outcome: I am no longer intimidated by my EH match to BC. Not at all. We're a match on all 29 personality points or whatever they're called. I am a catch. That's the long and the short of it. I shouldn't be intimidated by his good looks, his famous dad, his seeming intelligence or his possible wealth. I am worthy. There is nothing about me embarrassing or that should be hidden away. I'm tired of not feeling good enough.

If he's not game for our potential romance, then I shall move on and wait upon the Lord some more! This is a very freeing moment!

We all have things we need to work on and nothing is ever going to be perfect. There is never a time where I will say, "Finally, my junk is pulled together. Only now am I ready for someone else to enter my territory."

So, hopefully I'll see BC at church tomorrow night. If not, well, too bad. For him. I hope he's not shallow enough that he'll let my EH match and subsequent contact with him deter him from worshiping at our church. If he is, well, that's not a good sign at all.

When I just checked my email, I have eight new matches on EH and then a guy sent me an "email" just saying hello. Now, he's a BBM (beautiful black man)...but he's not a Christian. I'm going to email him back stating how that's a deal breaker...but it's the fact that there ARE men interested...I just haven't met the right one yet! (BEP! THE ONE, the one, the one, the one) Also, I have a yahoo personals account because that's the one that makes me laugh most often and I was sent a "You have new matches" email from them this evening as well. And I was matched with a true fridge/lumberjack and under his ideal body type for a woman: "A few extra pounds, Voluptuous." Bonus. He loves Jesus and I will be emailing him this evening as well.

It's amazing what a little self confidence will do to improve your outlook on life!

And in the immortal words of Stuart Smalley:

deep breathe...deep breaths...

Ok, so, well, ok. Must compose thoughts.

There is a feature on eHarmony that lets you see who has viewed your profile. I randomly clicked on that feature about 2.5 minutes ago.

BC has totally viewed my profile. As well as Marty (seriously. That's his name. Marty.) whom I also sent my questions to this morning.


I have yet to receive any communications back from these gentleman, but just seeing that BC had indeed looked at my profile just made the F word fly out of my mouth at a rather shrill decibel. Awesome. Way to go cube dweller!

Happy Friday afternoon everyone!

I will CERTAINLY keep you updated.

Two things...

I am currently overhearing a male coworker talking to someone about his nephew really enjoying the Olympics, especially gymnastics:
"Now he wants to do gymnastics. I'm thinking NO. His parents want him to do an inside sport this winter, and I can think of a few more things for him to do inside other than gymnastics. If he starts that, he might as well do BALLET. Sheesh."

So gross. Ugh. This guy creeps me out anyway, but from what I know he's mid- to late-40s and has gross personal hygiene habits and he certainly doesn't have a romantic life (I hear about those woes too). Ugh. Like HE has any place to say that someone shouldn't pursue something. Right, cause playing football when you were younger worked out for you buddy, sure.


Also, I was matched with a guy on eHarmony this morning and he lives like 60 miles from me now, but he said at the end of his profile that he's moving to Atlanta at the end of August. I'm only like 15-20 miles to Atlanta. He closed our communication because, "I think the physical distance between us is too great." Seriously?

Maybe he's hoping he'll find someone in his cul-de-sac or something. Weird.

Ugh. Lots of work to do today.

My prayers are with Kate's family on the passing of her (albeit curmudgeonly) grandmother.

RE: mind blown

I totally sent him (the guy I go to church with that I was also matched with on eHarmony) my list of closed ended questions (that's step two in the 10 step guided communication process). Not only do I know him, but I really liked what he had to say in his profile.

My questions to him are (there are like 30 questions to choose from, the A, B, C, D answers are already determined...I didn't write them):

1.
If you were taken by your date to a party where you knew no one, how would you respond?
A. Stay close to my date, letting him/her introduce me
B. Find a spot at the back bar and relax alone, letting him/her work the room
C. Strike out on my own, introducing myself and making friends
D. I would ask my partner if I could skip this particular event

2. Which of the following marriage issues do you fear most?
A. Fear of growing apart
B. Fear of marrying the wrong person
C. Fear of becoming "your parents"
D. Fear of being hurt

3. If you went out to eat with a friend, which of the following would you prefer?
A. A nice 4-star restaurant
B. A basic steakhouse
C. An undiscovered hideaway
D. A hole in the wall with great food

4. If you could take a dream getaway, where would you most likely choose to spend a week?
A. Paris
B. Hawaii
C. Hiking in the mountains
D. A cottage by the sea

5. How important is it to you that your partner be accepted by your family and friends?
A. Very important
B. Important, I trust my family and friends but sometimes they are wrong
C. Slightly important, if they had a strong objection I might consider it
D. Not important at all, their opinions would not influence me

I also emailed him (through real email) and told him that he should let me know when he gets the eHarmony email--although I just said "I just sent you an email from a very specific website...let me know when you get it ;)"...so he can totally take it as a joke (which I mean) or he can take our match seriously (which I'm totally open to). It's a win-win situation.

