well i have not done a very good job of keeping up with this for the past 10 days or so... but i've been busy! now i am back. and i won't even try to address everything that's gone on in the world since my last post....

• i love christmas and am thrilled that it's so near. in fact, my work radio is now perma-set to christmas music. so how come everybody can't get into that spirit? some people in a suburb of denver are causing a fuss because a lady has a peace sign shaped wreath up outside her house. some say it is anti-war and offensive because they have loved ones in iraq, some say it is a satanic symbol. what? for real, people? as far as i know "peace on earth" has been part of the christmas sentiment for a long ass time. why all of the sudden is peace about a political statement or a satanic statement? good grief. i say let there be peace in that damn neighborhood and leave the woman's wreath alone!
  
• five new york city police officers fired more than 50 rounds on 3 unarmed men, killing one man who was getting married later that day, early saturday morning. there are lots of details to this story, and i'm sure we don't know everything, and i would sincerely hope that the guys were doing something very suspicious for this to happen, but 50 rounds? that is absolutely out of control. one officer was responsible for 31 of those shots--he emptied two full magazines. what? the officers were in the strip club where the guy was having his bachelor party doing an undercover investigation of suspected prostitution and drug use. well, i guess there was some kind of scuffle outside involving the groom, and one of his friends allegedly made reference to a gun. so one of the undercover officers followed the guys to their car, and then when he walked in front of the car, the groom drove into him and a parked undercover cop car. again, i know i don't know all the details, and luckily i'm not a man or someone who would get in an argument outside a strip club, but if i were, and some man dressed in plain clothes was following me to my car then came around the front of the car, i'd probably try to run his ass over too! this is what i suspect happened, then the cops decided they'd just shoot their guns some. a lot, actually. anyway, it's incredibly tragic and unnecessary. i hope these officers are punished appropriately and not let off the hook like other NYC cops have been for senseless and excessive shootings that resulted in murder.
• oh nice, i hadn't even read this yet when i went on that rant up there, but in atlanta, police killed a freaking 88-year-old woman the other day! they were entering her house under a "no-knock" drug raid because they said an informant had purchased 2 bags of crack there earlier in the day. so the officers pulled off the bars from her door and started knocking it down and the little old lady started shooting at them since she lives in a high crime neighborhood, and they fired back and killed her. nice. even if someone in her house was selling drugs (which, the informant says he did not buy drugs there), you can't just bust in an old lady's house in a high crime neighborhood and not expect her to shoot at you. arg.
  
• pamela anderson and kid rock are getting divorced. note to famous people: just give it up. stop getting married. it doesn't last.

• haha! i thought our president had gotten past saying the iraq war was at all related to al qaeda (and therefore the 9/11 attacks), but i guess he ain't giving up yet! he now says the sectarian violence in iraq is because of an al-qaeda plot. yeah, that or the fact that there are some iraqis who are PISSED that we're there and they are DIVIDED and they're basically at civil war... whichever. "He said recent strife in Lebanon and the heated up Israeli-Palestinian dispute are, like Iraq, the result of extremists trying to choke democratic progress. 'When you see a young democracy beginning to emerge in the Middle East, the extremists try to defeat its emergence' Bush said." I love how our president can generalize the world so much... "the extremists." he annoys me. i don't want to talk about him anymore.
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a guy has restored the house in the movie "a christmas story!" how exciting! anyone want to go to cleveland to see the house from the greatest christmas movie ever? (next to a charlie brown christmas, that is...) speaking of "a christmas story," i do not like the new cell phone commercial that spoofs the movie. blasphemy.

• what is up with this crazy weather we've had on the east coast this week? first it flattens a skating rink in alabama, where the kids only escaped a few minutes before, then it knocks out power and trees all up the east coast, then yesterday in north carolina 8 people were killed when a tornado ripped through a trailer park, 19 injured. i don't ever remember there being this kind of crazy weather around here in november... weird! my heart goes out to all those who lost loved ones in this nastiness... the weirdest part was that yesterday i looked outside one minute and it was gray and rainy, then not 10 minutes later i look out the window and it's sunny and blue! very odd.
• this article about our pursuit of happiness was interesting. i've always believed that happiness is a choice you make--you choose how to perceive things in your life and you can see the bright side or not. the more positive choices you make, the happier you'll be. at least that's my own philosophy. this article tells us that we're constantly making choices to try to make ourselves happy, but it talks of more concrete choices... like a burger or a salad for dinner, or keeping your old job or getting a new one, or buying a new car or taking a trip to europe. it says we usually choose incorrectly. isn't that nice? :) anyway, the moral of the story is that we think stuff makes us happy but it doesn't. as the old adage goes, it's the little things that count. like reading a book or taking a walk or indulging in a big fat piece of chocolate cake if you really want to. my favorite part of the article was the end:
  
  

  And if you're trying to decide between the new car and the trip to Europe, Gilbert said take the trip.

  "Part of us believes the new car is better because it lasts longer. But, in fact, that's the worst thing about the new car," he said. "It will stay around to disappoint you, whereas a trip to Europe is over. It evaporates. It has the good sense to go away, and you are left with nothing but a wonderful memory."

• speaking of things that make you happy, i think emmitt was probably pretty tickled when he won dancing with the stars on wednesday night! i don't watch this show but usually i tune in for the finale of stuff like this, so i did. i watched the recap of emmitt's and mario lopez's final dances and then watched nip/tuck on dvr, then went back to see who won. i suspected emmitt would win, and i was right! (of course. ;-) ) one thing i thought was funny during the recaps of their dances was what the female judge said to emmitt: "you have come so far! you're like the average man who has become a professional dancer." yeah, right, sister. emmitt smith, superbowl champion, nfl record holder, average man. whaaaaaaaaaaaatever.
• what in the hell is up with peoples' obsession with gaming systems like the new playstation 3? holy god. apparently people stampeded each other and even shot at people over this hoopla. unreal. it's a VIDEO GAME people! maybe i just haven't had enough experience with the newer gaming systems. i don't know. but give me my good ol' original nintendo and tetris and i'm happy.
  
• so OJ simpson is finally confessing! he is writing a book called if i did it, here's how it happened. well freaking duh. so in other words, you did kill your wife and her friend but instead of coming out and saying "i did it, and here's how it happened." you add an IF so that it's not a blatant confession. i mean, seriously, if he was innocent, why in the name of god would he do this? what a crazy mo fo.

• oh, sure, bring in the guy that everyone loves to run for the republican presidential nomination in '08. rudy giuliani was everyone's favorite mayor after 9/11 and he has put in for a run for prez in 2008. probably not a bad choice for the republicans, although i don't know a whole lot about him besides that he cracked down on homeless people in new york. i think the way he handled it might have been a little harsh, but really i could be making that up.
• In car internet hits the road: so this is kind of scary. i mean, don't people complain enough already about people not being able to drive and talk on cell phones? and now we give 'em internet access in the car?! apparently it's only going to be accessible to passengers, but my bet is that some moron drivers will find a way to use it from the driver's seat as well. i mean, don't get me wrong, i've been in the car a few times and wished i had internet access to find the address of wherever i'm going or find a certain type of place near where i am, but i don't know... all this wiring seems to be taking away our chance to relax. perpetuating the american workaholic mentality, if you will... i swear, i can't wait to see what the world is like in 20 years... things are changing so quickly.
• this was a headline on cnn.com today: Fear of fear a risk to mental health. well, i got news for ya, cnn. that HEADLINE is a risk to my mental health. maybe it's just me but that's one of those things you read and you're like, "okay, if i fear fear i risk... what? fear fear? is that real? so confusing..." anyway, the moral of the article is, don't be afraid of being afraid.