I called the lady and my friend at our church that knows both of us and the news made her laugh until she cried, and then, like a thirteen-year-old girl she yelled, "CONTACT HIM!" She thinks this could be "the start of something beautiful!" So, we'll let him make the next move. She also prompted me to call our pastor (who's been my friend for 13 years)...so I left a very amusing voicemail for him as well.

Please feel free to answer those questions and leave them in the comments. Also, try to guess what answer I'm hoping for on each of them...it'll be fun. Like a game!

Ok. I actually have to get some work done today.

Oh, and this guy shall hereby be called BC. Good day.

the last one for today as my mind is officially blown

I live in Atlanta, GA (well, kind of). Atlanta is the core city of the ninth most populous metropolitan area in the United States at 5,278,904. That's five MILLION people. Five MILLION people in one CITY.

Ok. So let's say a little less than half that population is men. Great. 2 million men in the city. Out of two MILLLION men, my latest eHarmony match is someone who I totally go to church with on Sunday nights (there are only about 30 of us there)...and he's hot. And his dad is a local sports celebrity. I haven't read his profile yet because my mind is blown.

Wow. I'll keep you updated. I haven't decided if I should make this online move to contact him because that might make church a very weird experience. Maybe I'll play it safe and wait for him to say something.

Wow. Now I MUST go read his profile...

wow...that's a whopping bullet

Christopher from Peachtree City.

Wow.

I don't know if I can read the rest of the profile.

"The three things which Christopher is most thankful for:
Having Friends that love me and worry about me (great!)
Having Family that loves one another very much (that's cute!)
That i was able to have found true happiness prior to my girlfriend recently passing away. (SO SAD! Uh...what?! If she recently passed away, why are you on a dating site? Why is that the first thing you're telling potential mates/dates? I'm confused. Very confused.)"

When she is at the top of your dating profile...who can live in your dead girlfriend's shadow? Wow.

I did read the next thing down...also confusing:
"The most influential person in Christopher's life has been:
Stephanie, i call her my daughter even though she is only 5 years younger then I. we have gone through so much together. i can only hope that we will continue to support each other (by phone these days). "
Why does he call her his daughter?...

love on a different front

ok ok ok...I have recommitted to online dating. Not "committed" like I'm dedicating a lot of time to it, I'm just re-reviewing it as a possible avenue.

Well, when I graduated from college a friend (for whatever reason) bought me a year's subscription to eHarmony. You can't ever get deleted from their system no matter how hard you try, so the other day (due to a great story from my friend Autumn about the liberating things she's learned about herself and her new "friend" Bernard from eHarmony) I renewed my profile (with a coupon of course!) and I've decided that I will post any amusing/frightening/touching things/people/comments I come across while traversing the intraweb dating scene.

Today's funny comment from a guy named Kevin who works for the University of Alabama's football team:
"The last book Kevin read and enjoyed:
Game of Shadows. its a book that talks about steroids in sports. (i know, not the most romantic novel i could come up w/)"

I love that he thought to himself, "What's the last romantic novel I read?" and his answer was about steroids in sports. It just struck me as amusing.

The rest of his answers were cute and I will be allowing him the honor of getting to step two (out of ten...Dr. Neil Clark Warren a'int playin') in our communication process.

"Some additional information Kevin wanted you to know is:
I'm just an honest, kind, caring and funny guy. I may not be the best looking guy in the world, but I easily make up for it with my personality and my kindness."
--he's totally teddy bear adorable (which we all know is one of my top three types) and that phrase makes you go "Awwwww..." not "Why would he put himself down like that?" He's humble. And loves Jesus. And that's enough for me.

I love it.

I love love love love LOVE that a one Mr. Harwell (award-winning singer/songwriter and of Rebuilt Records fame) just called me to call me out for making out with Paulo.

I guess I forgot he reads my blog.