• first of all, a big ol' WAHOOWA to my UVA cavaliers basketball team! way to go, boys, upsetting arizona on your first game playing in the brand new john paul jones arena! perhaps this will be the year UVA basketball climbs its way out of the trenches and becomes worth watching again!
• in other sports news, E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles! 'bout time my boys got another win... even if it was over the redskins. and then the giants lost to the bears, so perhaps the eagles still have a chance at winning the division... only time will tell.
• a coworker brought this story of a deer who got his head caught in a plastic pumpkin to my attention last week. the poor deer had been trying to eat some kid's left over halloween candy, i guess, and got its head stuck! so it was running around this michigan town unable to eat or drink anything for a week or so. well, i'm happy to say, bambi freed herself! i would hope this would be a lesson to all the people that leave crap like this laying around outside their houses, but my guess is that the people who are that inconsiderate probably found this hysterical. :(
• this is just disgusting. a man ran over a mother and her 4- and 2-year old children and killed them, then just kept on driving. luckily his license plate came off at the scene of the crime so they were able to find and arrest him. what in the hell is wrong with people.
  
• something must be done about childhood obesity... namely, turn the freaking TV and playstation off and send your kid outside. when 12 year olds are getting liposuction, there is something seriously wrong. maybe i'll see the "epidemic" of childhood obesity differently when i have kids, but i just refuse to believe there isn't a better way to NOT have fat kids than to suck the fat out of them when they're 220 pounds at 12 years old. seriously.
  
• in celebrity gossip news, k-fed performed at the norva in norfolk last night. they actually charged people to go to the concert. i also read that he was seen in wal-mart in maryland buying underpants. the downward slope gets steeper....
  

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• and so, our house and senate go to the democrats. has virginia ever been the deciding state for something like that before? i find that fascinating because it seems like our state has mostly been republican historically, but in the years since i was able to vote we're moving towards democrat... who knows. regardless, i am interested to see if much changes now that the balance of power has shifted.
• in news that is completely unrelated, i feel kind of bad for kevin federline. i never liked him (although i did think his song was a little catchy), but reading all this gossip about his divorce from britney spears makes me see him as a human being... he is just a guy with a dream who went about achieving it in all the wrong ways, almost got to where he wanted to be, and now BOOM! all gone! he must have really screwed britney over for her to rip the rug out from under him just as he (thought he) was headed for stardom. but i'm sure he'll be a'ight. ;-)

• so sad to see ed bradley of CBS has passed away. i don't watch 60 minutes very often, but when i did, i always enjoyed him. what i find odd about his passing is that i never heard he was sick, and i swear i just saw him doing interviews a couple weeks ago. didn't i? anyway, rest in peace, ed. you were a great journalist!
• i have never been big on "black friday." you know, the day after thanksgiving where bargain hunters camp out at their local mall, wal-mart, target, circuit city, whatever to get mega-deals. but i've heard stories (once my sister-in-law brought pink eye back from black friday.. at least that's my suspicion of where she got it and gave it from). and in the past there have been some bitter battles for the last tickle-me-elmo/furbie/play station 2. well, this year, wal-mart's black friday bargains have been leaked. and people, look out. they are offering some dirt cheap bargains on great stuff ($398 computer anyone?). and i have a sneaking suspicion things could get ugly. all the more reason for me to stay snuggled up in bed that day until 10am or so and not do my christmas shopping until december 22. ;-)
• all the more reason to take ibuprofen. i never did care for tylenol... now they're selling it laced with metal fragments. so if you've got some in your medicine cabinet, throw it out. they say some sold as long as 3 years ago could be contaminated.
  
• i like football. and while i had to watch the office and grey's anatomy last night, i did catch a little bit of the rutgers v. louisville football game. namely, the last couple of minutes. wow, how exciting! i think i am just too empathetic because while i was rooting for rutgers since they were the underdog, as it neared the end and it was pretty evident louisville was going to lose, i was sad for them. i mean, here are these guys who are having the season of their lives--freakign LOUISVILLE #3 in the country, talks of a national championship, and there goes that with one loss to the scarlet knights. if you didn't see it or hear about it, rutgers won on a field goal. but the thing is, the kicker MISSED it the first time he tried. but someone upstairs was looking out for rutgers and the officials called an offsides penalty on louisville, which means the rutgers kicker got a second chance. and he hit it. i absolutely can not imagine what that poor, poor guy from louisville that jumped offsides must feel like. i always worry people like him (or k-fed) might commit suicide. i worry too much. anyway, bravo rutgers. sorry, louisville... it'll be alright.

• oh, they said it wouldn't last and they were right. britney spears has filed for divorce from kevin federline. 'bout damn time that girl woke up and smelled the skanky trailer trash she brought into her house. now can he please disappear off the face of the earth? as not-so-refined as britney may be, i'd like to see her get her act together and make a comeback. that would be nice for her. even though she can't really sing that great. whatever. we all know i just love celebrity gossip, that's all. :)
  

• did you vote today? if not, go do it. unless it's not election day anymore when you read this. i love my "i voted" sticker. makes me feel like i did something good today.

• some people think they're so funny, like these guys who put a little extra spice on some cops' burgers. the burger king workers are accused of sprinkling a couple of police officers' whopper hamburgers with marijuana. haha. funny joke. probably was funnier when they were high and not going to jail. ;-)

• did anyone know that people use duct tape to remove warts from children? that is just bizarre. and it doesn't work that well, either, by the way, in case you're one of those people strappin' on the duct tape.

• how about those redskins! i'm an eagles fan, but since i grew up with my dad being a 'skins fan, i always root for them. plus everyone who's not a cowboys fan has to root against them, particularly when it's the cowboys and redskins. the ending of yesterday's game was one of the most fun endings to a football game i've seen in a while... i was whooping and hollering at my tv, alone in my house since my husband was at work. i wondered what our neighbors would think had they been walking by and heard me, but hopefully they'd understand that sunday in november=football. duh. :)

• so that guy i mentioned the other day, ted haggard, former president of some evangelical group, has admitted that he is "sexually immoral" but is still denying ever having had sex with the male prostitute (he says he got a massage) or doing drugs (he says he bought meth but threw it away). well people, i think that is a load of crap. his church is standing by him (i suppose that is the Christian thing to do), and is saying that he is on the road to healing. let me tell you a little secret: you're not going to heal if you're still LYING. mr. haggard, time to let all those skeletons out of the closet (pun intended).
  

• so how about saddam hussein being sentenced to hang? crazy stuff there. i guess i should have expected that verdict, but i didn't really. or at least i didn't expect it so soon (yes, i know it's been a few years already). i wonder if this will actually happen. if so, it will be one of those moments in life that you always remember where you were, like the challenger explosion, the oj simpson verdict, 9/11 (god, so sad that i remember where i was when the oj verdict was read).
  

• so doogie howser is gay. duh. i have seen this story on perezhilton.com for a couple weeks, because apparently he was trying to deny being gay but everyone in hollywood knows he is. and now he's out. and more power to him. i mean, it's none of our business either way, but why not just be who you are. the guy who plays george on grey's anatomy came out and i still found him just as adorable on the show as a straight guy this week as i did before i knew he doesn't swing that way. i find it annoying that whether or not someone is gay is a freaking news story though. it'll be nice if we can one day get to the point in our world where someone doesn't have to announce their sexuality if it doesn't happen to be hetero and where when people adopt children they are subsequently just referred to as "so and so's daughter" or "so and so's son" instead of "so and so's adopted son/daughter." stepping off soapbox now...

• did you see desperate housewives last night? holy crap was it good! and sad. and even though i never like to see people die, that was the tidiest way to wrap up the story with tom's love child. can't wait to see what happens next...

• oopsie. if you're the leader of a national conservative christian group, you probably shouldn't be scromping male prostitutes. ted haggard, president of the national association of evangelicals, is accused of having relations with a male prostitute and doing drugs with him over a period of three years. tsk, tsk, tsk. what a tangled web we weave... of course, there is always the possibility that this (former) prostitute is making it all up, but who knows. he says he came forward because haggard has been so openly against colorado's proposed ban on homosexual marriage. who knows, maybe this mike jones guy is just a guy trying to stir the conservative pot before the election on tuesday by making up a big ol' whopper. but then again, maybe mr. haggard is a big fat lying sack who is proof that you can't deny who you are...