Ahahahahahaha. An excellent phone call, sir.

I know, I know...

Now that I have a computer and internet at home, I'm blogging less and less. I'm sorry, my friends!

My new/old position at work keeps me super busy--so not a lot of idle Internet time like the days of old.

I have a few things I'd like to discuss:
As you may or may not know already: I totally joined lips with dear Paulo last week at a work-sanctioned event. It was very nice and everything you'd expect out of our lips meeting. It shan't happen again (I've already discerned that he's not "the one" for me and because of that, I should probably not lead myself or him on. I know. So sad.).

My friend Sarah is back in the country after being in Guatemala for the past 2.5 years and that's super exciting! So, if you're considering joining the Peace Corps, well, she can talk to you about it.

On a selfish note, I know I should be compassionate at all times, but the person who said they no longer needed my help which resulted in my position being eliminated is close to drowning and has so many errors and problems on his hands that it's causing every other department a serious strain. I don't want to say "I told you so," but, well, I did. I'm sorry for him, but maybe next time people will actually listen to me regarding things I know about.

My dear friends Jen and Jonathan (and Carrie and Autumn) were in the newspaper! Congrats, guys! They'll be in Delaware and done with their ride on August 23rd. Pretty exciting stuff!

I will again be bowling for the Rebuilt Records Bowl-A-Rama that is being held in Athens, GA September 20th. I need to raise some serious cash by then, so don't think I won't be asking every one of you for some fundage...I'll be setting up a PayPal link to make it easier to donate. It's a fundraiser for Rebuilt as they are non-profit and gotta make some cash somehow...and since I believe in what they're doing and the music they're making and the things they're doing in the future, I've decided to bowl 100 frames (10 games) and get sponsored for each frame. More information coming soon.


I have more to say, but work beckons me. Maybe I'll write more when I get home from work. Tonight will be night 2 working with Paulo after the kiss action. Night 1 went very well indeed. There was some high-powered flirting, but that's about it. All-in-all, it's been an excellent outcome to what could be a perilous situation.

much love.

I'm a GENIUS!

Movie Reviews

"Take a few hours off work to "vote"--just nap in your car!"

hi-larious.

The U2 prank is the best.

and now for some funny improv...

and a commercial from England that copied the idea:

If I'm making today Controversial Day, here we go again:

This is from one of my favorite bloggers/appearer on NPR's of late: Dan Savage.

He's got a good point.

Make Sure the Next Woman You Meet Who’s Thinking About Voting for McCain…

posted by Dan Savage on August 1 at 10:40 AM

…reads this.

The Bush Administration has ignited a furor with a proposed definition of pregnancy that has the effect of classifying some of the most widely used methods of contraception as abortion.

A draft regulation, still being revised and debated, treats most birth-control pills and intrauterine devices as abortion because they can work by preventing fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus. The regulation considers that destroying “the life of a human being.”

Many medical groups disagree. They hold that pregnancy isn’t established until several days after conception, when the fertilized egg has grown to a cluster of several dozen cells and burrowed into the uterine wall. Anything that disrupts that process, in their view, is contraception…. Dozens of Congressional Democrats—including presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama—have signed letters of protest blistering the proposal. His Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, declined to comment.

The goal of this proposed regulation? To make it harder for women to come by contraceptives. If standard methods of contraception are reclassified as abortion then laws crafted to allow pharmacists and other medical personal to “opt out” of providing treatments that violate their religious beliefs—morning-after pills, abortion referrals—would suddenly cover the pill and IUDs.

Helloooooo? Straight people? The GOP and the religious right don’t just hate the gays and gay freedom to host gay brunches, enter into gay marriages, and do gay adoptions. They hate your freedoms too.

NO seriously...this is ridiculous.

this guys is connected to focus on the family (argh!)...and I'm sorry to my conservative friends--but seriously, there are some of us who are vehement Jesus lovers that are actually Democrats. I believe in social services and feeding the hungry and accepting people where they are in life and trying to help. I believe in pro-choice (although I'm anti-abortion)--because the thought of scared teenage girls going to dark dirty "clinics" where they are presented with a coat hanger just doesn't appeal to me. And banning abortions isn't going to prevent unwanted pregnancies...I believe in informed decisions.

So, think what you want to think, but I think this is ridiculous:

you learn something new every day

I had never heard of trolls like this before.

Wow. It's a very interesting article, that's for sure.


I think these kids just need a hug.

Malwebolence from the New York Times.