• speaking of gay marriage, if you live in virginia, please vote on tuesday and pay very close attention to the proposed "marriage amendment." and VOTE NO... it'll be question #1. what many people don't realize is that this proposed amendment isn't just about gay marriage. in fact, there are already laws in virginia that prevent any legal union between same sex couples. the second part of this amendment has wording that will take away rights for any unmarried couple, no matter how long they've been together or how devoted to each other they may be. please read the whole thing, and check out this website to learn more. make an educated vote. if you're against gay marriage, know that there are already provisions in place for your beliefs. we certainly don't need to AMEND our constitution to DISCRIMINATE against any two people who love each other. there, i'm stepping off my soapbox.

• i don't get all the hype about caffeine drinks. after reading this article, i realize that makes me officially old. i'm the starbucks generation, and apparently the young folk want their own caffeine buzz. but that stuff tastes like crap... i can't believe they want to drink it.

• i read this headline and got chills this morning: Remains of two 9/11 victims identified. of course joel stone's and karen martin's families have known they perished on that day for more than five years, but i can only imagine that a definite identification must bring so many emotions to the surface. i would imagine there is some sense of relief, peace... finally there is something of their loved ones to bury. but i'd also imagine they've all been trying to move on for five years and are now harshly reminded of the tragedy. i hope those two families are able to have peace after this.

• please don't take away my crabcakes! according to a recent report, people are fishing and polluting too much and by 2048 we're not going to have seafood anymore. well that sucks. stop fishing, people. i can not imagine a world without crabcakes, lobster, salmon, shrimp... oh, what a tragedy that would be! i don't even want to think about it anymore...

• what the hell happened to kate bosworth? bryan and i went to see blue crush a few years ago, which was one of the first movies she was in, and she was a very cute & healthy blonde girl. now she is withering away to nothing. sometimes i look at stars accused of being anorexic and think maybe they've just taken the whole diet thing a little too far and people should leave them alone. this girl, though, needs an intervention! it's so sad that these young hollywood girls feel so pressured to be stick thin. let's get back to HEALTHY girls... let's rewind to pre-kate moss in the early 90's to when models and actresses had some freaking meat on their bones. ask any man, i bet he'll tell you they found hot chicks just as easily back then as they do now.. maybe even more easily. food for the actresses!

• i think politics is a joke, but i recognize that i must choose candidates/views/parties whatever or risk having laws and decisions made that really piss me off. this election year has brought a bajillion examples of how politics is funny (george allen could guest star on SNL with all his antics), but i am currently amused by the john kerry "joke" snafu. and even more amused that the democrats figured out a quick contingency plan! "we know! make HILLARY chastise him! then everyone will like her even more and we'll rescue the democratic name before next tuesday AND everyone will see that hillary really is a great choice for president in '08!" those thinking politicos... man they're smart.

• why is it that americans refuse to buy cars that are fuel efficient? last month SUV and gas guzzler sales were double what they were a year ago and no more fuel efficient cars, in spite of that wacked out gas price spike we went through over the summer. say wha? i mean, i'm not running out buying a hybrid or anything, but i am just surprised. i would have at least thought small car buying would have gone up. personally, i'd like it if we went all european and bought tiny smart cars.

• overweight? just drink more, you'll be alright. at least, if you're a mouse. god, they study all kinds of randomness these days. so they got some fat mice and then loaded 'em up with red wine and guess what? they got less diabetes, less liver problems and less fat-related problems in general! the point of this study appears to be testing the health benefits of reservatol, some element in red wine. but seriously, in a country where obesity is such a problem, i'm not sure we need to be publicizing this study. our new national motto: eat more, drink more!

• poor sportcaster. brian kinchen made the mistake of talking on air like every other heterosexual male who watches football talks, and now he lost his job. "During the game Saturday, Kinchen was explaining the need for receivers to make catches with their hands because they are "tender" and can "caress" the ball. He then paused and said, "that's kind of gay, but hey ..." now i certainly don't condone homophobic comments, but i have some gay friends who'd be happy to be accused of being tender and able to caress. i guess ol' mr. kinchen should have known better than to talk like that on tv, but i guarantee you there are PLENTY of sportscasters who talk that way off screen.
  

• last night i watched this week's episode of house, and i knew from the opening scenes what the diagnosis was going to be, because it's a disease i just happen to have! i was mildly amused to see hereditary angioedema portrayed the way it was (it did manage to show just how serious it is), and a little perplexed about which pills exactly they prescribed to take twice a day and "easily treat" HAE.
  

• and then there's LOST! spoiler alert: stop reading this part if you didn't see it and plan to. i can not believe they killed mr. eko! i am so sad! he was one of my favorite characters on the show. and that whole thing with juliette telling jack one thing and making him read another... man, if i had been locked up in a weird underground aquarium like jack has been, i'd be seriously confused. maybe that's why she gave him the cheeseburger first--to get him some nourishment so he could process everything. i don't know, people... i'm still skeptical of juliette and all of the others and have no idea who to trust. i'm incredibly bummed next week is our last episode 'til after christmas, but whaddyagonnado.

• the government is delusional. they are starting a campaign to tell people not to have sex until they're 30. aren't there better things my tax dollars can pay for, besides pipe dreams?
  

• i shed a little tear when i saw this headline on cnn.com today: Bob Barker to say goodbye to TV. we all knew that good ol' bob had to leave the price is right sooner or later, but it is still bittersweet. bob says he'll be leaving in june of next year, "while he's still young." i know i am still very young, but it's things like this that make you realize that you are, in fact, getting older. bob's been a part of my life, no matter how rarely i watch the price is right, since i was born. you know, he's just always been there... and now he won't be. i wonder how they could ever find a suitable replacement for bob barker?? guess we'll see. my favorite line from this article: bob says he'd be willing to take on a movie role, but "I refuse to do nude scenes. These Hollywood producers want to capitalize on my obvious sexuality, but I don't want to be just another beautiful body." ha! i love it. we'll miss you bob barker!

• all this talk about madonna's adoption of a malawian boy is pissing me off. really, people, leave them alone. it really is ridiculous the way the media hunts for any story they can turn around and create extra drama. madonna adopted a child who was in an orphanage. she wanted to bring some attention to his impoverished country in the process. the end. screw her individual circumstances, let's talk about the fact that there are ONE MILLION orphans in that small country alone! arg. despite being addicted to its wares, i get so frustrated with the media sometimes...

• a recent study may have discovered the cause of SIDS. apparently the researchers discovered seratonin defects in babies who died of SIDS, which basically means they had brain stem defects--a disease. you can read the article for all the details, but wouldn't it be wonderful if one day they can detect this problem when a child is born and treat it, eliminating SIDS completely. science is amazing...

• bravo to an indiana man in prison for burglary for getting some revenge for his 10 year old cousin. a man whose cousin had been abducted, molested and murdered happened to be in prison with her murderer. and he went into the murderer's cell with a tattoo gun and told him he could stab him and leave him to bleed to death or tattoo him. and so he tattooed him. while i certainly think this murderer doesn't deserve to live, i am not a fan of the whole "eye for an eye" thing... even if you're killing someone for revenge, you still have to live the rest of your life as a murderer. so this seems an excellent, if not totally equal, punishment for a murderer. now this psycho gets to look at himself every day for the rest of his life and remember his horrible crime. the thing that gets me is the tattooer is being charged with battery... which is crap, but i'm sure he feels it's worth it. i think if i were a guard at this prison i would have some temporary amnesia... that, or some vivid memories of the tattooer in the cafeteria at the time of the tattooing...
  

• tonight is a new episode of LOST! hooray. tonight we get more of mr. eko, who i love. this show is so mysterious. it troubles me that it's losing viewership but whaddyagonnado. you gotta watch it every week, practically, to know what the heck is going on. this little bit here is just a warning that i'll be discussing LOST in future posts and you may not want to read those parts if you haven't watched the episode yet... although i think soon we're going back to reruns. boohiss. i wish every week of TV was new, but then i guess i'd never get anything done...